‘All Ways Fishing’ by Roger Standen is an autobiography recounting Roger’s lifetime involvement in angling. It charts his early memories as a schoolboy, cycling his way to local venues to dabble in his newly acquired hobby, right through to his latest exploits fishing at many differing venues as editor of the ‘Freshwater Informer’. From the schoolboy to the editor there is a time span of over fifty years and it is this half-century of angling that comprises Roger’s book.
Most of Roger’s fishing over his lifetime has been on the waters of south-east England in the counties of Sussex, Kent and Hampshire. Roger tells of barbel caught on the Hampshire Avon, chub from the East Sussex Rother and Tillingham and perch from Kent. Carp are caught from small estate lakes, marshland drains and commercial day ticket fisheries. Pike are taken from rivers, gravel pits and drains while roach and rudd are pursued from large water supply reservoirs along with trout and rainbow trout. The fish that are caught start off being small and Roger’s tales of his youth are a window into a bygone age, one where the world was slower, more naïve and less fraught. However, as Roger grows from a boy to a man so the fish he catches get larger as well. Roger’s knowledge grows equally and so we are treated to a beguiling view of what fishing was like and what methods were employed during the fifties, sixties and seventies right up to what we label as ‘modern day techniques’. Perhaps in this detail lies the inherent charm of this book. There are no ‘wonder rigs’ there is no ‘product placement’ there is no – dare I say it – ‘bullshit!’ What there is is a charmingly honest, refreshingly commercial-free tale of one man’s absorption with his beloved sport. Many young anglers who head straight for carp (by car of course), the size of which were unheard of in Roger’s earlier life, with their mountain of mass-produced tackle and bait may have cause for thought. They might wonder if their desire would have sustained them through ten-mile bike rides clad in poor clothing with their inadequate equipment strapped to them and their bike, all to catch fish of less than a pound! Roger, at least, has certainly paid his dues!
Roger’s life story is told as one long apprenticeship and eventually it leads him to where he is today, a man with over fifty years of experience in catching nearly every type of fish that swims in the waters of Southern England. Towards the latter part of this life Roger has realised his dream in being able to work solely within angling. Despite writing for many magazines from a time as long ago as the sixties, it is only within the last five or so years that he has been able to stop doing his ‘proper’ job – a plumbing and heating engineer – and concentrate on being the editor of the ‘Freshwater Informer’ and writing this, his first book. The writing style within the book, like Roger’s articles, is straightforward and truthful with a distinct lack of egotism, which I found enjoyable to read. This is not a book about the conquest of huge fish. It is a book about one man’s personal involvement in a pastime he clearly loves, an all-embracing passion for angling completely different from many of today’s one-species angling books. To me it was an ‘old fashioned’ book in terms of it being completely devoid of any taint whatsoever in its desire to sell me anything, whether it be ideological or material. What it did was tell me of a lifetime’s worth of fishing for many differing fish across a vast amount of time and the changes that have occurred, some good, some bad, throughout it. The book also pulled no punches in its criticism of varying authorities where the author saw a clear deterioration of his sacred fishing!
In short, this book will be of interest to anyone involved in angling but perhaps it will appeal especially to those who shun the dedicated species ‘big-fish-at-all-costs’ scene. Roger clearly loves all types of angling although it is apparent five or six species do hold more interest than others. Nevertheless, he is a truly competent all rounder and his yearning to fish and love of it are still as strong today as they were when he was a schoolboy. It is this undoubted enjoyment of the many facets of angling which so clearly come across in this hugely readable history of one man’s wealth of angling deeds.
The book is priced at £9.50 including p & p. It can be purchased by cheque or postal order made payable to The Freshwater Informer (please check with them first that the orice listed is correct) or by credit card.
Cheques and postal orders to;
The Freshwater Informer
Cowden Close
Horns Rd
Hawkhurst
Kent
TN18 4QT
Credit card ordering on 01580 753322
Mark Cunnington (September, 2004)
