It is said that angling has more books than any other sport. There are thousands of them, with an awful load of dross. At times, just about anyone that has caught a few big fish has become a self-proclaimed expert and written a book. But what about those real experts that never divulged their knowledge? Or the experts that did write books but somehow never got around to the ones that I am trying to identify? Forget for a moment the commercial world of publishing and the need to make a profit. What if these books had been written? Just think how much you might learn. Some of the potential authors are still around so you never know!
Dave Howes on roach would be a good one
Roach There are a few good books on roach fishing around, though one or two leave much to be desired. Those worth searching for include ‘This Fishing’ by L. A. Parker (1948), ‘The Book Of the Roach’ by Greville Fennell (1870) and ‘Successful Roach Fishing’ by David Carl Forbes (1973). The one that got away was ‘Roach, The Gentle Giants’ by John Bailey (1987), much of it is excellent especially John’s own contributions, but some of the guest chapters were by those that were far from expert and it shows. Other rare gems are ‘Roach, Rudd and Bream Fishing’ by J. W. Martin (1905) and ‘Big Chub and Roach’ by John Etherington (1985).
So, who should have put pen to paper on roach? One of the unsung experts of all time on roach must be Bill Penney, one time roach record holder. Most anglers know very little of his roach fishing exploits, yet he had several fish over three pounds, and over two hundred two-pounders. A true specialist. I would love to have seen it all in a book.
Many regard Dave Howes as possibly the best roach angler to fish on the Hampshire Avon. He has written little on his roach fishing exploits, just a handful of articles. Plenty would like to see more.
A catch of big dace from the river Dane taken by Graham some 30-odd years ago. The two biggest weighed 1lb and 1lb 1oz
Though Dick Walker wrote on roach many times, both in articles and books, I would have loved to have seen a comprehensive book on the subject by him.
Dace You are lucky to get a chapter on dace tacked on the end of general coarse fishing books. Usually simple trotting techniques are described and that’s your lot. Even ‘Chub and Dace’ by John Bailey (1990) is ninety per cent about chub. But two East Anglian experts, Billy Clarke and Dennis Flack, probably caught more big dace between them than any others. Dennis is still around and, though the commercial demand for such a book is zilch, it would be a wonderful legacy if their expertise and catch records could be preserved for posterity.
Oh for a book on river fishing from Walker
Barbel and the Royalty In the early days of barbel fishing on the Royalty, one angler was at the forefront of making history – F. W. K. Wallis. Little is known of just how good the fishing was in those days. One or two anglers have painstakingly researched what happened from the Fishing Gazette and Angler’s News, but what if F. W. K had written his own book? If Peter Wheat ever completes his book ‘Old Whiskers’, we should find out much more.
River Fishing Back to that man Walker again. Dick Walker wrote many articles on river fishing yet never produced a comprehensive book on the subject. That one could be cobbled together today from his articles should not be in doubt. But here’s a thought. What if he was still around today and produced a book on river fishing? What innovations would he develop? What would be his observations on the changes to our river sport? What would he make of the use of boilies and bolt rigs, of back leads and pellets, of chub over eight pounds and barbel over nineteen pounds?
Specimen Hunting There has been a number of specimen hunting books over the years. Top anglers like Tony Miles, Martin Hooper, Jim Gibbinson and Magic Marsden have all produced books on the subject. But there is one who hasn’t. Bill Rushmer has been catching an awful lot of big fish for a very long time. He has written many articles yet underlying his phenomenal success there is an uncanny degree of watercraft that doesn’t always come out in his articles. Could he explain it all in a book? I for one would buy it!
Match fishing I don’t know if it’s because most match anglers aren’t very good at joined up writing but professional angling journalists have ghosted the majority of good match fishing books. You are then dependent on the journalist’s ability to understand what is going on in the head of the match star.
Bill Rushmer would write a great big fish book
Unfortunately, match anglers are very good at explaining how and what they do but not the ‘Why’. Because of this, match fishing books often date very quickly and the psychology of what makes the top anglers tick is missed. There’s the challenge – an interesting book on match fishing, not a technical manual of shotting diagrams. Could someone pick the brains of Scotthorne? Raison? Gardener? Who would write it? There’s the rub.
Angling on TV by Jack Hargreaves Jack Hargreaves produced ‘Out of Town’ for eighteen years. Though he touched on the trials and tribulations of TV angling in books and articles, I would love to have seen a full book on what really happened in many of the angling episodes. What preparation was required? What went wrong? And what went right? What little secrets were used to fool us the viewing public? Details of a few programmes stick in my memory. Perhaps it’s just a desire to see many of these episodes (not the ones on preparing onions), especially those involving Owen Wentworth and Dave Swallow, again on video (I’ll bet a lot of them were lost years ago!).
The Magic of Fishing Magic Marsden gets to publish five or six articles a week, sometimes more. Find another UK fishing web site that gets even a fraction of that! Look at the potential for a book. All you need is the BBC to make a TV series on the Magic of Fishing and put together a book, and you’ve got it made. Dream on, Bumblebee, dream on. But look at the calibre of writers, Barrie Rickards, Graham himself, Gary Knowles and a host more. What an eclectic book you could put together. Politics, philosophy, angling lore, watercraft, humour, tackle design, descriptive angling writing – there are many possibilities.
The writers on FM could write a great book!
The Future of Angling Back in the mid eighties Barrie Rickards wrote a definitive book on angling that described many of the political problems and challenges facing angling. Nearly twenty years on the world has changed. Is there a case for a visionary book that describes how it could be? One that looked at the bodies that ought to govern angling, funding, the tackle industry, and competition with other sports and interests?
Too rare to be Affordable? There are a few very special books out there that were published and remain highly desirable. The problem is that the print runs were very small, with little chance of a reprint, and consequently the books are very rare and the prices have become prohibitive. I shall give two examples; ‘A Modern Treatise on Practical Coarse Fish Angling’ by Henry Coxon (1896), and ‘The Book Of The Perch’ by Peter Rogers and Steve Burke. Some of BB’s books have been reprinted latterly so that it is now possible to obtain a copy without shelling out several hundred pounds.
Conclusions I’ve had my ramble. I haven’t mentioned some species such as carp because I think that the books have been written. But what book would you like to have seen either published in the past or produced today?
