Who, if anyone inspired you.

In my own case being a lifelong predator angler, in the early days that would have been Dennis Pye, regardless of the criticism he has been subjected to in recent years.

I believe that most of us are motivated/inspired by certain individuals, certainly in our early years.

So, who would you choose in your particular case?

Of the named anglers the one who had the most influence on me as a kid was undoubtedly John Dean, back in the days when the stick float was the King of the Trent.

Two unknown anglers who took the trouble to take me to rivers and take the time out to teach me will also hold a very high regard and a debt of gratitude from me.

Most tyros in Sheffield had angling mad uncles and older cousins, those and most other adults fished and it was inevitable that it rubbed off on most kids in one way or another.
One of the many older anglers who gave me inspiration was a total unknown generally, a chap called Donald Keen, a superb float angler in the fine and far off approach, I owe the man loads for putting up with my constant questioning.
I cant finnish without mentioning Sheffield match angler "gentleman" George Sands.
A truly nice guy and an excellent match angler.

Derek

So many, I was lucky to meet and fish with some brilliant lads fishing the Epping Forest ponds.

Just luck really, right time, right place, one of the older lads called Roy Child who is sadly no longer with us, along with Ray Taylor and Len Savage started the West Essex Specimen Hunters.

I was the youngest member and learnt a huge amount about fishing, water craft, rod and tackle making, you name I did the apprenticeship.

I went onto fish with many of the house hold names of Carp Fishing, in the formative years, then into Kent for re-education.

And there were plenty of brilliant anglers in the Lea Valley, who never thought of themselves as inspiring, but there example inspired me.

Many now have sadly passed away, but their memory lives on in a number of well known anglers ?

Bob

Just testing the "new" server.

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Migod..it works

That would be me dad, after he used to take me fishing with him from me being an infant i've always gone fishin' thereafter.
My inspiration now comes purely from being out at the waters edge and catching fish .

Originally no one inspired me. I was sneered at as wasting my time going fishing. I always wanted to go though since my earliest memories.

Then the inspiration of a certain Mr. Crabtree took my imagination.
As one of Dereks previous thread....its been a long journey.

No one for me either. My dear old dad bought me an old cane rod to have a dabble in the river/stream behind the terraced houses over the road. I began catching trout in about 4/5 ins of water and I was fascinated (until I discovered girls and bikes that is).

What inspired me was seeing a bloke catch a bronze bream that must have weighed 3lb at best but what a fish , my humble skinny perch and finger sized roach paled away and I was determined to catch such a fish

Lord Paul of Sheffield said:

What inspired me was seeing a bloke catch a bronze bream that must have weighed 3lb at best but what a fish , my humble skinny perch and finger sized roach paled away and I was determined to catch such a fish

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And have you yet M'Lord?:wh

Like othershere I have been fortunate enough to meet and fish witH many inspirational anglers over many years. each of them inspired me in different ways.

Probably the most early inspiration came form **** Walker when I was in my very early teen years,
Later on, during my decade of Carl (Carp - thanks to Kevin) chasing then it was Jules Cundiff; I was always impressed with his methodical approach and he was really open to offering advice and help.

Then came my match fish decades and many anglers in the UK, Europe and Scandinavia inspired me; the likes of Jean Desque, Roberto Trabucco, Milo Colombo and the two Stevies; Gardner Saunders all of whom I have been lucky enough to fish beside. Probably most of all though was the much missed, late, Jan Porter.

Jan's approach to his fishing was both singular and focused, and yet he always had time to share and chat and offer advice.

Back when he was fishing for Norway he often came over to fish our local matches, and on one day when we were having a practice session he just stopped fishing, and went for a walk about to collect some very large fir cones for his children.

We found him sat by the river just looking and making a sketch; "so I can remember a terrific day out" he said.

As I said, an inspirational character who is sadly missed.

I never met Jan Porter but he always seemed a"nice bloke" with no airs and graces just someone who loved his fishing. I was genuinely upset when I learned of his death. Very sad!

Peter Jacobs said:

y early teen years,
Later on, during my decade of Carl chasing

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Peter - all those ex wives and now you tell us about ex boyfriends too...!!!!!

Kevin Perkins said:

Peter - all those ex wives and now you tell us about ex boyfriends too...!!!!!

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LOL, meant Carp, of course . . . .

My very first sessions involved going with my older brother, when he was about 12 and I'd have been 8 or 9.... He quickly lost interest with it, but something really stuck with me and I started going frequently, sometimes with mates from school, more often alone.

If there was anyone at this stage "inspiring" me, it would have probably been the local tackle shop owner, a Mr Ian Hayden. Although he was a bit gruff he always had some time for the kids that went in his shop for half a pint of maggots. He'd show some interest in what you wanted to catch, with a word or two of advice and maybe some inside information on where was fishing well locally. Tackle shops can be intimidating places for kids but he did his bit to keep the enthusiasm alive.

Then came girls, guitars, music, guitars and girls.... I stopped for about 5 or 6 years. And then the next person to "inspire" me was simply a good friend from down the pub who it turned out share my boyhood passion for fishing and had spent most of his years as a lad fishing on the same waters. So at the age of about 20, we started fishing together and that's something I'm very happy to say is still going on 26 years later.

I've never really looked at famous anglers in terms of what they do and the results they achieve with a mind to thinking - "that's what I want to do..." With maybe one exception. The "Rod Race" series that Matt Hayes made with Mick Brown did seem to portray two anglers entirely at ease in each others company, enjoying their fishing and a good deal of banter, celebrating any really notable catches along the way, without that every being the be all and end all. Reminds me a lot of my motivation for fishing now.

As a child my Grandfather would take me on club matches. Supposedly to watch and learn, but actually to act as a dogsbody and to guard the gear after the match (armed with a packet of Smiths crisps and a bottle of Tizer), whilst the grown-ups were in the Pub, jugging it up. The watching and learning was a good grounding for me and I naturally adopted the "match fishing ethos" that has remained with me ever since. I needed little additional inspiration, I had plenty of that already. I had the good fortune to rub shoulders with and compete against some fine Nottingham Trent match anglers and many became good friends. Some have already been mentioned on this thread so I will refrain from name dropping. Mixing with these river men gave me the motivation to try and to master, different methods in different conditions on an assortment of venues and so abandon the "Me favourite float, Me favourite rod and Me favourite peg." syndrome. That education is something that I cherish. Pete.