The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

Dave Knowles, one of Jack's editors at Southern TV and later the producer of Out of Town's successor 'Old Country' on Channel 4, has worked with Paul Peacock to bring out a new version of Paul's biography of my stepfather. http://www.littleknollpress.co.uk/tag/jacks-country
I wonder how many agree with the spirit of Jack's first book - 'Fishing for a the Year' 1951. In the 1940's Jack was bemused at the way angling had, from "sociological, technical, financial and Malthusian" causes become tribalised by class and species. In this little book, illustrated by his friend Bernard Venables, J argued gently "for regression" – "the pursuit of different fish, in separate places and varied methods throughout the licensed seasons" "What do they know of fishing" he wrote "who know only one fish and one way to fish for him?" Later in life Jack found friends who tutored him in sea angling, something he came to enjoy greatly, but while he got pleasure from fly-fishing, he'd quibble over the word 'coarse' of one kind of fishing. Why project on fish the endless distinctions of men?

I think coarse in this respect meant simply not the fine fish that one took for the table, but I'm not sure of that.

Indeed Sheringham wrote in the Twenties about killing one's catch of coarse fish and distributing it to the poor children in the area, suggesting that they were edible after all...provided one had never tasted trout, presumably*

Jack's words on fishing by several methods are quite often quoted, but I see he resisted the swim-feeder for 20 years! .


Quite right too! Nasty cheaty plastic things.



Clearly he was a float fisher at heart, as all the very best anglers are.


* Funnily enough all the fly-fishing 'rods' I know in the area have freezers full of rainbow trout that they can't bring themselves to eat. Jack had a few thoughts on introduced rainbows too But, then he got invited to fish Greg Lake's stretch of a famous chalkstream.

A link here to Jack on vinyl. I don't think it made the hit parade in 1972 but still nice to hear the crackle of vinyl and the voice of Jack. https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-ts=1 ... -_Pw#t=258

Nobby wrote:I think coarse in this respect meant simply not the fine fish that one took for the table, but I'm not sure of that.

Indeed Sheringham wrote in the Twenties about killing one's catch of coarse fish and distributing it to the poor children in the area, suggesting that they were edible after all...provided one had never tasted trout, presumably*

Jack's words on fishing by several methods are quite often quoted, but I see he resisted the swim-feeder for 20 years! .


Quite right too! Nasty cheaty plastic things.



Clearly he was a float fisher at heart, as all the very best anglers are.

* Funnily enough all the fly-fishing 'rods' I know in the area have freezers full of rainbow trout that they can't bring themselves to eat. Jack had a few thoughts on introduced rainbows too But, then he got invited to fish Greg Lake's stretch of a famous chalkstream.

I used to fish with a guy that was adamant that the swim feeder was cheating. He used to scowl when he was on the bank and insisted it was blatant
undiluted cheating, as you were fooling the fish by introducing free samples, in effect.

He wasn't the brightest and didn't accept that an extension of his 'thinking' was that a hook on the end of a line was also 'cheating'.

I could live with a woven swim-feeder made out of steamed willow strips, it's the plastic that offends my sensibilities....daft, I know.

Started as 'environmentally acceptable hair curlers'?

Being new to fishing I am happy to watch some angling programs/videos where they catch very little, just to learn. However from a beginners point of view most if not all the angling programs glorify in the catch and show very little of the actual set up.

alledgedly, the salmon JW is playing on his flyrod at Carnroe on the river bann in NI was a coke can, and the stuff about bad continuity, not just Robson but lots of them hook fish on a fixed spools and land them with multipliers, sometimes the rod changes colour, even shirts! and robsons early attempts at casting multipliers were comical to say the least.