“Fort has written a book that can act as a call to arms, explaining our history and offering us the opportunity to do something about our future. It is a hugely ambitious idea, perfectly executed.”
Casting Shadows: Fish and Fishing in Britain by Tom Fort Read More »
A fascinating interview from Daire Whelan—of podcast Ireland on the Fly—with Tom Fort about his new book, and memories of fly fishing in Ireland with Niall Fallon. (This takes you to an external site–don’t forget to come back.) Listen by clicking here: And purchase a copy of the book here: A full review of Casting
Casting Shadows: Fish and Fishing in Britain by Tom Fort Read More »
(Calm Productions, 2014) Simon King was the records officer for a group of anglers called the Osprey Specimen Group. He was working on this book to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the group when he was diagnosed with cancer, which sadly proved terminal. With Bob Hornegold at the helm, the group and friends completed this
The Osprey Specimen Group by Various Read More »
(The Medlar Press, 1997) Born in Oxford in 1927, Peter Stone grew up in the nearby village of Wolvercote and from an early age was enamoured with his rural surroundings and the nearby Thames that flowed into his childhood and throughout his life, a love affair that continued until his death at 73 in 2000.
Old Father Thames by Peter Stone Read More »
(Little Toller, 2016) “To be an angler is to accept the rigours of the dreamer in dystopia. The end is disillusion, the beginning is worth it.” Dexter Petley was born in Hawkhurst in the Weald of Kent in the bleak, post-war Britain of 1955, where his council estate home and a fractured demobbed generation provide
Love Madness Fishing by Dexter Petley Read More »
(RiderBooks, Penguin Random House, 2016) We first meet the author on a deserted beach, waiting for mackerel: “Circumstance and illness have led my wife, Sue, and me into a life of rural simplicity… If I catch a fish or two this afternoon then they will be eaten for supper. Should I fail, we will not
Rivers Run by Kevin Parr Read More »
(Freebird Publishing, 2013) The name Harry Haskell has always been familiar to me, his magazine articles from the 80s embedded into my psyche. Perhaps he was not as well known as some anglers, but he was certainly influential. This autobiography came to my attention after hearing the sad news that Haskell had passed away in
Reeling in the Years by Harry Haskell Read More »
I have never met Mike Daunt, but I would like to. He sounds like a lot of fun. He is the owner of the Hugh Falkus School of Spey Casting, having been bequeathed it by the great man himself, and if I know one thing of Falkus, it is that he didn’t take to just
The Bounder: Riotous True-Life Adventures of a Bon Viveur by Mike Daunt Read More »
(Little Egret Press, 2016) I guess one of the criteria for a successful book is whether you would buy another by the same author. In the publishing of this, his second work, Stuart Harris—aka The Sweetcorn Kid—immediately informs us that this is very much part of an angling journey. If his first book, From Carbon
A Coming of Age: An angler’s search for solitude continues By Stuart Harris Read More »
(Hoxton Mini Press, 2016) The river Lea only flows for 42 miles but it encounters a landscape that chops and changes from the soft Hertfordshire meadows and villages to urban sprawl, inner city wasteland, and now towards its final run; the Olympic Park. The water of the Lea has a short life but a varied
Adventures in the Lea Valley by Polly Braden and David Campany Read More »
(Cassell Illustrated, 1991) With over 30 books to his name, amongst them evocative, pastoral titles such as The Poacher’s Handbook, Fresh Woods and The Idler’s Companion, it would seem wholly natural that somewhere, within the bibliography of John Kincaid McNeillie, there would be a work dedicated to angling. Published in 1961 and written under the
Trout from the Hills by Ian Niall Read More »
(Gestalten, 2017) The Fly Fisher is a reflection on what is happening in the magazine publishing world, with a move towards a design-based aesthetic. Its roots clearly lie in magazine design, but as 250-page hardback, this is clearly not a throwaway monthly, but a coffee table book that accommodates a digestible format, a book to
(Jonathan Cape, 1929) I had a hunch that Arthur Ransome might have been an angler as I read Swallows and Amazons for the first time. Amid all that needless sailing and knickerbocker breaking were a few moments of sanity, as the characters did what all normal people do when holidaying beside water, and fished. My
Rod & Line by Arthur Ransome Read More »
(The Little Egret Press, 2014) Even the biggest fan of the 1960s television series Prisoner may have missed Number Six’s declaration of what he is going to do once he gains his freedom from the British intelligence agency. “Fishing,” he responded in his characteristic abrupt manner as though the fact the word is interchangeable with
Caught Between Two Worlds by Christoper Cullen Read More »
(A & C Black, 1986) This book was recommended to me by somebody I had never met. A simple email was all it took to open my eyes to the writings of W.M. Hill who has “fished every ‘puddle, pond, lake, drain, pit, canal, stream and ditch’ he came across in the past 35 years.”
