Armed with nothing more than a push-net and a cartridge bag, Steve harvested a few pints of shrimp only a stone's throw from Simon's house. I was intrigued by his tales, and despite being a landlubber with an aversion to getting wet, I foolishly agreed to go out shrimping with him at the next opportunity. Steve made his push-net in a similar way to how he imagined the late television presenter Jack Hargreaves would have done so. Trawling through his cluttered shed, he found an old carp-landing net, a few broom shanks and some cable ties (which, like duct tape, is an invention I'm sure Jack would have appreciated). A fruitful few hours spent sawing, thumping, snipping — and swearing — resulted in a shrimp push-net of some quality. This flat-pack net was designed to be carted about easily on a pushbike, the mode of transport used when shrimp netting was last in vogue. Once the push-net was assembled, Steve picked it up and stomped off towards the sea with intent. He was wearing protection on his feet to avoid the danger of being stung by a weever fish, which would undoubtedly have curtailed our foray and dampened his enthusiasm. Experience bequeaths that the secret of a push-net is the angle of the scraper and the way it caresses the seabed. With the sea lapping just above his knees, Steve pushed his net along, and anything lurking on or just below the sand was immediately caught. Checking it every 50 or so yards, Steve relieved his green net of any non-target species, such as jellyfish and countless crabs, returning them unharmed to the sea, while any shrimp were carefully placed inside his cartridge bag. www.shootingtimes.co.uk/features/540158/Shrimping_video_Sun_sea_and_shrimp.html

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