Expert Anglers
- Thread starter GrahamM
- Start date
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Ron (Rontroversial) Clay
Guest
It can ne hard to define.
Yet I, like Graham have fished many times in the company of what can be termed, an "expert".
They have that uncanny ability to be able to catch fish in any circumstances, no matter what the species, or the water, or the location, or the country.
They can, with skill, use any method of angling effectively, from trotting a float, legering, casting a fly whether it be dry or wet, on still water or river; fishing a lure, working a livebait or even chucking out a boilie on a bolt rig.
These guys are able to demonstrate watercraft to a great degree. They can look at a piece of water and within minutes they will know where to fish and with what method and bait.
And they will catch the fish
These are anglers who are in total tune with the waters they fish. They understand the habits of their quarry intimately.
They are the true experts.
Not only that, a true expert does not need a going water to demonstate his skills. He can be as happy on the local canal catching 10oz roach as on a chalk stream catching 4 lb browns on the dry. He will be able to utiise all methods and if he is a fly fisher he will be ablle to create and tie his own patterns.
Most of all he will want to fish in a way where great skills are necessary to catch his fish. He will get more satisfaction from that than setting traps.
Graham, you are right. **** Walker was probably the most skillfull all-round angler of our time.
I have tried to learn all the skills that he had.
He is my true mentor.
Yet I, like Graham have fished many times in the company of what can be termed, an "expert".
They have that uncanny ability to be able to catch fish in any circumstances, no matter what the species, or the water, or the location, or the country.
They can, with skill, use any method of angling effectively, from trotting a float, legering, casting a fly whether it be dry or wet, on still water or river; fishing a lure, working a livebait or even chucking out a boilie on a bolt rig.
These guys are able to demonstrate watercraft to a great degree. They can look at a piece of water and within minutes they will know where to fish and with what method and bait.
And they will catch the fish
These are anglers who are in total tune with the waters they fish. They understand the habits of their quarry intimately.
They are the true experts.
Not only that, a true expert does not need a going water to demonstate his skills. He can be as happy on the local canal catching 10oz roach as on a chalk stream catching 4 lb browns on the dry. He will be able to utiise all methods and if he is a fly fisher he will be ablle to create and tie his own patterns.
Most of all he will want to fish in a way where great skills are necessary to catch his fish. He will get more satisfaction from that than setting traps.
Graham, you are right. **** Walker was probably the most skillfull all-round angler of our time.
I have tried to learn all the skills that he had.
He is my true mentor.
I
Ian Whittaker
Guest
Gotta agree with much of what you say Ron.However I would think that the expert would take as much pleasure from "setting traps" as he would from "hunting " to take his chosen quarry. My view is that most coarse fishing is "trapping" and game fishing is "hunting".
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Ron (Rontroversial) Clay
Guest
I might to tend to disagree with you on that score Ian.
But I am tired out at the moment and I need to go to bed.
But I am tired out at the moment and I need to go to bed.
Murray Rogers
Well-known member
Brilliant article Graham, and you are dead right. The guys who are realy good are streets ahead, and even they don't know why.
They just do things instinctivley.
I learned (was shown ), a great lesson a few years ago on Godalmings famous Lake. It was a match and I drew one of the favoured pegs, The Oaks, which was always there or abouts in the frame. I weighed in 65Ib for second in the match. Not to be sniffed at cos there were some very good rods around, but I was in the right area.
The match was won with over 120Ib by the guy next to me on a lesser peg. For the last hour of the match I ceased fishing and went and sat behind him. It was awesome.
He seemed to have an in built idea of what was happening in front of him, and he knew what to do and when to do it.
I talked to him whilst he fished on, and asked why he had made small changes to the rig etc, but the reply was of no help cos he had not even registered the fact that he had made changes over a few minutes (It was Instinctive).
The guys name was Steve Gardener, who at the moment has got to be the best match angler to have never won the world title.
I agree about Walker by the way, he was a one off.
They just do things instinctivley.
