"Angling for Coarse Fish." John Bickerdyke.

[AshbyCut]

"Angling for Coarse Fish" was written by John Bickerdyke and first published in 1898, and he described it as :-

"A practical work on fishing for roach, perch, barbel, chub, dace, carp, eels, etc., etc., according to the most modern methods in use on thr Thames, Trent, Norfolk Broads, in the Midlands, the Fens, and eslewhere."

Needless to say those 'modern methods' changed over time, and this 1962 thirty third impression has been brought up to that date having been 'Completely Revised by Harvey D. Torbett' taking into account the 'new modern' tackle available



I am indebted to our own DaveM who, having remembered my appeal for help in collecting anything related to Harvey D. Torbett, pointed me in the direction of this on the Bay of E ... which won for a maiden bid of £2.99p. Thank you, Sir.

[Carp Artist]

A bargain Mal,

[Mark]

Nice one AC.

[Julian]

Bargain 'catch' Mal

[AshbyCut]

Having read the following, taken from the chapter on 'The Gudgeon,' I have already fallen in love with this little book :-

"The Thames Method of Gudgeon-fishing is the best with which I am acquainted. The essentials are : a punt ; two rypecks (i.e. mooring poles); a rake, the head of which contains four or five teeth and weighs from 5 lbs. to 10 lbs., and the handle of which is about 18 ft. long; ....."

There is an illustration of how to moor a Thames punt in the chapter on "The Roach," with the following delightful description :-

"After the punt is moored, my companion and I remain quietly on our Windsor chairs, and the keeper takes his seat between us, on the lid of the well."

Ahhh ... such gentility ... such style !!! I was born too late, obviously.

And here was I trying to cut down on the tackle I carried !!!!!

So enamoured am I that I have already tracked down a 1st edition, leather bound copy of this book for a meagre £20 !!!

It will be fascinating to compare the two page by page, I think.

[Capebreton]

gee windsor chairs some of you float makers are going to have to extend the scope of your activities and get busy.

[Luke]

Bickerdyke (Charles Henry Cook to his friends) was a very prolific author so if you enjoy his writing then you'll have plenty more to go at after you've finished that.

Angling for Coarse Fish was originally published as part of The Book of the All Round Angler in 1888. This was a book of four parts, the coarse fish section being one, and the four parts were published separately in the same year in both cloth and paper bindings and went on to be reprinted and updated many many times.

As an aside, he was not only an angling author, his "Curiosities of Ale and Beer" sounds fun

[Dave Burr]

What a glorious image, so Mal have you sourced a punt and an 18' rake handle yet?

[AshbyCut]

What a glorious image, so Mal have you sourced a punt and an 18' rake handle yet?

Investigations are afoot, Sir ... not sure I could get either in the back of the Austin, though !!!

I don't think this counts as 'traditional,' ... and I can't see fitting Windsor chairs in it either !!! ( but for £16 on a certain auction site ... ) ;-)

[Dave Burr]

Expecting rain?