The Angling Times List

  • Thread starter Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)

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What did you think of it?

To me there are a few notable exceptions.

1: Ray Webb - a true legendary figure and pioneer of modern pike angling.

2: Graham Marsden - I feel however that the reason for his omission is logical.

3: Jim Bazley - often called the greatest and most skilfull English all-round angler of all time.

4: Tag Barnes - anyone who knew him would realise that he was not only a great angler, but a tackle and rod designer of renown.

5: JW Martin - The Trent Otter - probably the original specimen hunter, great angler and wonderful writer. He virtually taught himself how to read and write and was brought up in the poorest circumstances.

6: Frank Barlow - great match angler who wrote one of the funniest columns in fishing.

7: Eric Hodson - without his untiring efforts in the 60s and 70s, the big fish scene as we know it today would not exist.


I was disappointed not to see Richard Walker heading the list, but I think if more people had voted, he would have done.

Walker WAS the number 1 make no mistake about that.
 
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paul williams 2

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It was bo888c*s weren't it Ron?

And if our Graham didn't insist on keeping that ultra cult barbel rod for some fat yorkie he would have been No1 legend! all he had to do was offer it's superb crisp lines superbly taped and gold plaited rings as a prize and pay for a two page ad!!


I have been told of this rod.....it is fast becoming an angling legend itself!!!
 
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Steve Spiller

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Ron, I've been thinking about this a lot.
I reckon the results are down to the age group that voted on it, or the age group in general who reads the A.T.

I also think this age group is more likely to identify with angling on TV and who are the two anglers that get the most time on TV? JW and MH.

I do rate both of them as brilliant anglers, but not legends, not yet anyway!
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)

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The trouble with that big fat Yorky, he won't even turn up and claim it!!
 
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paul williams 2

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Ray Webb..Eric Hodson..... true legends!


And that is because of word of mouth.....told on the bank or over a jar, by guys who know.
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)

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With due respect to AT, I think they got this wrong. It was supposed to be about Legends.

For a start, many of those in the list of 50 are much too young to be called legends. Maybe in 50 years time they might be qualified to recieve such an accolade but not now.

There were also a number of incorrect comments made.

Kevin Maddocks and Lennie Middleton certainly did not create the hair rig. All they did was adapt it for use in carp fishing.

And what the heck is Rex Hunt doing in a list of British Angling Legends?

If the list was international, I could think of many American Angling Legends that Rex Hunt couldn't hold a candle to.

Lee Wulff for a start!
 
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Matt Brown

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Ron, Steve is right. Each persons list will depend on their age. Mr Marsden and Frank Barlow would both be in my Top 50.
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)

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To be fair to AT, they have to sell copies, and without copies sold, they would not exist. Talk to me about selling and marketing, I've been in it for most of my life.

Papers like AT are mainly designed to sell to the Joe Soaps of the Angling World who may never have heard of JW Martin or Eric Hodson.

It's a bit like "Big Brother" where totally talentless people can be made into so called celebrities because Joe Soap watches them on telly.
 
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Keith Banks

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Jack Hilton. Not just for his carp fishing but also for his general angling skill.
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)

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Personally, I would have had a competition to determine the true Giants of the angling world of the last 100 years.

Here is my list:

1: JW Martin - The Trent Otter
2: JHR Bazley
3: Richard Stuart Walker
4: Billy Lane
5: Benny Ashurst
6: Ivan Marks
7: Peter Stone
8: Cyril Inwood
9: Hugh Falkus
10: Ray Webb
11: Hugh Tempest Sheringham
12: **** Clegg
13: Arthur Oglesby
14: Clive Gammon
15: Leslie Moncrieff
16: Fred Buller
17: Fred J Taylor
18: Graham Marsden
19: Tag Barnes
20: FWK Wallis
21: Eric Hodson

And that is in no particular order but I think you will appreciate that these 21 personalities comprise the true British angling giants of the past 100 years.

A lot of the people in the AT list have achieved fame by standing on the shoulders of these giants.
 
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Deanos

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FAT YORKIE....FAT YORKIE!

I would imagine that this despicable slur is aimed at my fat self!
If this is the case, then on behalf of the brilliant angler Mr J Wilson, with the infectious laugh haaaaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
And fat boys everywhere, may I say?better to be a rotund jolly chap, than a fig eating ?Hobbit? look alike Mr Roland Cray!
 
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EC

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Frank Barlows column was for the Mail if I remember right, can't see the AT putting him in their top 50.
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)

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Actually Jeff you are right.

Good old Frank wrote a truly great little work - "In Search of Big Fish" which inspired thousands of young anglers in the early 60s to take up specimen hunting.

I am also tempted to add Jim Gibbinson who was THE pioneer of modern style long range carp fishing as well as being a fine allrounder.
 
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Matt Brown

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Jim Gibbonson and **** Clegg would be in tere fore me too.

However many of the other names on Ron's list mean absolutely nothing to me. They were before my time.
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)

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Mark I think one has to be aware of the difference between a great angler, and a Giant.

It's like saying that Ricky Ponting is a giant in cricket. No he isn't, but Shane Warne most definitely is!

But certainly Ricky Ponting is a great cricketer. However he will never reach the legendary status of Warne, who has become a true legend in his own lifetime.
 
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Ron 'The Hat' Clay (ACA)

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Matt you must get down to some reading.

When I was in my teens I read all about the great anglers going back to Isaak Walton and Charles Cotton.

It was a paragraph in an article by Walker that prompted me to do this. He suggested to any keen angler to read all the angling books they could ever lay their hands on. I still do that today.
 
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