Angling legends

[Fergal Scully]

The arlesey bomb thread got me thinking. Richard Walker, the Taylor Bros, Pete Thomas etc... were the fore runners of the specimen hunting scene as we know it today. I wonder what they make of the scene today with its bivvy's, boilies, people queing for swims fishing for named fish etc...

 

[Darren Wilson]

Wasn't it **** Walker and Co who started naming fish???? If I remeber correctly ( without getting Redmire Pool out for reference ) 'Raspberry' was named such due to one of the captors eating too many of them and they acted as a laxative on the session when he caught it? And 'Clarissa' was christened 'Ravioli' before she was taken to London Zoo?

 

[Darren Wilson]

If I also remmeber correctly, **** Walker & Co also used 'Makeshift' bivvies on their sessions.

 

[Rob Brownfield]

Mmmm....well, what do modern anglers think of Walker, Ingham etc??
They killed carp (look in some of walkers books), Clarissa was moved across the country in a van (fish rustling), carp were wrapped in wet grass and moved from water to water (Theft), swims were dug out of the bank, tents were pitched long time!! I have a book showing Fred Taylor holding a Tench by the gills and another with the hook from a set of scales under its chin..I could go on.

I expect a huge back lash from this...so I am away to get my tin hat on!

 

[John Tait]

Quote "Mmmm....well, what do modern anglers think of Walker, Ingham etc??
.... swims were dug out of the bank, tents were pitched long time!! ....." unquote.

And what about Jack Hilton at Ashlea, then ?? - he created what was damned near a house (well, bungalow), didn't he, by digging-out and roofing-over a section of bankside - and he then turfed the blessed thing as well !! - according to `Quest`, he had cupboards and all sorts of luxuries in there !!


Jonty

 

[Ron Clay]

Maurice Ingham spent most of his time on the bank asleep I have been told.
Remember the early fourties were not so far away in time when just about every coarse fish was killed. **** Walker did not like killing species such as carp or roach, although had no compuction whatsoever in taking the odd perch or pike home for the table. He did however return many of his trout to the Oughton and Ivel.

 

[Rob Brownfield]

Ron, I have pics of dead carp, caught by walker!

 

[Paul Williams]

We really shouldn't judge the actions of anglers from the 40s to the 60s on modern day ethics.
I was bought up in fishing by a generation who had gone through a war and knew hard times,things like a pike, eel or rabbit were for the pot!! even now some of the old timers will ask me to bring them an eel or similar.
I thought the world of these old timers they taught us "youngsters" so much as though it was expected of them, they were from a totally different era.
From an angling viewpoint of that era i think that the likes of Walker, Ingham et al were at the fore, put it this way when i was a kid of say 10 i would have got a clip round the ear for putting an eel back!!! they were for the pot! but at least they fisjhed for sport.
What would they have thought of Bivvys,boilies, etc? imho they would have loved them!!!!! but they wouldn't have thought much of some of todays attitudes!!!!!!

 

[Ron Clay]

Of course you have. Walker did quite a lot of taxidermy in those days, but did say at a later stage that other than the fish that died accidently or were gaffed, he had given up stuffing his own fish. He much preferred a photo.

 

[Andy Thatcher]

I was suprised to hear that the second largest carp caught at the time, 28 1/2lb, was taken from Redmire by public transport to a pond in Hitchin were it died a couple of hours later. I think this was caught on Walkers first session at Redmire and the fish caught by Pete Thomas, can't quite remember but the story is in Chris Ball's King Carp book. I suppose you have to remember we are talking about different times and attitudes.

 

[Rob Brownfield]

A lot of the Redmire fish went *walkies* along with many other fish caught by these guys. I even heard of a fish that was taken to the local pub to be shown off and weighed. It was dropped off the bar but survived, then taken back.

I know attitudes have changed, but at the end of the day, these guys are read about by younger anglers (although more people are reading Cundiff, Selman etc) If they were part of a modern syndicate, they would not last 5 minutes!!

If i remember rightly, the seconf biggest fish then was a fish from a small pond in Chingford. I think it went 35 pounds! The pond is still there and i have fished it, but its very overgrown these days.

 

[Ron Clay]

Of course we are. I remember riding home proudly on my bike with an eight pound pike tied along the crossbar. As I passed through the village, I was treated much like a hero.

Happy days!!

 

[Andy Thatcher]

Those that go abroad still see the same kind of things happen. Even had a "discussion" with a guy on a local lake this year that dropped a 24lb pike that had to be dispatched due to the damage done. The bloke was having a picture taken standing up. Simple mistake to make if you don't think or haven't educated yourself in fish care.

 

[Fergal Scully]

I suppose myself that those anglers would love the idea of boilies and bivvies especially making there own. I think that they loved the camping and great outdoors aspect to fishing but I don't think they'ed like the big fish at all costs attitude that some people have now. Although they killed some fish I'm sure they were and are (some are still alive) not stupid enough to endanger any species in any particular water.