John Luff and John Woodford on Fishing
Lisa: How old were you when you started fishing?
John L: Well, professionally, I always had a boat ‘cos I was in the Navy and then I came out and went professional fishing, but doing it for a living I was 40, but before then I always had a boat and always had pots and nets and things so when I was on leave or over Portsmouth, I used to do it.
We used to have trots when we were boys. A trot is a long line with baited hooks on and we used to put them down.
John W: Do you remember we went out in your punt once. We set a trot out by the Fort, Bembridge and St Helen’s Fort and we set this trot, John set it, and John rowed out there and pulled this stuff in and there was a massive great spider crab on the end of it.
John L: He wouldn’t pull it in the boat, he had hanging over the back on the way in (laughs)
John W: It must have been about … well, it was huge wasn’t it? It must have been about six-foot-long when we spread it out on the beach.
John L: We used to have some fun as kids. We was always on the beach in the summer.