The gun that got away? A revolver is catch of the day for Scotland's growing band of magnetic fishermen
Lines baited with magnets not flies, metal-detecting anglers are called to talks with canal bosses worried by pastime’s surging popularity
At the water’s edge a crowd jostles round one of the fishermen, keen to glimpse his latest catch.
The gasps of admiration aren’t because he’s hooked an unlucky tench or perch from the waters of the Applecross Basin at the Forth and Clyde Canal. Instead, the proud angler has landed a handgun. It may be caked in black mud but it is, unmistakably, a revolver.
“That’s the catch of the day,” says a fellow fisherman excitedly. “A potential murder weapon!”
Welcome to the world of magnet fishing. The pistol – later delivered to Police Scotland – is the latest catch by Glasgow Magnet Fishing, a group specialising in this unlikely but increasingly popular pursuit.
However, the surging interest has also got the attention of Scottish Canals. Yesterday, bosses there halted a planned meet while they arranged a working group to explore “what possibilities there are for safe and legal magnet fishing on Scotland’s canal network.”
The metal-detecting anglers must now try to negotiate a future for their fledgling but threatened sport with the group – and others like them up and down the country – using industrial-strength magnets on ropes to trawl waters around Scotland.
From coins to knives and safes, the group holds events where it dredges unlikely treasures discarded in the murky depths and, since February, their numbers have grown exponentially.
Lockdown saw the group’s Facebook page go from about 300 members to 2,000. Edinburgh has its own rapidly expanding group, and there are others throughout the UK. As a sport it is proving, well, magnetic. “Since lockdown began people’s mental health has been in the toilet,” said Davie McNair, one of the group’s founders.
“I was on the couch for three years before this after I developed a heart problem. I have a condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopia, which means I have an enlarged heart. They fitted a pacemaker in my chest, but it meant I struggled to work. Magnet fishing got me up and got me out, I’m doing something.
“I need to be careful with the magnets near my pacemaker, though. I think if I keep it more than six inches away I should be alright.”
Davie warily eyes the weighty disc made by a company called Online Magnets. More expensive than a fish hook at £180, it is made from neodynium – a rare metal suited to magnetism – and have a 500kg pull which is, Davie says, a lot.
Later in the day, a magnet will clamp itself onto a Triumph motorcycle which found its way to the canal bed. With the aid of grappling hooks, the bike is recovered and Mark McGeachin, another of Glasgow Magnet Fishing’s founders, tries and fails to find the owner from its number plate.
“We’re not trying to make money out of this,” says Mark. “The scrap metal will make money but we’re not interested in making a profit. Any money we make usually goes to a charity like a food bank. We want to get the most interesting thing. Like the gun – you’re interested in where that came from.
“When something like that is pulled out, we’re all buzzing and talking about where it could have come from. Is it a murder weapon? Nothing we’ve found has been linked to a crime yet, but who knows?
“We pull out knives, swords and machetes all the time. Canals are dumping grounds for these things, and a lot more. These items all have stories. We pulled a PlayStation 4 out of the water in Maryhill a couple of weeks ago – complete with controllers and plug attached. Was that a mum who finally had enough of her son not tidying his room?”
The magnet fishermen nearby erupt in laughter. Like salty sea dogs trading tales, stories of ancient Indian sabres being fished out on the last cast of the day are swapped for memories of the safe pulled from water and cracked open to reveal...nothing, because it was empty.
Aside from hauling metal treasures from the silt, magnet fishermen help dredge the reeds and plant life to clear the canal floor.
Only a couple of weeks ago two people died in separate incidents after falling into the canal. Glasgow Magnet Fishing’s members made a point of going to those areas afterwards to help clear them out.
“Magnet fishing pulls a lot of rubbish out of the canal and helps to clean it up. We drag out not only things that have been thrown in but we’re clearing the canal floor. But we need to be careful – people are going to ruin it.
“We had someone pull an old landmine out of a canal up in Stirling, and threw it on the side of the path. But others pull out piles of weeds and leave them on the banks – it’s a mess. We make sure we don’t leave a mess. As a sport, Scottish Canals says it is going to be licensed, which we’re delighted about.”
Glasgow Magnet Fishing has purchased a 17ft boat and aims to venture into rivers and ponds to recover more ancient objects.
Mark is reluctant to give locations – in case others get there first – but he’s aiming to find military equipment dating from the Covenanter Wars in the 17th Century, and Roman artefacts from the time of Hadrian.
It’s a history lesson for some of the younger magnet anglers.
“It’s a bit like fishing, but it’s better because nothing dies,” says one five-year-old pulling a magnet from the black waters.
Perhaps, but it is possibly best not to think too hard about where that revolver had been.