David Carl Forbes: Rough River & Small Stream Fishing

Found this on a local market and thought it a pretty good read. From the introduction, it was, sadly, his last book as he died in a car crash shortly after completing this book. Anyone got any further info or bibliography please.

Big-Game Fishing in British Waters
by David Carl Forbes
ISBN 0715356968 (0-7153-5696-8)
Hardcover, David and Charles

Fishing
by David Carl Forbes
ISBN 0600339912 (0-600-33991-2)
Hardcover, Octopus Publishing Group

Inshore Sport Fishing
by Alan Wrangles, David Carl Forbes
ISBN 0229986757 (0-229-98675-7)
Hardcover, A & C Black

Mr Crabtree's Guide to Good Fishing Tackle
by Hal Mount, David Carl Forbes
ISBN 0600006646 (0-600-00664-6)
Softcover, Octopus Publishing Group

The Sporting Gun
by David Carl Forbes
ISBN 0600404285 (0-600-40428-5)
Hardcover, Newnes

Successful Roach Fishing
by David Carl Forbes
ISBN 0715360868 (0-7153-6086-8)
Hardcover, David & Charles Publishers

Successful Sea Angling
by David Carl Forbes
ISBN 0715351168 (0-7153-5116-8)
Hardcover, David & Charles Publishers

Tropical Fish
by D. C. Gohm, David Carl Forbes , Jane Burton
ISBN 0600316165 (0-600-31616-5)
Hardcover, Octopus Publishing Group

http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?st=xl&ac=qr&src=dir&author=David Carl Forbes

Thanks Neil

I'll keep an eye out for "Successful Roach Fishing"

KR
Ian

David Carl Forbes was one of the greatest angling writers of the 60s. His classic was "Catch a Big Fish". He knew all the specimen groups.

I met him at a National Angling Show in London ca 1966.

Thanks Ron

In my opinion the best fishing book of all is: 'This Fishing' by Capt.L.A.Parker it was written in 1948 - the man was years in front of his time - still valid today. For carp fishing a must read is Rod Hutchinson's 'Carp Now and Then' a bit old now as carp books go but the answers are all in there.

Fred Bonney said:

Re: David Carl Forbes: Rough River & Small Stream Fishing



david carl forbes - successful roach fishing - AbeBooks

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Thanks Fred, I had a look on ebay as well, I'm more of a local market bargain hunter, if I can't get it at the right price I will check again in a few weeks.

Ian

Keep an eye out for the book ''Catch a Big fish'' by David Carl Forbes. This is a book he edited from leading experts of the day. He was also an accomplished artist, and illustrated many of his articles and books.

I agree with Derek, " catch a big fish", great book. I'd also reccomend "Fishing as we find it" edited by Peter wheat. Similar format to David Carl Forbes book, published late sixties. Brilliant section on roach fishing by Peter Butler.

David Carl Forbes was a good friend of mine and his wife still is. Dave actually had a history of which few people are aware. He was certainly a very good angler, writer and a brilliant artist too and my wife and I are fortunate enough to have one of his paintings hanging on our dining room wall.

However, before making his name in angling, he had been a prize fighter at a fair ground. One of those guys who would fight anyone and any of those he fought who could knock him out last a certain length of time would win a prize. Few ever won the prize for one of two reasons, either Dave lasted the distance and the guy was unable to last, or the booth owner managed to fiddle things in Dave's favour. In the '50s Dave was in the Royal Navy and was at the Suez Canal during disagreement there. He was also the Royal Navy's Welter Weight Champion.

He was a great friend and we shared quite a number of happy times fishing together - especially at ****'s hut at Beachampton.

Dave's tragic death - which left his and Maureen's six children fatherless - came at a bad time for angling. In a short space of time we lost Bill Keal, Peter Mead, Willie Parker, Colin Underwood and Ian Hacking. If I remember rightly, Peter Mead was on his way home after attending Bill Keal's funeral when he was killed. Those were tragic days.

As Chevin says a tragic death especially for such a large family. It is nice to get the back ground of an author though, it puts a personality instead of just a name. Who would have guessed a prize fighter.

I have a book by David Carl Forbes; it is just called "Small Stream Fishing" published in 1966 for 17 shillings and sixpence. It still has the dust jacket. I have not heard this one mentioned yet, is it a rarity?
A nice little book.

markg said:

I have not heard this one mentioned yet, is it a rarity?
A nice little book.

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Not got the book with me Mark but I think it was in the preface where the author writes that your book was reviewed by DW who gave David some ideas to extend and expand on what he had written. The second book was based on this.

