Vale Fred J. Taylor MBE

[Spindle]

RIP Fred. A great angler, a great author, a great inspiration.

 

My condolences to his family, Ian.

 

Glenn

[chevin]

My wife Valerie and I would like to thank you all for your notes of condolences. It has been a sad day for us, but your notes have brightened it considerably. We hope that if, or when, you are in similar circumstances, you enjoy the support you have given us today.

 

Best wishes,

 

Valerie and chevin.

[John S]

Unfortunately I never met the man, but I've got a lot of pleasure reading his books.

 

RIP Fred, you will be sadly missed

[BoldBear]

My deepest condolences to his family and friends.

 

Its a sad day with the loss of another great angling legend.

 

I like many thousands of others was bought up on his books, articles and exploits and he will be sorely missed.

 

RIP Fred.

[Vagabond]

Have only just landed from the Isle of Man where we have been fishing and family visiting for a few days.

 

We were so sorry to hear about Fred. He was without doubt, one of the Giants of 20^th Century Angling.

 

As I said following the award of a well-deserved MBE recently, Fred was not only a master of many branches of angling, but also had the ability to clearly and simply communicate his thoughts to ordinary people who wanted to improve their fishing ability.

 

Dick Walker himself said he envied Fred’s forthright, straightforward and direct writing style.

 

Fred was not just a writer about angling though, he produced books and articles on many aspects of country life, from ferret keeping to how to cook your catch.

 

It has been my privilege to fish a number of times with Fred and I can empathise with the remark attributed to Pete Thomas "I would rather suffer a blank in Fred’s company than share a huge catch with many lesser men" (or something like that).

 

Fred was the archetype of camp fire company. Jokes, angling advice, country stories from the believable to the bizarre, guitar playing, and if you were very lucky, a Masterclass in campfire cooking.

 

Ironically, what must have been his last article is in the current issue of Classic Angling . It is about tench fishing at Wotton Underwood, and as I remarked to Keith Elliott, the editor, the article is vintage Fred – as good as he ever wrote.

 

 

Every time you catch a tench on the lift method - think of Fred, I certainly do.

 

Angling is very much the poorer for his passing, and the closer you were to him, the more it hurts.

 

We feel very much for Valerie, Fred’s daughter, and Chevin, his son-in-law

 

Dave and Norma

 

Edited May 8, 2008 by Vagabond

[Andrew Boyd]

Very, very sorry to hear the news. Fred was one of the angling and life's great's, that he's not about means a lot.

 

My deepest condolences to his family and his many, many angling friends

[Leon Roskilly]

He was ..... no, is an inspiration.

 

Sad for those he has left behind, but grateful for what he has left behind for us all.

 

Leon

[peterpikefisher]

very sad to here that , he was a great insperation to me and my son

i have read some of his books ,also reread them to my son

 

 

 

my silly wife gave away my copy of Fishing Here and There circa 1970

 

dam good read one of the first books my dad bought me when i was a young boy (8 years old)

[goosequill]

I'm deeply saddened by this news. My thoughts go out to his family, friends and loved ones.

 

A massive loss to angling....yet another one of my 'heros' gone. His book, 'Fishing For Tench' is the greatest book on tench fishing I have ever read.

 

My first Tench of the forthcoming season will be for you Fred.

[Cranfield]

I grew up reading Fred J Taylor, firstly the articles in Shooting Times and then the books and articles elsewhere.

 

I was fortunate enough to meet him at a few Game Fairs and Country Shows during the 60's and 70's, especially the ones held at Broadlands.

He always had a good crowd round him and he answered questions on any topic thrown at him, always with patience and interest.

 

I think one of the things that made him so popular, was that he came across as being "ordinary", just like us.