Inspirational anglers

chub_on_the_block · Jun 19, 2012

Have you ever witnessed anglers with such superb technique or catching ability that you were inspired by what you saw or tried to emulate it?

Im not thinking of secondhand reports read in the press or even watched on video, but anglers you just happened to fish near or watch for a while?

Probably my strongest memory was of a chap on the Mole at Hersham (before the river was transformed into a flood relief channel), who fished some shallow fast water crammed with crowfoot by wading out half way and fished free-lined floating bread under the far bank and between the streamers to catch about a dozen 2-4Ib chub. Within a week i was back at the same spot with my first pair of waders..and blanked.

benny samways · Jun 19, 2012

Nobody specific, but about 20 years ago Barbellers on the Great Ouse would inspire me.

These guys would turn up with a rod, net, chair and bait bucket and fish in a way that seemed so mysterious to me and my friend. Mass baiting with hemp, boilies and using not just luncheon meat but flaovoured luncheon meat! Rods low to the ground and an affiliation with their target species that seems lost today. They just seemed to know what they were doing.

Lots of identi-kit barbel fishers on the Ouse these days, scratching their heads and blanking.

I would like to see Keith Speer in action floatfishing a river, that would be pretty inspirational.

Lord Paul of Sheffield · Jun 19, 2012

Lee Swords float fishing the Dam Flask - object lesson on how to fish the waggler

mark brailsford 2 · Jun 19, 2012

It was seeing Charles Jardine fly casting on the river Derwent in Chatsworth park that got me into fly fishing, the things he can do with a fly rod is just amazing, a really nice bloke too!

red creel · Jun 19, 2012

Yep good old Kenny Collings giving the dace a right mullering on the Thames at Richmond in its heyday.It was a "wag n mag" masterclass.

chub_on_the_block · Jun 19, 2012

red creel said:
Yep good old Kenny Collings giving the dace a right mullering on the Thames at Richmond in its heyday.It was a "wag n mag" masterclass.

He was one of my heroes and a helpful bloke when i used to use KC Angling when I lived in the area. I drew near him in a Thames Championship one year, but never saw him fish. Another name was John Merrit i think - he was always winning or doing well. Another local that i did see fish - and was very good - was John Barefield, me and my mates even used to name swims after him like the "JB Bush peg" at Tadpole Bridge!.

chav professor · Jun 19, 2012

Friends and mentors from the CSG...

redfin123 · Jun 19, 2012

I once sat and watched the great george sands trotting the trent with the centerpin, only the senior ones among us will remember his name. but what an angler he was, I sat and watched as he reeled in roach after roach. He put that float through the same every cast gently thumbing the reel, and seeing his float disapear in the same spot time after time, he realy inspired my way of fishing to this very day. He realy was one of the great anglers of the past.

Merv Harrison · Jun 19, 2012

Steve Canty a top match angler from years ago, fished next to him in a match and could'nt really watch him, but was still impressed. Then a few years later, a gang of us went over to Ireland for a weeks pleasure fishing, and Steve was in the group, the man was like a machine, everything precise, not a moment wasted. an absolute eye-opener.

And a great bloke to be with.

Peter Jacobs · Jun 20, 2012

Two or three spring to mind:

Watching Steve Gardner fishing the waggler on a Norwegian river that he had never seen before and proceding to wipe the floor with everyone who knw the river very well.

Watching Dave Vincent fishing the long pole in half a gale to record yet another win on a Norwegian lake, again one that he'd never seen before.

Watching Jan Porter putting a new rod through its paces and proceding to more or less empty a river while giving a running commentary of the performance of the rod . . . brilliant.

chub_on_the_block · Jun 20, 2012

Top match anglers or even the top club anglers can be inspirational with their technique and catching ability but what about anglers that do things differently to the herd?. The example i gave of a guy wading out and free-lining bread was in a swim that looked simply un-fishable - certainly without waders..

When carping first started on some of the venues i fished the "pioneers" were using bubble floats to wack-out floating baits 80 yards - that was, at the time, inspirational. These day i would be equally impressed by someone working a waggler on a carp lake for a bag of large roach!

Its difficult to know whether an angler has a great sense of watercraft or not or whether someone has just put him on the best swims, but "reading the water" and accurately predicting which are the best swims was something particular individuals were always good at on the old club-outings.

red creel · Jun 20, 2012

chub_on_the_block said:
He was one of my heroes and a helpful bloke when i used to use KC Angling when I lived in the area. I drew near him in a Thames Championship one year, but never saw him fish. Another name was John Merrit i think - he was always winning or doing well. Another local that i did see fish - and was very good - was John Barefield, me and my mates even used to name swims after him like the "JB Bush peg" at Tadpole Bridge!.

I once drew next to K.C. in a match and needless to say was hammered more or less doubling the weight i offered to the scalesman.That memory stayed with me a long time until a few years later when one of the opens at Richmond was advertised in the press.I went along just as spectator hoping Kenny was fishing and sure enough he was.Sat quietly behind and watched in awe as he emptied his peg, that was the event i was describing in my original post.

Many years later i bumped into him at Old Bury Hill when he was running the shop and as you say a more helpful and friendly character would be hard to imagine, one of anglings good guys.

noknot · Jun 20, 2012

Too many to mention, but when I started Carp angling back in the 80's Kevin Maddocks was Incredible, and Carp Fever was the Carp fishers bible!

Still worth a read today as the info is still applicable today as it was 30 years ago and in some areas could give you an edge as the rigs, bait and baiting are long forgoten..........................................Mmmmm where did I put that Dacron...........

skullsat · Jun 20, 2012

The late great Ivan Marks,watched him fishing a competition that was being filmed for Angling Today back in the 70's,he was a true gent,i was pleasure fishing further down the bank.

hurgen akindji · Jun 20, 2012

Although not my most inspirational angler, Dave harrell inspires me when on the big rivers.

terry m · Jun 22, 2012

I fished a gravel pit in the 70's that was also carp fished by Terry Lampard and Tim Norman. Although in the early days of their fishing, Lampard was very proficient to say the least. He just had the knack of getting it right so often.

Class!

Berty · Jun 22, 2012

As someone who likes to chase big fish i have to say the most impresive anglers i have watched are.............................top matchmen!

barbelboi · Jun 22, 2012

I’m going to be different here – James Bruce Snr (aka B James for commercial reasons) ‘Jimmy’ was a friend of my late father and when, commitments permitted, we used to have some great days fishing together in the 50’s. I’ve fished with a few ‘famous’ anglers since but I’ll never forget ‘Jimmy’ or his famous shop in Ealing.
Jerry

red creel · Jun 23, 2012

barbelboi said:
I’m going to be different here – James Bruce Snr (aka B James for commercial reasons) ‘Jimmy’ was a friend of my late father and when, commitments permitted, we used to have some great days fishing together in the 50’s. I’ve fished with a few ‘famous’ anglers since but I’ll never forget ‘Jimmy’ or his famous shop in Ealing.
Jerry

Jerry, i remember you telling me that story at MF back in May.I must admit i did feel envious of you having a link like that to one of the legend's in the tackle trade.

Inspirational anglers

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