Apologies if this is not absolutely correct, I will check tonight.

Chevin, I've read some articles on booth fighting, the owner would leave loose boards under the ring, slacken ropes, remove padding from gloves, select the "contender" and his fighter would generally be very experienced.
Great background info, tragic early death.

Thank's to Chevin for giving us a little background to D.C.F. a truly talented guy.
I met most of the guy's mentioned, and it brought back many happy memories of a time long gone.
I recall one heated exchange between Bill Keal and myself regarding double figure Bream, it ended amicably though.
Happy days, and a bunch of great guys.

Derek Gibson said:

Thank's to Chevin for giving us a little background to D.C.F. a truly talented guy.
I met most of the guy's mentioned, and it brought back many happy memories of a time long gone.
I recall one heated exchange between Bill Keal and myself regarding double figure Bream, it ended amicably though.
Happy days, and a bunch of great guys.

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Bill was a character in his own right and absolutely single minded when it came to his fishing. I remember when FJT, Bill and I were fishing Lough Allen in Ireland at the invitation of the Irish Inland Fisheries Trust. There was one day when it was raining torrentially when we woke up and it hadn't eased by the time we got to the fishery, nor did it ease all day. FJT, Hugh Gough and I gave up very quickly but Bill fished right through the day! Unfortunately, he never caught anything. The next day we went to another part of the Lough and bumped into another real character whose name ( Ray something) escapes me for the moment. He was a brilliant angler and quite a philosopher too. He lived in a beaten up Hillman Imp van and I have never seen squaller like it. Unfortunately he is no longer with us either.

It was Ray Webb

Yes Webby, a quaint guy, with even quainter sayings. And also sadly missed.
One example, ''If he caught a jack, it wasn't a jack, it was nothing more than a saurey garfish''.
The last time we were together was on the Relief Channel, where he was extolling the virtues of ''Complan'', meal in a can lad, to be taken when his alarm clock went off, which he carried in a bag. A wonderful guy.
Oh now you've got me started Chevin, i'm off down memory lane.

derek
its very rare that we see anything about bill keal/or ray webb.if you get a chance put up a few more stories about ray/bill if you dont mind.i believe barrie rickards was writing a book about ray webb but he died before he could complete it.

Greg Matthews said:

derek
its very rare that we see anything about bill keal/or ray webb.if you get a chance put up a few more stories about ray/bill if you dont mind.i believe barrie rickards was writing a book about ray webb but he died before he could complete it.

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While I obviously wasn't asked, I do know a little about Bill Keal from the early '60s. When I first met him, he fished with the same guy on almost every trip. That guy's name was Lewis and they were actually referred to as Keal and Lewis. They also had season permits for Woburn Abbey when it was first opened to anglers. I think that was 1964. They fished for zander and catfish in the Shoulder of Mutton lake but I can't remember how they fared. I wasn't too interested in the zanders or cats and fished another lake. I think they were there when Dave Cheshire caught what was, at that time, the second biggest zander ever caught in England. In those days there were very few waters in England that held either species. Woburn and Claydon Lakes had zander and cats and Marsworth Reservoir also got a few cats.

In 1963 I caught some Great Ouse barbel at a place called Hemmingford Grey and around that time Keal and Lewis began to fish a lake called Eggits Lake close to where I caught my barbel. I forget what they were fishing for primarily but Bill Keal caught a pike of 30lbs there.

When we fished Lough Allen Bill produced some of his home made surface lures. I had never seen anything like them, their action was beyond belief. I am sure that they would have been deadly but the Lough Allen pike were ignoring whatever we threw at them.

Bill also fished either Lough Corrib or Mask for the big trout there after our trip to Allen, instead of driving back to England with me, went up to the Loughs with Fred Wagstaffe and Bob Reynolds with the infamous Black Pig where I believe they caught trout to around 16lbs.

When I first knew Bill, he never had a car and so he was reliant on his friends for transport to wherever he went. He showed his appreciation in paying for whatever was needed. I have known very few people to be as anxious to pay his way - and even more - than Bill. Eventually, he did get a car and of course it was when he was standing beside it when it broke down, he was killed by a passing vehicle.

I had the DCF book on Roach Fishing about 30-35 years ago and wore it out reading it and re-reading it - lending it out to mates...... who has no respect for keeping it tidy so it virtually fell apart and eventually it went missing about 2 years back.

Glad to say I just bought a virtually pristine example of this book + DWrapper off ebay this week and it goes in the Angling Library as one of my favourites.

Time has shown that his "Environmental Theory" on roach as written about in this book has really been spot on in my view.

He was a great writer.

Mark