Reading West MP and Parliamentary spokesman for angling since 2002, Martin Salter, was recognised for his services to angling at a special ceremony at this year’s Game Fair at Belvoire Castle. Mr Salter was presented with the prestigious Arthur Oglesby Trophy which was presented to him by Mr Oglesby’s son Paul and the Director of the Salmon and Trout Association, Paul Knight.
Arthur Oglesby was a leading angling author and broadcaster famous for making some of the largest catches of salmon of anyone of his generation, including two weighing 46lb and 49lb pounds, from Norway’s Vosso river. He spent three years as editor of Anglers’ Annual in the mid-1960s, two decades from 1968 as a weekly contributor to the Shooting Times and wrote regular features for Trout and Salmon. His books include Salmon (1971), Fly Fishing for Salmon and Sea Trout (1986), and Reeling In (1988). He died in 2000, aged 76.
Martin Salter said:-
“As I am shortly stand to down from Parliament, I am deeply grateful to my friends and colleagues in the world of angling for acknowledging all that I have tried to do on their behalf. As I said in my acceptance speech, the future looks bright for our sport with record rod licence sales and more money going in to angling than ever before. Once the general election is called and I am no longer an MP, I hope to be able to carry on in some capacity to work for the benefit of angling and to campaign for the cleaner rivers and better environment that our sport and the country needs.”
Picture caption: Martin Salter MP receives the Arthur Oglesby award for services to angling from Paul Oglesby.