Ivan Marks – The People’s Champion

Mark Wintle reviews the recently published Angling Times compilation of the writings of legendary match angler, Ivan Marks.

Legendary match angler Ivan Marks had a weekly column in Angling Times from 1972 until 1980 and now Angling Times have sifted the best 100 or so articles and put them into a new book – ‘Ivan Marks -  The People’s Champion’.

For the older generation of match angler Ivan needs little introduction but for younger readers it’s worth mentioning that Ivan dominated match fishing in the late 1960 and early 1970s when open matches were commonly 300 or 400 pegs and big river championships often over a thousand pegs. Ivan won the Great Ouse Championship three times in four years to add to the Welland and Nene titles, as well as representing England several times, leading Leicester AS (the ‘Likely Lads’) to National Championship success, and winning many other big matches.

Today’s open scene would scarcely have merited the title club matches in the early 70s such has been the decline in numbers. His brilliant technique, tactically skilled approach and willingness to share information made him many friends, and he was widely respected in the angling world until his untimely death in 2004. Although some aspects of his articles reflect the times when they were written much of what he had to say is as relevant today as it was over thirty years ago, and that’s true not just for keen match anglers but for pleasure anglers and big-fish hunters alike.

It’s easy to dip into this book at your leisure, to reflect on Ivan’s thinking on catching fish and where he saw match fishing going. It’s a book I found myself putting down thinking ‘there’s something I ought to try’; a true source of inspiration. One gem that comes out is the vital factors for float fishing; Ivan brings out the importance of these two things – line control and feeding, and how one is not much use without the other.

The articles are grouped into chapters; match fishing, fishing for England, tackle, tactics, bait, Ireland and a final mixed bag of everything else. This makes it easy to delve into a particular subject.

Calm Productions have done their usual fine job with this book; it includes some rare photographs, and at over 300 pages, you know there’s plenty to read, though it’s easy reading all through. I thoroughly recommend it.

Cloth-bound copies are now available from Calm Productions at £20 plus p&p. There are also some leather-bound editions available at £180.