I learned (was shown ), a great lesson a few years ago on Godalmings famous Lake. It was a match and I drew one of the favoured pegs, The Oaks, which was always there or abouts in the frame. I weighed in 65Ib for second in the match. Not to be sniffed at cos there were some very good rods around, but I was in the right area.
The match was won with over 120Ib by the guy next to me on a lesser peg. For the last hour of the match I ceased fishing and went and sat behind him. It was awesome.
He seemed to have an in built idea of what was happening in front of him, and he knew what to do and when to do it.
I talked to him whilst he fished on, and asked why he had made small changes to the rig etc, but the reply was of no help cos he had not even registered the fact that he had made changes over a few minutes (It was Instinctive).
The guys name was Steve Gardener, who at the moment has got to be the best match angler to have never won the world title.
I agree about Walker by the way, he was a one off.
C
Chris Bishop
Guest
I wonder if angling's ever going to throw up another Walker. We have people on here who excel at one or two aspects of fishing, some write things I read and wish I'd written them.
Walker was THE authority because he had a way with words. Rickards and Webb wrote so many definitive things about pike fishing, bacause they boiled things down to the point where the likes of me could understand them and their words hold good 30 years on.
The matchmen of a generation ago, the Ivan Marks/Kevin Ashurst era, when the tackle began to evolve that lived up to peoples' aspirations.
Now we've got gear they'd have died for but I really think we've lost the spark. Maybe there's nothing new to say. Maybe the technology's evolved faster than we have as anglers.
Walker was THE authority because he had a way with words. Rickards and Webb wrote so many definitive things about pike fishing, bacause they boiled things down to the point where the likes of me could understand them and their words hold good 30 years on.
The matchmen of a generation ago, the Ivan Marks/Kevin Ashurst era, when the tackle began to evolve that lived up to peoples' aspirations.
Now we've got gear they'd have died for but I really think we've lost the spark. Maybe there's nothing new to say. Maybe the technology's evolved faster than we have as anglers.
C
Cakey
Guest
Hurry up and rub off on me!
D
Dave Slater
Guest
Ron Clay !!!!
R
Ron (Rontroversial) Clay
Guest
No mate, Walker used to wind people up far better than I do.
If you've ever sat on the banks of the Upper Ouse with Walker, listening him discuss and argue the finer points of fishing, photography, opera, classical music, cricket, politics, religion, other anglers, lawnmower design; and tell jokes, solid for 6 hours, right into the small hours of the morning who will know what I mean.
Although he may have wound you up, he did treat you as an equal. He had that great sense of timing both in his conversation and his writing, to prompt the sort of response he was waiting for, that led on to further debate. This reaction delighted him.
You knew he fully respected you when he called you by your surname only. I had a great many letters from him that were headed: "Clay", but in response I never ever said anything more than: "Dear ****".
At times he could sound very arrogant, but wasn't really, this was all part of the wind-up.
If Walker had never been an angler, he would have made a brilliant politician - Tory of course. His whole family were staunch conservatives.
Not only that he could take-off any accent you would dare to choose.
And on top of this he was quite truly a very fine all-round angler.
There will never be anyone quite like him.
I cried when I heared of his death in 1985.
It was like losing a father.
If you've ever sat on the banks of the Upper Ouse with Walker, listening him discuss and argue the finer points of fishing, photography, opera, classical music, cricket, politics, religion, other anglers, lawnmower design; and tell jokes, solid for 6 hours, right into the small hours of the morning who will know what I mean.
Although he may have wound you up, he did treat you as an equal. He had that great sense of timing both in his conversation and his writing, to prompt the sort of response he was waiting for, that led on to further debate. This reaction delighted him.
You knew he fully respected you when he called you by your surname only. I had a great many letters from him that were headed: "Clay", but in response I never ever said anything more than: "Dear ****".
At times he could sound very arrogant, but wasn't really, this was all part of the wind-up.
If Walker had never been an angler, he would have made a brilliant politician - Tory of course. His whole family were staunch conservatives.
Not only that he could take-off any accent you would dare to choose.
And on top of this he was quite truly a very fine all-round angler.
