In reply to Post #269
Sorry Peter,,

I honestly did hovver over the submit button for a long while..

I was afraid to cause offence,but was pretty sure i wasnt.

But I just know in reference to bob an johns post you will agree

well i blooming hops so..

In reply to Post #270


#270 18 Feb 2012 at 1.35am

In reply to Post #269
Sorry Peter,,

I honestly did hover over the submit button for a long while..

I was afraid to cause offence,but was pretty sure i wasn't.

But I just know in reference to bob an johns post you will agree

well i blooming hops

How could you offend me i am getting on a bit soon be seventy, do you know what i can remember things from when i was just three years old i remember the bombers coming, over to bomb Liverpool Coventry that is a long time ago a lot of my fishing memories only seem like yesterday time flies it waits for no man i have quite a bit jotted down in my diary going back a few years . bob my short term memory is not to bad as yet but there is time for it to diminish i don't really feel old although my problems do have a bit of a baring on what i do i am so glad people still like my stories it makes it all worth while. god bless and thank you all for your kind words Pete

In reply to Post #264
It was frosty out side as we sat in the old green hut the gas fire blazed away as we sipped tumblers of malt whisky which the big man had brought along we sat in ore of this gentleman as he sat and told tales of yesteryear's i could not believe i was in the company of dick walker he was my boy hood hero never once did i think i would ever meet him he told us tales about Pete Thomas and him catching the big carp from Redmire he kept us in stitches as talked in different accents what a man he told us of the time he did a Television programme for the BBC it was how to catch a big chub he knew where one was in this little river he had seen it many times before so he baited up for two weeks prior to them coming the day came dick knelt down in the under growth they counted down on the clapper board in went the bait bang he was in with the first cast a big chub of six pounds he said he was a bit embarrassed the tele crew wanted a full session so he had to try further down the river he was a marvelous teller of tales he stayed with us untill midnight and we all felt sad when he left to go home we watched as he got in the car ill be in touch Pete and so he was, have you thought about writing for angling times no DICK, will you consider it just write about bait and methods send it to me i will edit the stories you will get paid i just could not what with a young family and work i refused it was a missed opportunity i really think i was a bit scared as i was not an academic he really tried to inspire me to write. He had given myself and graham two rods when i met him first one was a beautiful built cane job designed by himself for those that don't know the one was a ten ft Avon the other was the first rod from the production line an eleven ft built cane bream rod built for Fred jay Taylor we treasured those rods for years i used and caught some very big bream with the eleven ft .

He got in touch to sort out a session with some big angling names of yesteryear's do you know i cant remember who was present i think Pete stone was one i am sure he wrote the book bream fever and was top of his game i am not sure if one was not peter Thomas i know the Pete Collins was there as he was editor for angling times who the rest were i cant think but it turned out a dead loss we only caught a seven pound fish i know the photographer was Don bridgwood but they made a story out of the session it was not the first or the last session we had with the paper, unfortunately Dick, could not make it he had other commitments, but he would ring me at work or home as i had now got a telephone put in by my employers in between i would go up and visit him i would travel up to his factory with a chap called Kieth Wilkinson who bought lawn mowers from him for Shropshire county council he was always pleased to see me and we would be away in his car we never stayed at his factory we would be away around the lakes he had fished, if he knew i was coming he always brought something to give me he was such a kind and generous man not many like him around today well there's a bit more about the big man i had mentioned some of it in part one so that's it for now more latter.

In reply to Post #272
Brilliant, as usual Pete.
Really brought back memeories for me when you mentioned Peter Stone. I was lucky enough to know and fish with Peter a few times and what a gent. So polite, so well mannered and could creep along the lake/river bed more quietly than anyone else I know. Fantastic angler with a pssion for chub. RIP.

