Whatever became of Ray Mumford?

MarkTheSpark · Nov 13, 2010

In the 1970s and 1980s, Ray set the standard for pole fishing. Nobody knew more about the subject than Ray - he was a fine angler.

Is Ray still with us?

Merv Harrison · Nov 13, 2010

I believe Ray was severely beaten up by a group of idiots, after this, (and I do hope i'm wrong), he was left partially disabled and with extreme memory loss and unable to continue fishing.

A tragic story.

Poshpaul (Angling Trust and PaSC) · Nov 13, 2010

Afraid your right Merv - He is in a care home I believe..I think Woody has told us about it in the past

Jeff Woodhouse · Nov 13, 2010

Yep, that's all I know.

Funnily enough, I was thinking about him just the other day.

guest61 · Nov 13, 2010

That's awful.

I've still got a set of Ray Mumford pole floats that I won in a junior match some time in the late 1970's. And Ray was the inspiration for me to get a pole, a 5.4m fibreglass baby with what was known as a 'flick tip' (a stumpy quivertip with an eye whipped on) later I added a 'crook top' (that's a method of attaching an external elastic, kids). I too, recently wondered what had happened to him.

I feel really sad.

Merv Harrison · Nov 13, 2010

Bl##dy h#ll, only from the other day and never saw it..........

http://www.fishingmagic.com/forums/coarse-fishing/146591-blast-past.html

S-Kippy · Nov 13, 2010

That's sad...I didn't know. Ray was always something of an expert on small fish...I recall him winning something [Div 1 National ?] with a net of about a million bleak off [I think] the Trent ?

To this day me & my mate Phil always refer to a small roach as "a mumford".

Mark Wintle · Nov 13, 2010

He won the Gladding Masters on the Nene with 14lb of bleak.

He also won an open match on one of my local lakes with 920 roach in 5 hours which must be one of the highest scores of roach in the time.

He was a highly skilled and versatile angler who caught his share of big fish in the 60s from diverse venues as the London Reservoirs and the Royalty.

Merv Harrison · Nov 13, 2010

Mark, do you remember the Gladding Masters on the Trent at Walter Bowers stretch at North Muskham, (70s ???), Ray Mumford and Kevin Ashurst having a side bet of £100, (a fair bit of money), who'd finish higher, if I remember rightly Ashurst won the bet but I can't remember who won the title.

I do remember Tom Pickering 'whipping' bleak out like there was no tomorrow.

Mark Wintle · Nov 13, 2010

Pete Palmer won the Trent one with just over 7lb. I was there and it was the first time that I ever saw the top anglers in action including Billy Lane, Marks, Ashurst etc.. I realised that day that waggler fishing was all about letting go and attacking the river. Fantastic memories.

I remember the force 10 gale because going up we did 80mph but only 60mph returning - it was a southerly and we were in a Mini Clubman!

Then there was the Bower demo of the needle floats at which a host of Trent stick float aces pointed to the river and asked why if they were so good so few were in use, like none, and the scaffolding blowing down breaking someone's leg, Norman Worth?

S-Kippy · Nov 13, 2010

Mark Wintle said:
He won the Gladding Masters on the Nene with 14lb of bleak.

Oh well...not bad for an ancient non matchman. I knew he'd won something important with a netful of bleak.

Poshpaul (Angling Trust and PaSC) · Nov 13, 2010

Mark Wintle said:
I remember the force 10 gale because going up we did 80mph but only 60mph returning - it was a southerly and we were in a Mini Clubman! Then there was the Bower demo of the needle floats at which a host of Trent stick float aces pointed to the river and asked why if they were so good so few were in use, like none, and the scaffolding blowing down breaking someone's leg, Norman Worth?

look forward to the latest offering from Crowood Press "Great Angling days out with Mark and Graham":wh

Merv Harrison · Nov 13, 2010

Mark Wintle said:
Then there was the Bower demo of the needle floats at which a host of Trent stick float aces pointed to the river and asked why if they were so good so few were in use,

Pete Palmer, thanks for that Mark........

Newark Needle floats, Kevin Ashurst plastered over every Angling magazine saying how good they were, and telling of the 'massive' catches he'd made on them :wh:wh

flightliner · Nov 13, 2010

Merv Harrison said:
I do remember Tom Pickering 'whipping' bleak out like there was no tomorrow.
__________________

After that match I think he was nicknamed "The Bionic Bleaker" I could have done with him on the Trent three weeks ago, my swim came alive with bleak that were nigh impossible to avoid. So late in the year in such numbers.Never experienced them so late in a season and dont want to ever again.

MarkTheSpark · Aug 15, 2013

Just resurrecting this thread because I was just thinking about Ray, and discovered he died last year. I must have missed this event, and I don't recall seeing it on FM.

What a tragic end for Ray, who I talked to for hours when I worked on AT. he was an extraordinary man and angler, wronged by the England set-up by not selecting him.

andreagrispi · Aug 15, 2013

I am both shocked and disgusted at what happened to a real gent.

Hope you have found solitude Ray - you deserve it!!!

hunters moon · Sep 23, 2013

Ray mumford died in 2012 in a care home in leicester after a long illness,ray was attacked by a group of mindless morons one night
and left with severe memory loss.
I fished against ray on many occasions in matches on the thames
ray always wore shirt and tie looked smart always.ray was always his own man but for all that he was a supreme angler.
R.i.p. Ray.
Hunters moon.

jack sprat · Sep 23, 2013

He died around about mid December. For all his faults he never deserved the tragic way his life went. He was someone who brightened the lives of many who met him.

chub_on_the_block · Sep 23, 2013

I never met him - not in a hundred years. I saw him fish just once, in a match on the Thames at Richmond in about 1983 - he was a celebrity that fished that match, another was Frank Barlow.

I have a few of the floats he made, including pole floats, and i love them. I also know where he fished on the Thames.

In retrospect this man should have been a star - he should have fished for England except there was a Midlands/North bias in the 1970s/early 1980s. At any rate, it is a shame that more is not recorded on film or in print about the man. Compared to what passes as an "Angling Legend" these days there is no comparison with Ray Mumford.

binka · Sep 23, 2013

chub_on_the_block said:
he should have fished for England except there was a Midlands/North bias in the 1970s/early 1980s.

I think that was the the Barnsley Blacks dominated era... or the 80's anyway, **** Clegg who obviously went on to become England manager along with Dennis White, Tommy Pickering and no doubt others that aren't springing to mind at the moment (not sure if Alan Scotthorne did his time with a shovel?), if i'm not mistaken all pitmen from the same 'ole.

chub_on_the_block said:
another was Frank Barlow.

Fond memories of "Big Frank" around these parts... anyone know if son Dean is still on the fishing scene?

Whatever became of Ray Mumford?

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