It is with great personal regret that I report the passing of Glyn Lloyd, skipper of the charter boats The Leah James and The Michelle based in Penarth/Cardiff, South Wales.

I’ve known Glyn for over 25yrs and in fact did one of my very first magazine articles with him uptiding for cod in the mid 80’s. Glyn was a great skipper, always ready with sound advice to help his anglers catch some fish, and he produced incredibly consistent catches year in, year out. If the day was hard he’d put a rod out himself, only to try and catch an extra fish or two to make sure all the anglers at least went home with their supper.

His understanding of the fishing grounds out from Penarth and Cardiff was second to none and his seamanship exemplary. He often used his knowledge of the local tides to the boats advantage adding speed to the boat to and from the fishing grounds and to give his anglers an easy ride if sea conditions were rough.

It was always the greatest pleasure for me to fish with Glyn. I remember quite a few trips, but one in particular stands out. It was 25th June, 1988 and Glyn wanted to try the offshore wrecks for pollack. I was with a group of friends from Abertillery. To give the other lads more room I went up on the bow to fish and kept watching Glyn as he set up the drift. He realised I was fishing hard and responded by giving me the nod as soon as the boat was set so I could get down quick and maximise my fishing time. I caught a lot of pollack that day including two 10lbers, one of 12lb 12ozs and one of 14lb 6ozs, all on black Redgills and these were big fish for the Bristol Channel at the time. I might have played and landed the fish, but it was Glyn that put them on the hook for me by putting the boat on the button each and every time.

Back in the 1990’s I was asked to compile the Teletext angling pages every week on Channel 4. I needed phone contacts I could trust to give me instant information that was up-to-date and accurate, Glyn Lloyd was the first skipper I called and he always had far more info to give than I could ever use in the space allowed.

Glyn was held in the highest respect by all the skippers in South Wales, and literally by hundreds of anglers that have graced the decks of the Leah James and The Michelle with him. Glyn was a skipper’s skipper and an angler’s angler. He will be greatly missed!

Our thoughts are with Glyn’s family and friends at this very sad time!

Mike Thrussell