The Reverend John Ross shares fond memories
1. WHERE IT ALL STARTED
In 1954, a colleague of my father’s, Mr Jones, gave up fishing and passed to me his split-cane fly rod, brass reel and old silk line. I don’t know if it broke his heart, but it was the best present I have ever received. At the time, I didn’t know who had made the rod, but the cheery fisherman on the blank looked up at me, urging me on. Later, I discovered it was the trademark of The Modern Arms Company. After years fishing for chub on Shropshire’s Rea Brook and trout on the River Teme, the old rod died of neglect, but, 70 years later, the love of fishing it transmitted remains ever young.
2. BOOKS, BOOKS AND MORE BOOKS
Fishing was seriously under-represented in our school library, but on its shelves was Major RN Stewart’s The Boys' Book of Angling. It gripped my imagination, taught me basic lessons and, above all, set me collecting fishing books. Shrewsbury Library gave me access to the How to Catch Them series and, notably, Richard Walker’s Still-water Angling, though I have yet to catch a carp. Of my many books, some I have read just once, others have become old friends, including those by EA Barton, Kingsmill Moore, Sidney Spencer and JW Hills.
3. FISHING PICNICS
From a solitary munch of a steak pie with a mouthful of hot sherry-laced Bovril on a cold April riverbank to grand multi-course family meals on the heathery banks of a loch, I have always loved fishing picnics. Perhaps the grandest was consumed beside the Derbyshire Dove within Walton and Cotton’s Fishing House. It had rained and the river was coloured. After a few casts, we gave up and had a leisurely, scrumptious lunch. Like Ratty’s in Wind in the Willows, there was “coldtonguecoldhamcoldbeef pickledgherkinssaladfrenchrollscresssandwiches pottedmeatgingerbeerlemonadesodawater…” Well, almost. Later, I caught six trout and a 1lb grayling.
4. RODS AND REELS
I dread to think how many rods and reels I have bought, loaned, bartered, broken and lost. Once, I was a follower of fashion, from cane and greenheart to fibreglass and carbon. Now, I find myself taking out old friends. For the boat on the hill loch (below), I often pick the soft-actioned 10ft Bruce and Walker Century River Trout #4-6 with an LR
