Obituary – John Ledger

JOHN LEDGER RIP, 1945 – 2007

John, well known for his often controversial threads on FishingMagic, finally lost his battle against cancer, which he fought with incredible bravery over the past 9 years.

I will never forget John; he was probably the best river float angler I have ever seen in action. We fished together a great deal, especially on his beloved River Idle, where he was a master with the stick float. But John caught a great many big fish on the float from many rivers. He particularly loved the Swale and its chub. And unlike his name, he wasn’t particularly fond of legering.

John Ledger, RIP, doing what he loved best on his beloved River Idle

John was a very proud Yorkshireman and true to his Yorkshire upbringing, often calling a spade a shovel! He could be scathing in print, on either websites or in his regular column in Angling Star, but he had that rare ability to charm even his most voracious opponents when they met him in the flesh, and you could never doubt the man’s integrity.

I’ll never forget the way he used to greet me if I was having a day on the Idle.

“Heyup tha old Coffin Dodger, tha not feeding often enough!”

I first met John Ledger in the year 2000 when I was writing a regular column for Yorkshire’s angling newspaper, the Angling Star and contributing to FishingMagic. He suggested we have a few fishing trips together, and that we did. It didn’t take me long to realise that here was a man who was a bit special and I encouraged him to write for the Angling Star. He produced many excellent articles that were to the point – blunt in fact, yet he wrote from the heart.

I am going to miss John terribly. Not just as a fishing mate, but as a friend. Many were the times when either he or myself ran up our phone bills discussing everything from barbel anglers who invade our swims on the Trent, the merits of the latest rod and reel, to global politics. There was never a dull moment with John, whether we were on the phone, or fishing together.

Condolences go out, not just from myself, but from all the great friends he made, to Ann, his widow, to Steven his son, and the rest of his family.

I am sure the next time I fish the Idle, and my float is running down straight and true, and when it disappears and the rod tip thumps to the fight of a big redfin, Old John will be looking down from above and smiling.

A few lines from Graham
It’s perfectly true what Ron writes; John was a forthright but very genuine man. At times he was a right pain in the arse to me as an editor, with my ‘delete’ key running hot when he was on top form and replying to a forum thread about race or religion. Some days I would see his name on the forum and think, “Oh no, please John, gimme a break!”

But what I liked about him most wasn’t his angling ability, which was immense, nor his forthright comments, which were genuine reflections of what many people believe, but his honesty. He would post something quite staggering in this PC aware age, but before I was made aware of it by someone pressing the ‘Moderator’ button I would receive an email or phone call from him.

“Sorry Graham, I’ve just posted something I shouldn’t have done.” He would say. “Mind you, I’m not sorry for what I believe, I’m just sorry I posted it now I’ve had chance to think about it and realised it’s going to cause you problems. Will you delete it please.”

That was John. Many of you won’t realise that most of his posts that got deleted were at his request. He didn’t post outrageous comments on the forum to demonstrate how bold and brazen he was, but quite simply because he believed what he wrote and couldn’t resist letting everyone know. At least until he realised that it wasn’t fair on me.

We became friends, fishing together on the Trent, the Idle and the Derwent, the last time only a few weeks before he died. I could see a big difference in him then from when I’d last seen him on the Idle at Christmas and it was really sad to see him struggling just to fish. Like his good friend Mick Howson, I helped him with his gear but wished I could do more for the obvious pain he was suffering. Incidentally, I hope I have a friend like Mick if the time comes when I need help to fish. He was a godsend to John, and John always made a point of letting me know.

But John didn’t give in. Right to the end he fished until he could fish no more.

John Ledger was an angler, a real angler, who loved fishing with such a passion death had to wait a while longer than it normally does for a man who was in the grip of a terrible disease.

RIP John, but if there is an afterlife of some kind I hope there’s some good float fishing for you, and that all your pals are English Christians. If not, they could be in for a rough ride.

His ashes will be scattered on the River Idle near Misson