This is prompted by Peter's excellent question on Leon's riverbank topic. Rather than hijack that I've started a new thread to answer it.

As I mentioned on the other topic, as Leon was starting it I was actually on the phone trying to persuade someone to write a book. That someone was Brian Mills, a name probably not familar to younger members, or if so purely for the superb fish carvings he's justly famous for.

However Brian is both a superb angler and an excellent writer. Indeed, if I could spend a day with any angler I reckon I'd learn more from Brian than anyone else!

Brian is now retired and goes back to the early days of carp fishing, at which he was very successful. However he's also an allrounder and very much an ideas man. Not surprisingly he has a very long list of specimens to his credit, many of which were caught with simple tackle in the margins when modern anglers are struggling with more "advanced" gear. Nevertheless, he's not afraid to come up with out of the ordinary rigs and items of tackle.

Brian used to be well known as a writer, and indeed did a regular column for one of the weeklies some 20 years ago. He's also contributed articles to a number of magazines including two to the 4th BCSG book, one of which on observations on baits fed to carp in his garden pond makes the book worth buying for this alone.

I could add several more names of anglers I've been lucky enough to fish with but for reasons of space I'll be brief and also restrict myself to just three.

Firstly, there's Stewart Allum who was my fishing partner for several years in the 80s. Stewart has been writing for umpteen years, recently doing a regular column for Coarse Fisherman, and is an accomplished and respected allrounder with many an interesting tale to tell.

Peter Rogers was my co-editor of the "Book of the Perch". He's edited several other books since then, including the highly acclaimed "Red Letter Days", and has also ghostwritten a book for a well known angler. However, he's never written a book himself under his own name, but has a long list of monsters of many species to his credit. He's very much into using old tackle and in fact is a member of the Golden Scale Club made famous by Chris Yates. Peter was also my fishing partner for many years and I'm pleased to say we're teaming up again at Wingham.

Finally, there's Nick Buss who's not only an excellent rod-builder but also an excellent angler. He specialises in carp, and in fact is the local organiser for the BCSG, but has successfully turned his hand to many other species. A book from Nick would be very different - just read his hilarious "From the Privvy" series in the articles section here on Angler's Net!

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ME ME

Knowing two out of the three and having read articles by the other I would have to agree.

My old mate Rob Dixon is another candidate.the only writing he has ever done was a short piece for the Mail's "The Specialists" (?) series.His piece on catfish was so superior to my own attempt that I never even posted mine to them.Not only would his experiences as a predator hunter be interesting but his life as a fish farmer and baillif too.

the books i see tend to be fishing rather than fishing related ,i would much rather read about the back ground to angling ,history of angling or about the tackle used and its production ,rather than dubious reflections of their own making ,but thats my veiw.
saying that though there is nothing worse than a book about reels (i can name 2) that dont have EVERY reel produced within the dates on the cover ,yes theres loads of different reels but why start a project on such a wide scope if you cant be bothered to research the total thing :mad:
maybe Barrie whelham could do one or even our own Mr Darkin (although the formers one would be strange ,having spoken to him )but leg ends dont come round every day ,as i say to my Intrepid contacts if it isnt written down it WILL be forgotten and some of them have been in the trade for 50+ years ,and a couple have died since i "found" them

[ 14. January 2004, 07:56 PM: Message edited by: chesters1 ]

Sorry to go of subject for a bit.

Chesters what was that bit of information about modern Intrepid reels you were after as I unpacked the box with the Trade Catalogues in yesterday?

ANYTHING Intrepid related but NOT Shakespear versions ,thanks

But he does write exceedingly good books, so why not?!

I find modern how-to books a bit tedious. I realise there's a huge market for them - anybody fairly new to any pursuit/hobby is usually on a steep learning curve and hungry for knowledge. Youngsters, in particular, devour information which will help them to put fish on bank.
I work in publishing - nothing whatsover to do with angling - and I can assure you that's the case in other fields, too.
While keeping abreast with developments in modern fishing via the printed angling media, I don't have that hunger for how-to. This is often because I've been around long enough to seen most of it before. But, more importantly, I have grown up enough to require more from my fishing than sheer numbers of big fish. How and where I catch them is what matters. Oh yes, and who I catch them with.
But I do love reading any written angling literature that delves beyond the instructional. That's why I'd love that warts-and-all biography of Richard Walker.
I'd love to read a book devoted to the original Intrepids. That's the sort of idiosyncrasatic stuff I love. You see, I'm on a different sort of angling curve. My thirst for knowledge is different.
My favourite angling book remains Buller's Domesday Book of Mammoth Pike. I welcome Neville's follow-up, although I fear Nev may ditch some of the doubtful entries that appeared in Buller's original. I hope not, because I enjoy the reading experience of any book better if the author allows me to make up my own mind.
Steve Burke's earlier reference to The Book of The Perch made me smile, because it's another book I re-read. And that's the sign of any good book - the fact that you pick it up again and again because you still enjoy reading material that you probably know (virtually) off by heart.
Most of all, though, I love angling history. Our sport is the richest of all, and there is so much to tell.
I agree that there are some very accomplished and experiencd anglers out there who have a lot to say that should be written down now. I'd love to read it all.

Exceedingly good...Peter that would be Mr Kipling

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But he does write exceedingly good books, so why not?!

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`cause leeda (or rather hwyoungs) says i cant ,LEEDA ownes the trademark over here but shakespear uses it in the states :confused: ,i have promised to report any non leeda reels being sold over here to their lawyers (who are very aggressive ) so if i want to remain in their good books (and use their tradename ) i cant really buy their compeditors reels to include in my book
besides that i havent completed finding all the uk ones yet

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I'd love to read a book devoted to the original Intrepids.

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soon soon although now ALL intrepid named reels (and morritt ones not called intrepid)will be listed (even the imports) as long as it was a uk based company ,a recent letter has now bumped K.P.MORRITT back to 1954 the more i seek the harder it gets

[ 14. January 2004, 11:16 PM: Message edited by: chesters1 ]