There will never be anyone quite like him.
I cried when I heared of his death in 1985.
It was like losing a father.
R
Ron (Rontroversial) Clay
Guest
And by the way Chris, you mention Ray Webb.
Although not a "skilled" angler in the way many of us imagine it, Ray UNDERSTOOD pike and tench better than many so called experts of today.
If Ray would have gone to the trouble to aquire some better tackle, he would have caught a heck of a lot more big fish than he did. And he could afford it.
However Ray was a bit eccentric and never did rate rods at all although his reels and lines were generally sound.
I would put Ray probabley number 2 to Walker as being the greatest. To spend many fishing trips in his company was a great pleasure. There was never a dull moment; and by crikey did we have some laughs?
Although not a "skilled" angler in the way many of us imagine it, Ray UNDERSTOOD pike and tench better than many so called experts of today.
If Ray would have gone to the trouble to aquire some better tackle, he would have caught a heck of a lot more big fish than he did. And he could afford it.
However Ray was a bit eccentric and never did rate rods at all although his reels and lines were generally sound.
I would put Ray probabley number 2 to Walker as being the greatest. To spend many fishing trips in his company was a great pleasure. There was never a dull moment; and by crikey did we have some laughs?
B
Budgie Burgess
Guest
Do you think that there is a difference between "an angling expert" and an "expert angler"?
R
Ron (Rontroversial) Clay
Guest
I tend to agree Graham. I spent several days with Benny Ashhurst in Ireland in the early 60s.
You could see that he was a natural and way ahead of all the other match anglers at the time.
Benny was a great thinker, something that a great many match anglers of those days, and even today do not bother to do.
If they catch nothing or draw a bad peg, you should hear them moan. Not Benny, he did something about it.
And what a laugh in the pub after the day's fishing.
Dear Old Benny.
You could see that he was a natural and way ahead of all the other match anglers at the time.
Benny was a great thinker, something that a great many match anglers of those days, and even today do not bother to do.
If they catch nothing or draw a bad peg, you should hear them moan. Not Benny, he did something about it.
And what a laugh in the pub after the day's fishing.
Dear Old Benny.
Experts that I'll sadly never meet:
Richard Walker - read virtually every word he wrote - expert, controversial and a great author.
Bernard Venables - maybe more of "an expert on angling?" - always came across as a true gentleman.
Experts I would give my eye teeth to meet:
Chris Yates - another gentleman angler whose written words can make you want to pack your rods and get to the waterside.
Bob James - appears to be half man/half fish!
Experts I've been lucky enough to meet and fish with:
Steve Gardner - supremely generous with his time and knowledge - if you ever get pegged next to him, then don't bother tackling up, simply sit and watch the master at work!
Jan Porter - one of the nicest people I've ever met in the angling world.
Watch him fish and you'll see he never stops "working" at it.
Match angler turned specimen angler and again supremely generous with his time.
Richard Walker - read virtually every word he wrote - expert, controversial and a great author.
Bernard Venables - maybe more of "an expert on angling?" - always came across as a true gentleman.
Experts I would give my eye teeth to meet:
Chris Yates - another gentleman angler whose written words can make you want to pack your rods and get to the waterside.
Bob James - appears to be half man/half fish!
Experts I've been lucky enough to meet and fish with:
Steve Gardner - supremely generous with his time and knowledge - if you ever get pegged next to him, then don't bother tackling up, simply sit and watch the master at work!
Jan Porter - one of the nicest people I've ever met in the angling world.
Watch him fish and you'll see he never stops "working" at it.
Match angler turned specimen angler and again supremely generous with his time.
D
Del Jarman
Guest
Peter I have to agree 110% with you about Jan Porter a fantastic angler and a fantastic bloke as well.
I would give my eye teeth (if I still had them) to fish with him.
I would give my eye teeth (if I still had them) to fish with him.
R
Ron (Rontroversial) Clay
Guest
Jan Porter, yes. Although I have never met him, I like him because he loves the Trent.
The other guy I like is Archie Braddock.
However don't ever phone him, you'll never get off. His enthusiasm is truly infectious.