In reply to Post #273
Moorsey he did write bream fever did he not i am sure he did i know he caught some tremendous bream its a long time ago i think he wrote the book in the seventies

In reply to Post #274
I'm ashamed to admit that I can't remember which books he did write but I will find out for you [and for me].
One little story about Peter which you may find amusing;
I had taken an afternoon off to fish the "Seacourt Stream" which is a connecting stream from one part of the Thames to another. I was fishing for some chub which I had found under a big overhang when Pete's wonderfully recogniseable voice sounded in my ear.
"My word Keith what are you doing here. There's not many carp in here you know."
"No Pete I'm after the chub but I can get plenty of bites but just can't connect with them." I replied.
"Show me how your fishing." he asked.
I cast out tightened the line with the rod at 90 degrees and sure enough the tip slammed round and I missed the fish.
"Your line is too tight" he said.
I cast again and under his supervision I slackened off more line.
This time the rod slammed round and the fish was already hooked.
As he walked off across the field I heard him say
"If I can help somebody as I go along my way then life will have not been in vain."

Wonderful man.

In reply to Post #275
Right I've done some digging and "Bream Fever" was written by Bill Taylor.

Peter Stones books were:-
Come Fishing With Me
A Guide To Coarse Fishing
Coarse Fishing
Fishing For Big Chub
Illustrated Teach Yourself Coarse Fishing
Legering
Old Father Thames
Gravel Pit Angling.

From memory he then also did a book called "Along The Way" I think, which was a compilation of Dick Walker's letters.
Hope that helps mate.

In reply to Post #276
hi kieth thanks i think that was the taylor that fished with us on colmere in 1971 you are spot on he did write Bream, fever quite a good book if i remember right. i can remember somthing about the book along the way i think it was letters that pete had recevied from dick some one on here or in the magazine not sure which mag mentioned it just before his death or it may have been after thanks keith brings a few happy memories back pete

In reply to Post #272
I have mentioned it before i was talking to dick , this one day he said you shoot don't you Pete, yes i do can you get me some pigeon, how many about four a month i was a little took back certainly i will. Put them in a box and send them to me do you know i never discovered what he wanted those pigeon for it could have been to eat, IE pigeon pie or for fly tying some times i wondered what they were like when they arrived. There's a few things which i have put in part one of my stories which some have read this is for those that have not, i used to go and see dick with a chap i have already mentioned a Mr Kieth Wilkinson he had a son who was disabled he had no coordination between his brain and his arms dick, rang this one day could i take this young man fishing as a favour. I arranged to meet his father and his son at Acton burnell , dick had sent him all the tackle he needed two brand new rods both made by hardy plus mitchell reels line all on the spools floats float box hooks ledgers you name it he sent it i was a bit astounded that's how generous the big man was i made a mistake taking him to the burnell it was to hard but he did a bit of casting under our guidance but it was hopeless it would all end up in a mess by his feet, so the next week i took him to shomere graham and i took it in turns to try and get this young lad to cast, in between we would cast out give him the rod to hold the float would vanish we got him to strike the look on his face said it all, when he landed his first fish a Rudd of about half a pound, eventually we got him casting and catching on his own it took about three sessions his dad was over the moon dick rang and thanked me i was only to pleased to have helped the lad, he never looked back he was well and truly hooked.

The generosity this big man showed was unbelievable in the mean time i had won quite a few awards for catching big bream rods reels two big boxes of floats made by billy lane i gave one set to my mate graham and a few rods i still have the box and put odds and ends in it they were beautifully made i also won two trips one to ireland and one to denmark to fish on the river guden not sure if i have spelt that right dick rang and wished me luck i had a fantastic time in denmark billy lane was there and we ended up on television i never saw the programe myself but a lot of my mates did the river was full of roach and bream and grew to a fair size at the same time the world match team were there the two ashursts Benny and Keven Ivan marks god i cant remember the rest lets say a good time was had by all billy was a great man and tutor he had fished the river before so he advised every one the best way to fish it i ended up with a net full mostly roach to two pounds plus. a little bit more latter

In reply to Post #278
I put the two bite alarms Dick gave me to good use the only problem i had with them was adjusting them if you fished in high winds they would go off but with trial and error i soon got used to it in fact i caught my biggest Bream using them Dick rang to ask me how i was getting on with them i replied no problem and there was not, at least you could have a kip which made a big difference how i felt as watching doe bobbins for eight hours could make you very tired i think it was early seventies when i had two rods made for me they were all through action and coupled with Mitchell reels i thought i was in heaven but i was lucky as i won a few Mitchell reels from angling time and anglers mail i even won the Mitchell match reel they were awarded for catching big fish BREAM from the Shropshire meres i won so many rods i was on fire i gave some away to my mate graham i also won two boxes of billy lane floats beautifully made and in a presentation box which i have still got to this very day i gave one set to my mate i think he still has some of the floats, i was really on a high i could not go wrong i served on the Ellesmere angling club with Dennis Kelly of the big Bream, fame and graham they held some big matches on the canal would we enter i was not to keen really i think there were over eighty entries i could not believe it when i won the match and it was not the last as i won the next match as well graham and den called me a spawny get, i suppose i was but i walked away with the money very welcome to but it was the last match i ever fished as it was not for me.

