Fishing magazine writers of the past.

[David Rogers 3]

Tony Miles wrote brilliant articles,however upon reading a few of his books there is a hint of ruthless determination,which I personally find excessive

Mind you, it was Richard Walker who first said "You have to be deadly" and I think this is one of the reasons Bernard Venables never really warmed to him.

 

[chevin4]

I met Tony Miles at a NASA conference circa 1990 where he did a presentation on Chub with Trefor West. They came across as totally different Tony came across as very intense and serious whereas Trefor was much more light hearted and jovial. Whilst I enjoy Tony's articles I sometimes find he made the business of catching big fish unnecessarily complicated and has been pointed out there was a fair bit of repetition

 

[chevin4]

Mind you, it was Richard Walker who first said "You have to be deadly" and I think this is one of the reasons Bernard Venables never really warmed to him.

I think Richard Walker had the right balance whereas he put a lot of effort into catching big fish he didn't lose sight that fishing should be fun and enjoyed in the company of good friends. I think it would have been amazing to be around the Hitchin scene back in the fifties and sixties and been a member of his group.

 

[markcw]

Frank Barlow, and some of the tales he used to come out with, and the description of some of the pegs he had in matches.
Another was Syd Huggins, another angler who could describe events that he was involved in.

 

[xenon]

Frank Barlow, and some of the tales he used to come out with, and the description of some of the pegs he had in matches.
Another was Syd Huggins, another angler who could describe events that he was involved in.

Yes, it seemed from his columns that Frank had an anti-midas touch at the draw bag, most swims being described as rat holes!

 

[chevin4]

As a kid starting out in the mid sixties I always enjoyed reading Colin Willocks books and articles. The first fishing book I read even before Mr Crabtree was his book Come Fishing With Me I found this very inspiring it was written in such a way I felt I could have been on the bank with him. It was written in a very basic non technical way which was ideal for someone like me who was fishing for the first time.

 

[rob48]

My reading of mags goes back to the early 1970s, I've still got many of them stored in my office (back bedroom) who were your favourite writers of the past? I'll start it off with the first one, Chris Binyon. Chris hailed I seem to remember from the Midlands and wrote about his and his mates exploits and adventures fishing the River Severn mainly for pike. The fox that would come and steal the bacon from the frying pan and got named Bacon Chops or something like that. Not sure all his tails were true, but they were interesting and so funny it didn’t really matter.

Who were yours?

I think the fox that they used to feed was simply called "Bacon Face" but I might be wrong, was a long time ago.
Binyon's yarns were always worth a read. There was one really funny one when their van was stopped by the police who asked about their business and one of them replied "Weeeem goowwwin fishin" in a broad Brummie accent.

 

[rob48]

Used to enjoy Richard Wade in Coarse Angling, and Ron Lees (one for the teenagers there)

Funnily enough I used to bump into these two occasionally. Wadey was a funny guy with a really weird sense of humour. I'd see him on the Trent at Burton or Shardlow matches, and also at Willesley when it was on the LSD card, before it became day-ticket and stocked with small carp.
Ron Lees was a lovely man who I'd sometimes see on the lower Severn after he'd packed up serious match fishing. Although known for his meat methods he was a tidy stick float angler as well and also enjoyed fly fishing. I think he left Droitwich and moved down to Tewkesbury, where sadly he passed away about five years ago.
Both very enjoyable writers who contributed when magazines actually contained reading material instead of hundreds of tackle placement photographs.

 

[108831]

I will never forget the article where Ron Lees wrote of his heart attack,which he had whilst fishing a winter match on his beloved Severn,if I remember correctly he thanked a well known match angler(remember the article,but not the name of this angler) for his swift actions....

 

[Mark Wintle]

Ron Lees wrote a book called 'An Angler's Life for Me'; it was Dave Harrell who extricated Ron from the mud.

 

[108831]

Thanks Mark.

 

[rob48]

I will never forget the article where Ron Lees wrote of his heart attack,which he had whilst fishing a winter match on his beloved Severn,if I remember correctly he thanked a well known match angler(remember the article,but not the name of this angler) for his swift actions....

Stevie Webb of the Shakespeare Professionals team was the "first responder" when Ron had his heart attack on the bank of the Severn but he wasn't big enough to move him, so went and fetched Harrell to assist who was in the peg on the other side.

 

[bezzer]

I remember the articles written by Chris Dawn for the Angling Times. From fishing for Bone Fish in the Bahamas, Trout from Graffham or roving on a small river, fishing lobworms for Chub. His writing was wonderfully descriptive and his enthusiasm for the sport infectious.