Born in Monmouthshire in 1920, Oliver Kite packed a lot into a tragically short life. He joined the Royal Engineers in 1941 and served in India, Burma, Malaya and Singapore, ultimately attaining the rank of Major. Kite continued to serve abroad after the end of the Second World War. He was married to Norah in …
In a world where so many anglers are obsessed with size, one name resonates throughout the specimen world above (or perhaps that should be ‘below’) all others…. A retired farmer and former match angler from Lakenheath in Suffolk, Dennis Flack has dominated the small fish scene for decades. It began in the late 1980’s with …
Though not native to the British Isles, the bitterling (Rhodeus amarus) warrants a mention in Bits and Pieces not least for being one the four species for which Dennis Flack held the British Record for simultaneously, but also for a couple of rather peculiar attributes. The bitterling is a small fish, not unlike a roach in …
The poor old ruffe (Gymnocephalus cernua) tends to spend his life overlooked. He doesn’t grow very large (the British record is a little over 5oz while Small Fish Catcher Extraordinaire Dennis Flack has caught them to a little over 4oz), and his presence is traditionally seen as a sign that more desirable fish are not. To …
Like most anglers, Fishpool has often benefitted when non-angling relations and acquaintances decide to clear some clutter. Rods, reels, a natty fishing jacket, nets, flies and rod bags have all found their way to me – gratis of course, and largely because the finder knew not what else to do with them. A recent arrival …
While flicking through the pages of the Anglers Annual (1963 edition), Fishpool was interested by just how much heavier certain species of fish seem to be today. Though there is little difference in the quality of roach, dace and perch, species such as the bream and tench are now growing far larger than they were …
A couple of miles to the south east of the market town of Stalham lies Hickling Broad. Covering some 400 acres of open water, Hickling is the largest of Norfolk’s Broads. A further 1200 acres of reeds make it the largest single area of reed bed in Britain and it is unsurprisingly a haven for …
Being landlocked, Wiltshire gets a bit of a raw deal when it comes to river names. The ‘Hampshire’ Avon spends far more time in Wiltshire than Hampshire, while the Bristol Avon also loiters for a good deal within the county. Wiltshire also gives the Blackwater to Hampshire and the Kennet to Berkshire, but one river …
Fishpool read an interesting article recently in the 1963 Anglers Annual that rounded up the results of the 1962 Tournament Casting Competitions. Though such events remain to this day, it would appear that public interest is not what it was in the early 60’s. Certainly a modern day generic fishing publication is unlikely to devote five …
As Fishpool was nosing through the 1963 edition of the Anglers’ Annual, a familiar name caught his or her eye in the Coarse Fishing Catch Review section. Captor of one of the biggest pike of the year (a fish of 32lb from Hickling Broad) was Dennis Pye. A further glance below at the rudd report …
