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How anglers see passers-by, and how passers-by see anglers.

I exhumed from the depths of my dresser-drawer the following account from an old mate and thought it might make both pleasant reading and a spur to further accounts from FM viewers - ED

Apart from leaving a considerable number of carp fishermen in torment with his disputed 50lb common carp, the late Martin Gay also left us his writings. What follows was written in 2002 and is considered by many as one of his best - and most revealing - pieces.

This rambling came about in part as a response to a recent Forum posting regarding articles on FM.

I think I've been too much of a stick-in-the-mud throughout my fishing life. It's not that I haven't experimented with forms of fishing other than coarse fishing, I just haven't pursued them to any great degree.

Have many of you have become obsessed with catching one particular fish? I know this is often associated with carp and barbel angling - and yes my fish is a carp - but there must be some who know where a large tench or big pike or perch lives and have spent hours trying to catch that one big fish.

It's really good to see Kevin Perkins in 'print' again. Enjoy this wistful look at good times to come - very shortly!

Every proper angler - past and present - will have groaned on hearing the non-believer's comments about 'the one that got away' and others alluding to the way fishermen habitually lie. It's almost embarrassing to open an article with such hackneyed wording but I've lazily used it to introduce 'Korky': long-dead but still hovering in the minds of so many Essex anglers who knew him well. I've modified his name a little but, really, he doesn't deserve such anonymity - he was an outrageous liar!

The story continues...

The story continues...