Another guy is Bob Roberts of Doncaster - although he has a Rotherham number. Again a successful match angler who has turned specimen hunter. Lovely company on any fishing trip.
Actually my number 3 is the late great Tag Barnes. Tag was more than just a great angler, he understood British wildlife far better than any of the orange anorak types you see today.
He loved British birds, but not cormorants.
He was the supreme all round angler. **** Walker once said that Tag was one of the best anglers he had ever seen in action.
Tag Barnes was extremely underrated as an angler, mainly because he was never a wealthy man and lived in Sheffield, which at that time did not have much in the way of good fishing around it.
However when he travelled south, he showed them all how to fish.
And a lovely personality too.
His real name was Ernest. Tag is an old Yorkshire term for poacher.
The other guy I like is Archie Braddock.
However don't ever phone him, you'll never get off. His enthusiasm is truly infectious.
Another guy is Bob Roberts of Doncaster - although he has a Rotherham number. Again a successful match angler who has turned specimen hunter. Lovely company on any fishing trip.
Actually my number 3 is the late great Tag Barnes. Tag was more than just a great angler, he understood British wildlife far better than any of the orange anorak types you see today.
He loved British birds, but not cormorants.
He was the supreme all round angler. **** Walker once said that Tag was one of the best anglers he had ever seen in action.
Tag Barnes was extremely underrated as an angler, mainly because he was never a wealthy man and lived in Sheffield, which at that time did not have much in the way of good fishing around it.
However when he travelled south, he showed them all how to fish.
And a lovely personality too.
His real name was Ernest. Tag is an old Yorkshire term for poacher.
A
albert watkinson
Guest
best angler for me was benny ashurst.i was born in the same town as benny and to see him close up on a dead leigh canal and winning matches was something else.he won over 300 matches and dont forget he was instrumental in bringing the stick float and caster to us.i still have his book published in 1968 and i still read it to better myself.
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Richard Drayson
Guest
Peter, I was fortunate enough to fish with Bob James last year. We didn't have the opportunity to chat really though as we were too busy trying to catch. He came across exactly the same as in the "Passion" TV progs. Great to watch him Wallis cast.
Chris Yates, another of my heroes and one of angling's great characters.
I've only ever spoken to him on the phone but I'd love to meet him.
If I spend enough time on the river this autumn I might be lucky enough to see him.
He is a HPS member.
Chris Yates, another of my heroes and one of angling's great characters.
I've only ever spoken to him on the phone but I'd love to meet him.
If I spend enough time on the river this autumn I might be lucky enough to see him.
He is a HPS member.
E
ED (The ORIGINAL and REAL one)
Guest
Albert
Benny was always full of stories to tell...
One of them about cycling to the Lancaster canal and using the rent money to pay his 'pool' money --(probably very instrumental in him becoming the great angler he was)
Or how when he was a kid he used to climb over his neighbours fence and 'borrow' from the shed an old cane fishing rod because he didn't have one of his own---he thought his neighbour didn't know... but he (the neighbour) knew all the time
Or about how he used to take 2 spoons (he called them fettlin' irons)with him when he went on his bike to use as tyre levers in case he had a puncture
Definitely 'a character' and a great angler and a lovely man ......
Benny was always full of stories to tell...
One of them about cycling to the Lancaster canal and using the rent money to pay his 'pool' money --(probably very instrumental in him becoming the great angler he was)
Or how when he was a kid he used to climb over his neighbours fence and 'borrow' from the shed an old cane fishing rod because he didn't have one of his own---he thought his neighbour didn't know... but he (the neighbour) knew all the time
Or about how he used to take 2 spoons (he called them fettlin' irons)with him when he went on his bike to use as tyre levers in case he had a puncture
Definitely 'a character' and a great angler and a lovely man ......
A
albert watkinson
Guest
eddie at 16 he was beating anglers twice his age and top class anglers at that.they were fed up with him keep winning the club championship.he was unselfish with his knowledge and that to me was a sign of a very great angler.we used to pack up to watch him.