I really could not stop winning i won two monthly prizes from angling times one holiday in ireland on the black water fishing for the big Bream the next was to Denmark to fish the river guden for the big roach and bream the press were soon knocking the door to do a story on myself fame but it did not do myself and graham much good we were followed were ever we fished we were quite well known locally we would get pestered we would even be to scared to pull our big keep nets out as if seen we would not get in the swim again i kid you not we even had our swims doctored with carbolic soap this was going to far the individuals had been seen doing it and were removed from the lake and then to top it all the game keepers at Acton Burnell caught two individuals posing as graham and myself the keepers knew us well so left them were they were and called the police the police came to my house and explained the situation the pair were done in court for poaching i cant remember what they got but it left a bad taste in our mouths graham was on the verge of packing up but i persuaded him to continue i could not believe other anglers were so bitter and jealous over a few fish. well ill tell you more latter

In reply to Post #279
Brilliant as normal bringing back memories those were the happy days of fishing m8

In reply to Post #280
Thanks old geezer very much appreciated

In reply to Post #279
In the winter we would go roach fishing on the meres and rivers of Shropshire one place i loved to go was whixall moss it held some very big roach, and Bream, the latter went over twelve pounds plus a friend caught one over twelve pounds and put it back he would not kill the fish to claim the record but that's how it worked years ago there was a big island on the water we would wade out to the island the water was only a foot deep, but deeper the other side we would fish from the island some times we float fished and had some fair bags of fish i would also ledger two rods usually baited with bread flake tipped with maggot i used a butt indicators i had made they were quite sensitive i showed one to Dick and he seemed quite interested i would cast out tighten up then slacken line from reel and the indicator would hang down bites, were fast and furious the indicator would fly up hitting the butt section and stay there i would only have to pick the rod up and and i was in they were beautiful fish as the water was in the middle of a peat bog they had lovely golden flanks we would catch them to two pound plus usually there was only myself graham and Dennis we did not really think about the significance catching these big roach now looking back they were very big fish for that era i really don't know who owned the moss as we never asked permission and never got challenged unfortunately you cant fish it today as English nature runs the place its now a treble ssi Ramsay site they have done an excellent job up there encouraging snakes and different insects and some very rare plants to grow so there is now no fishing shame really i must have a drive up and have a look it would be nice to see the old place.

We also fished for the roach on the meres at Ellesmere either float fishing or ledgering newton mere was a favorite we would fish by the old boat house i don't know if its still there today we would catch a fish a cast wonderful fishing we would use mostly bread flake tipped with a caster den would bring the casters we never caught huge roach from there but they were mostly around the pound mark we would end the day with some excellent bags i would love to be on the water on a frosty morning you never saw another soul and had the place to your self Dick would ring me at work and ask how we were getting on and what we had been catching he was always interested god its a good job we never had the tackle like you have today we would have never been at home and its a good job we had understanding wives as we fished most of our free time then.

We would also fish the river Rea and would trot a float down the fast current as it reached the slow water under the bank the float would dip and slide away we had wonderful morning fishing the Rea, and you never knew what you would catch as it held some good roach a few perch and chub to four pounds plus we would catch a fair net full on a Saturday or Sunday morning the biggest chub i caught from this small river weighed in at four pounds eight oz we also caught the occasional Trout i myself even caught salmon how they got over the big water falls i don't know but today the falls have gone the river is now full of trout gray ling and chub stocked by a local club. well there's a bit more for you all. A bit more latter

