Rob Beattie - Fishing, A Very Peculiar History

Title Page

FISHING, A VERY PECULIAR HISTORY

With extra maggots

Written by

Rob Beattie

Created and designed by David Salariya

Publisher Information

First published in Great Britain in MMXII by Book House, an imprint of

The Salariya Book Company Ltd

25 Marlborough Place, Brighton BN1 1UB

www.salariya.com

www.book-house.co.uk

Digital edition converted and distributed in 2012 by

Andrews UK Limited

www.andrewsuk.com

Editor: Jamie Pitman

Assistant editor: Jodie Leyman

The Salariya Book Company Ltd MMXII

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders. The Salariya Book Company apologises for any omissions and would be pleased, in such cases, to add an acknowledgement in future editions.

Visit our website at

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for free electronic versions of:

You Wouldnt Want to be an Egyptian Mummy!

You Wouldnt Want to be a Roman Gladiator!

You Wouldnt Want to Join Shackletons Polar Expedition!

You Wouldnt Want to Sail on a 19th-Century Whaling Ship!

Dedication

For Chick, Ray, Sean and the chaps at Whitmores Lake for help and encouragement

RB

Quotes

I had been fishing for twenty three years before I made my first cast for a barbel. It was a revelation.

The River Prince, Chris Yates

In any case, of one thing I am sure there is no better psychologist than a fishing rod on this Earth.

Fishing Days, Geoffrey Bucknall

Most anglers regard the catching of specimen fish big fish as something which hardly ever happens.

Stillwater Angling, Richard Walker

I realised what I had to do. Beginning on Anzer, I would fly-fish from one end of Russia to the other.

Hooked , Fen Montaigne

I say dad. It can pull! Its run ten yards and not stopped yet!

Fishing with Mr Crabtree in all waters , Bernard Venables

British record list

All weights measured using the traditional imperial scale of pounds, ounces and drams.

Barbel 21 pounds, 1 ounce, 0 drams 2006

Grahame King, Great Ouse, Adams Mill, Beds.

Bleak 0 pounds, 4 ounces, 9 drams 1998

Dennis Flack, River Lark, Cambridgeshire

Bream (bronze) 19 pounds, 10 ounces, 0 drams 2005

James Rust, Cambridge stillwater

Bream (silver) 2 pounds, 15 ounces, 0 drams 2009

Phil Morton, Mill Farm, Pulborough, W. Sussex

Bullhead 0 pounds, 1 ounce, 0 drams 1983

R. Johnson, Green River, Nr Guildford, Surrey

Carp (mirror/common/leather) 67 pounds, 8 ounces, 0 drams 2008

Austin Holness, Conningbrook, Nr Ashford, Kent

Carp (crucian) 4 pounds, 9 ounces, 9 drams 2003

Martin Bowler, Yateley lake, Surrey

Catfish (Wels) 62 pounds, 0 ounces, 0 drams 1997

Rich Garner, Withy Pool, Henlow, Beds.

Char (Arctic) 9 pounds, 8 ounces, 0 drams 1995

W. Fairbairn, Loch Arkaig, Inverness, Scotland

Chub 9 pounds, 5 ounces, 0 drams 2007

Andy Maker, Southern stillwater

Dace 1 pound, 5 ounces, 2 drams 2002

Simon Ashton, River Wear, Co. Durham

Eel 11 pounds, 2 ounces, 0 drams 1978

Steve Terry, Kingfisher Lake, Nr Ringwood, Hants.

Grayling 4 pounds, 3 ounces, 0 drams 1989

S. R. Lanigan, River Frome, Dorset

Gudgeon 0 pounds, 5 ounces, 0 drams 1990

D. H. Hull, River Nadder, Sutton Mandeville, Wilts.

Perch 6 pounds, 3 ounces, 0 drams 2011

Neill Stephen, Stream Valley Lakes, E. Sussex

Pike 46 pounds, 13 ounces, 0 drams 1992

Roy Lewis, Llandegfedd Reservoir, S. Wales

Roach 4 pounds, 4 ounces, 0 drams 2006

Keith Berry, Northern Ireland stillwater.

Rudd 4 pounds, 10 ounces, 0 drams 2001

Simon Parry, Freshwater Lake, Co. Armagh, NI

4 pounds, 10 ounces, 0 drams 2001

Simon Parry, Clay Lake, Co. Armagh, NI

Ruffe 0 pounds, 5 ounces, 4 drams 1980

R. J. Jenkins, West View Farm, Cumbria

Salmon 64 pounds, 0 ounces, 0 drams 1922

G. W. Ballatine, River Tay, Scotland

Tench 15 pounds, 3 ounces, 6 drams 2001

Darren Ward, Sheepwalk big pit, Shepperton, Middlesex

Trout (brown) 31 pounds, 12 ounces, 0 drams 2002

Brian Rutland, Loch Awe, Argyll, Scotland

Trout (rainbow) 33 pounds, 3 ounces, 0 drams 2003

J. Lawson, Watercress Trout Fishery, Devon

Trout (sea) 28 pounds, 5 ounces, 4 drams 1992

J. Farrent, Calshot Spit, River Test, Hampshire

Zander 21 pounds, 5 ounces, 0 drams 2007

James Benfield, River Severn at Upper Lode

Quotes (2)

To read a fishing book is the next best thing to fishing. It is like talk in the fishing inn at night.

Rod and Line , Arthur Ransome

Foamy tides like snowdrifts lingering

A battalion of plum trees silently blooming

A bottle of wine and a fishing line

Who in the world is my equal?

Li Yu c.900 AD

Introduction: First Casts

You dont choose fishing. Fishing chooses you. There comes a moment in every anglers life when the things around them the water, the wind at their back, the sun on their shoulders, the float that was dancing merrily down the steam and is now suddenly gone fall into place, like the pieces of a puzzle. At that moment, everything makes sense even the things that dont make sense. And whether you catch that fish or the next one or the one after that, you know it will never be enough. An angler you shall be.

Early evidence

Mankind has been catching and eating fish since records began though it was considered a food of pretty much last resort by Homer in the Odyssey . Fishing has also been used instructively witness Jobs admonishment that he may as well try and catch Leviathan with a hook as thwart Gods will, a reference that also persuades scholars it wasnt just nets that were being cast out to sea.

As well as wriggling on the end of a line or served up steaming on a plate with a few fresh greens, fish have traditionally enjoyed a rich symbolic life. Were told that they were the first creatures to appear when the earth was created, Jesus chose them to demonstrate a miracle at the feeding of the 5,000, and later, ichthys , the Greek word for fish, was adapted as a cipher for I esous C hristos T heou Y ios S oter or Jesus Christ, Gods Son, Saviour and used as a sort of secret handshake when persecuted Christians met for the first time.

Perhaps when early man caught and ate fish, he was after more than simply sustenance? Fish turn up all over Europe as symbols for wisdom and its clear that the Celts felt that the salmon in particular might even have powers of prophecy. Maybe thats why the salmon occupies such an elevated position among modern anglers; it certainly helps to explain why salmon anglers think theyre better than the rest of us.