It is with great personal sadness that I report the sudden passing of a good friend and one of my all time favourite skippers, Desi Mills from Culdaff in Donegal.

Desi skippered John McLoughlin’s boat Barracuda for many years out of the little harbour at Culdaff and I was privileged to fish with Desi many times.

He was a great all-round skipper well versed in drift fishing the clean and mixed rough ground out off Culdaff and further west around Malin Head. Desi, Norman Dunlop, Mike Jnr and I once stood on the deck of the Barracuda and watched a 150lb bluefin tuna jump several times between us and the cliffs at Malin and we were just a 150yds out from the cliff base.

Desi’s forte though was fishing the hundreds of wrecks littering the seabed off the north Donegal coast. Many of these were WW2 convoy ships on their way to Russia or heading for Liverpool that were lost to the wolf pack U-Boats, and he knew them intimately.

The wrecks carried masses of fish such as cod, ling and coalfish that filled the sounder, but especially the pollack and I remember many happy hours working Redgills on flying collar rigs fishing alongside Desi and enjoying some great sport with big fish.

His enthusiasm for boats, fishing and just being out on the sea were always to the fore, and so to were the nights in McGrory’s bar where many a pint was downed amid tales of fish caught and those still to be caught.

We’ve caught our last fish and drunk our last pint together but we’re left with some great memories of a great man!

RIP Desi!