In reply to Post #282
Most of the big names i met over the early years were really gents one such man was jack Hilton and his mate Bill quinlan we were doing a feature for angling times and jack wanted to fish for the big bream after reading about our big fish catches he was a great man and he told us many stories about the big carp that inhabited Redmire more or less the same as Dick told me he brought his long term mate bill along with him they were both top of there game which you all know was carp fishing, at the time i owned the lease on a pool in Shropshire called Berrington pool it held some lovely Bream we had caught them to double figures i had baited up our swims for a period of two weeks before we fished we thought that it may give them both a better chance of catching a few we decided night fishing would give us all a better chance as the pool did not respond much to day time fishing. It was the first time i had seen a bivvy jack was a full time Gardner having his own business and made the bivvies out of the thick black plastic . we were to fish nearly a week his mate bill was a bit of a card and we had some great laughs. fishing that week was myself graham Dennis Kelly jack and bill we would finish fishing in a morning graham and myself being local would go home to bed leaving jack and bill in the bivvies Den traveled all the way back to stoke, we had a big boat house on the lake next to the swim Graham and i fished. we put our big keep nets in there and pegged them out there a bit of a story here on the first night graham has a run and landed a three pound Rudd a beautiful fish so its off to the net to pop him in but i tripped loosing the fish in the process and getting very wet its good job we could all laugh about it our camera man was Don Bridgwood who did a lot of free lance photography and write up for angling times.

It was not a very productive week we caught a few and it was enough to make a story thinking back the biggest was just under ten pounds jack and i had quite a talk and he said how well they fought on light tackle which they did most of my bream fishing was done with five pound BS line but i had stepped down to three pounds BS when bites were finicky in fact one of the biggest bream i caught was just under eleven pounds and i landed that on three pounds BS line jack asked me about my alarms and i said Dick had given me them they certainly improved my fishing at least i could close my eyes without missing a bite, we used the old garden bed chair loungers they were not that comfortable i fell through a couple times over the years but we survived and carried on fishing the week soon ended we saw jack and bill off he said he would be in touch but he never did and not long after he packed up fishing to become a jehovah witness i did not think jack was all that religious as he never came over like that but it was the end of a era it was the last time we ever saw him i think angling times must have this story in there arkives i know a certain gentlman that comes onto the forum has the said cutting well thats it for now more latter.

In reply to Post #283
The day Dick told me he had the dreaded big c it made me cry infact i only found out by chance i had tried ringing him a few times but no one answered but this one day a lady answered the phone i was told i could not speak to him as he was ill, then i heard his unmistakable voice in the back ground asking who is it she said peter, ill speak to him he said hello Pete how are you, alright i said what have you been catching i told him we had been doing alright and we were fishing on berrington and bomere i have got cancer Pete he said i was dumb struck no cure i am afraid, i felt the tears welling up in my eyes i am so sorry i said what do you say to some one who has been your boy hood hero some one i had looked up to, and some one who had become a friend. Over the few years that i had known him he was always there to give advice god how i would miss our telephone conversations we said our goodbyes and that was the last time i spoke to Dick not long after he died what annoyed me most was i could not get the time off from work to get to his funeral i worked for the Home office they were going through a busy period and i could not take time off but i have thought about him many times since i never even thought in my wildest dreams that i would meet this big man and the help and kindness he gave me over the years was immense he wanted me to write many years ago i am sure if he had been alive he would have been very proud of my stories.

But life goes on i missed my trips down to his factory very much by this time graham had packed up fishing so i was left on my own we had fished for years together he could not get the time from work to go fishing as he worked a seven day week, And also some of the stuff that had happened to us like soaping swims had got to him it got to me as well but i was not going to pack up. It was a few years before he came back to the fold, i met another chap who worked with me and we started fishing together he name was George Kimberly we fished at lordys quite a lot and caught some wonderful carp i can see him now he would wade out in his underpants if a fish snagged us in the big weed beds he was fearless old bugger but he did it once to often got stuck in the weed bed and nearly drowned there was me panicking on the bank he had vanished from sight all i could see was big bubbles appearing on the surface i swam halfway across the lake before i got to him he came up coughing and gasping for breath leaving the landing net sticking up out of the weeds i got him back to the bank he was a bit white in the face and shaking a bit, but after about an hour he was his usual self i never once saw hime wade out again . little bit more latter