This book is the long-awaited autobiography of a man who is arguably the UK’s finest all-round angler. The life story of one of the luckiest men alive.
Lucky? I’ll say so. Dave Steuart was lucky enough to grow up in a time of ever increasing affluence, working in a business he was fascinated by. He married the love of his life who matched him perfectly in every respect, sharing his life and passions for this totally absorbing but ultimately useless waste of time we call fishing. He was lucky enough to become a household name in the angling world with a massive list of lucky trophy captures to his name. When he retired he was lucky enough to get planning permission to build a house on the banks of his favourite river within the confines of his favourite fishery. Lucky lucky lucky.
And the harder he worked, the luckier he became! He made his own luck. Despite the lack of a conventional home life and what was considered to be a ‘normal’ family background.
Despite severe health problems, which could easily have killed him and did hospitalise him for years before he had even gotten out of his teens. Despite all those odds he came through and rose to the top. But cream does seem to have a habit of doing that.
Younger readers may not know it but Dave was one of THE pioneer anglers in specimen carp and pike fishing, and his salmon exploits astounded us all. His writing was both engrossing and informative no matter if the quarry were 100lb skate or just good old Thames roach. From minnows to marlin indeed, Dave has done the lot. From a humble beginnings working as the ‘boy’ in a tackle shop he progressed up the ladder to become owner of the business. In his efforts to promote that business, he inadvertently became lead writer for the Anglers Mail and later, for me, he became the star of the show in what was Britain’s finest ever monthly fishing magazine, Angling, edited by Brian Harris. He was a star when I was in short trousers. As a young teenager I rated Dave Steuart right up there with Dick as a top angling hero, and I still do. That was one of the few things I got right as a teenager.
The mischievous humour which surrounds Dave in the real world runs throughout the pages of this book. Many of the photos are captioned with hilarious quips and it’s pretty evident to me that nobody has even thought of editing a single word throughout – the text is all Dave’s and, apart from a couple of tributes, nobody else has gotten a word in edgeways. As usual! But that’s the way it always has been. When Dave talks, people listen. If they have any sense anyway. Yet despite being an authority on just about every area and aspect of angling, Dave still comes across as being a gentleman first and foremost, and somehow humble, if not exactly modest! He’s too honest for that. No nonsense, common-sense by the bucket load and a wealth of stories and anecdotes await the reader. He has a special way with words.
I have known Dave for many years now and he just keeps getting better and better. He is one of those rare special people who can do just about anything they turn their hand to, and do it well, and make it look easy. He can play Fats Domino on the piano whilst speaking of re-plumbing and rewiring his house like he does it every day of the week. There’s a carved wooden roach of his on the sideboard which would make you gasp and his stunning cased fish prove his taxidermy skills. He is an artist constantly seeking a canvas. He can be funny, serious, flippant, political, irreverent and passionate in the same breath – and I think that comes across in these pages.
This book is an absorbing life story and an enchanting love story. It’s highly entertaining, a fascinating read and an insight into the lifelong angling friends and adopted fishing family of a remarkable and extremely talented man.
Or as he would probably put it, of a wonderful woman and her husband – for this is Kay’s story as much as Dave’s and the world is a lesser place without her in it.
This book is a high quality publication, which is very well illustrated, with lots of amazing angling photos. Trophy shots to make your eyes water, from all over the world. There are also some fabulous pen and ink drawings from John Searl and reproductions of newspaper and magazine cuttings from bygone years to remind us all of what once was. This is a great book that will sit alongside the very best of the best on my bookshelf.
I hope you can get a copy too. When I told Dave how much I had enjoyed it, with his usual refreshing honestly he replied by email “…if you really like it that much you can give me a plug for the book launch on 16th April on your Fishing Magic Website. I think you know where it is – the ‘Land’s End Pub’ at Twyford, near Reading, starting about midday.” More details are here:
http://www.fishingbooksender.co.uk/
It doesn’t really need a plug. He knows as well as I do that this is going to be in extremely high demand. So get there early if you want a copy!
Geoff Maynard