Fishing Personally. By W.M. Hill Read More »
(Mainstream Publishing Company, 2005) It is rare that a memoir which is so deeply personal can remain a fishing book at heart, but this book does because it reminds us that the bond of angling can be complicated, special and unparalleled. The fourth child of an Anglo-Irish family, John’s career as a record executive for
For All Those Left Behind. By John Andrews Read More »
(The History Press, 2011). As the title may suggest, there is a darker side to this book. I was at first shaken by the honesty and detail of the author’s life. You are immediately introduced to his failing relationship, a thread that continues for a while, as his sudden infatuation for a forgotten fish-—the ferrox
Beneath the Black Water by Jon Berry Read More »
(The Guild of Reason, 2014) Nowhere in my fishing library is there a book anything like Terminal Chancer. Why exactly? Well, it’s difficult to say, but if part of the purpose of a book is to entertain, then this does it supremely well. It is a memoir that will resonate with a lot of anglers:
Terminal Chancer—Silver Seasons, Atlantic Salmon. By James Gilbraith Read More »
(Little Egret Press, 2014) Isn’t it lovely when you enjoy reading angling adventures for the pure joy conveyed by a skilled writer? Nathan is a man after my own heart. Like most anglers, his catches are largely unremarkable; what makes them stand out is the way in which he sees the world, and puts that
Gone Fishing. By William Nathan Read More »
(Medlar Press, 2007) One overcast day in April 1996, a flock of migrating greylags appeared from the Esk estuary and momentarily circled high above a congregation of people, returning back down the valley with a familiar ‘hink, honk’ cry. The group below gathered around a freshly laid sandstone slab which read ‘Hugh Falkus 30/3/96’, engraved
Hugh Falkus: A Life on the Edge. By Chris Newton Read More »
(Atlantic Books, 2007) Blood Knots is a memoir of the writer’s fishing life and the influential characters that stitch it together. But what a life. From his early days under the careful eye of his father—a decorated British army officer who was badly burnt in a tank battle in Holland in WWII (but who did
Blood Knots by Luke Jennings Read More »
(Medlar Press, 2014) The Idle Angler is a real gem. It started slowly, but then gathered pace, and I was sad when I had finished it, as I could have read on and on. It appeared to me that the author gained confidence in his own ability as he wrote it, and so the book
The Idle Angler by Kevin Parr Read More »
(DG Fishing, 2014) Publishing a book can be terrifying. Your words are forever in print for all to see and criticise. It can feel like you’re being fed to the lions. As a self-published book, this stares into the toothy maw of publishing and laughs. Do you know as much about angling and can write
Tangles with pike by Dominic Garnett Read More »
(Pelham Books, 1970) It is the Congo in 1960. A man called Jack Allan dies after being strafed across the chest by machine gun fire. Pearson grips us immediately; guns, mercenaries, Africa, elephant hunting, hard drinking bound together by the thread of fishing, especially for billfish—sailfish, swordfish and marlin—the harsh but thrilling environment of a
Fisherman by Anthony Pearson Read More »
(Old Pond Publishing, 2015) By Theo Pike In these days when all the funky river menders are talking about catchment-scale processes, natural flood management, and even rewilding with beavers, it’s feeling rather rare to find a book that’s just about fish. More to the point, it’s even rarer to find a book that’s just about
River Habitats for Coarse Fish by Mark Everard Read More »
