Tribute to one of the greats!

chav professor · #1 (**permalink**) 29-07-2012, 07:42

Thought it would be nice to share this tribute. I knew Nigel forrest reasonably well, both through his work in the tackle shop and beating on his shoot - a parallel passion in later years. He was a true gentleman and the greatest innovators in the history of Sea angling.... His legacy will be found in every sea angling box on any beach, both here and around the world.

So if you bend into a pendulum cast, cast out a break-away lead, secure your bait behind an impact clip, this may be of interest to you http://www.breakaway-tackle.co.uk/im...el-forrest.pdf

cadius · #2 (**permalink**) 31-07-2012, 13:53

Hi Chav cadius here i do like the post about Nigel.I am of that age who can actually remember fishing against the Ipswich teams in the leauge that he started.Although i didn/t know the man as well as some people i did know Ian Gillespe quite well before his unfortunate death.My memories of the shop are ones of being very helpful,because of the shift patterns that i had to work and my love of fishing i wasn't always able to get my own bait and many a time i would phone the shop and they would leave it in the chippy for me to collect later on in the evening.Great blokes all of em.That's not to say the recent additions to the staff are none the less helpful.As time goes by and we all get older the great characters that we have known and fished with, all depart this life that is the only sure thing in this life, but some like Nigel and Ian and many of my old Friends leave a lasting memory as i hope i possibly will when its time for me to take the final trip to the beach.
Keep the faith, tight lines cadius.

chav professor · #3 (**permalink**) 31-07-2012, 14:58

Thanks for that Cadius. Hopefully our lines shall cross at some point.

rubio · #4 (**permalink**) 01-08-2012, 00:56

Thanx buddy. First time I've seen that. Hadn't realised it was so extensive to cover the whole Breakaway era.
I can remember being in the shop when scribbled diagrams would be hastily buried under The Sun whenever anyone glanced for too long at them. Amazing how many Breakaway products are in your tackle box. So many 'essential' things you didn't even know you needed til they brought them out.

Alan Tyler · #5 (**permalink**) 01-08-2012, 06:53

What a great read and tribute.
Though not a sea angler myself, I always enjoyed the sea-fishing articles in "Angling",, especially when Ian Gillespie was involved, either writing or being written about, but also Gammon, the Gibbinson brothers, Tony Pearson... wicked, dry senses of humour some of them had, and I'm getting an idea where some of them were honed: "Any notices written by Dave are always worth a read. Now he has a computer, anglers around the world are learning new ways to spell."... Classic East Coast.
I remember the excitement about the first "breakaway, bare-bones, grunge*-type cod" in "Angling", though it must be nigh-on thirty years since I read it, and envying them that sense of being part of a "scene" that was shaking things up. And I remember laughing; a I did reading this.
What a tribute; a memorial that tells the stranger about a life's achievements, leaves him with a deep respect and makes him laugh like a drain in the process.
For a full-time bait digger, 'e don't write too bad!
Superb.

*PVA, iirc.

Ray Roberts · #6 (**permalink**) 01-08-2012, 10:17

I found that a very interesting read Christian.

I never had the pleasure of meeting Nigel Forrest but I fished alongside Ian Gillespie a few times when he came as a guest on a few trips that I organised out of Bradwell in the Thames Estuary. This was right near the beginning of uptide casting which was made far more efficient by the Breakaway lead. The huge catches we had of; Bass, Thornbacks and Stingrays were unprecedented at the time.