Mr. Crabtree Goes Fishing: A Guide in Pictures to Fishing Round the Year

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Bernard Venables was an artist, angler, journalist and author. [2] He co-founded the Angling Times in 1953, was founder editor of Creel magazine in 1963, and wrote over 20 books. He was an early environmentalist and his love of the natural world inspired many of today's British anglers, and he is remembered as one of the great and influential anglers of the 20th Century. Forgotten the title or the author of a book? Our BookSleuth is specially designed for you. Visit BookSleuth We owe a debt of gratitude to Mark Kitson of Sovereign Superbaits for his contribution to Series 2 – here’s a man with an absolutely unsurpassable wealth of knowledge, and his insights were truly valuable when it came to targeting predators during the filming of Series 2. We caught up with him during filming for an in-depth interview… Most of my angling heroes are in the ground – or in the water. Heroes are for young people because they are revered and looked up to. There are anglers today that I envy which isn’t that great really. I envy them the time to do what they do and fish the places they fish. I am still very much a worker but rather pompously I believe that by carrying on what I do, the message of angling is put before an audience that wouldn’t necessarily see or hear it otherwise. So that envy isn’t real. PB isn’t what I’m about, I’m about fishing! PBs are a personal thing and as long as you are getting enjoyment out of your fishing that’s all that matters.

Keith Arthur needs no introduction to Britain’s anglers. As host of Sky Sports’ Tight Lines and his own TalkSport radio show ‘Fisherman’s Blues’, he has established himself as a top angling professional and expert on all things ‘fishy’. Presented by John Bailey, the new series premiered on Quest on January 24 that 9pm. The Discovery network’s biggest UK channel, reaching 1.2 million adults on a daily basis, Quest is accessible to almost 100% of the UK’s households, available on Freeview (38), Sky (154) and Virgin (179).He has travelled this country with fishing rod, sketchbook and cameras and is often found on his beloved river Wye. His overseas travels have taken him fishing in Ireland, Holland, Spain, Canada, India & Mongolia. Mr. Crabtree provides the platform to bring generations together in harmony, to cut through the gender and class divide, and to provide a level playing field for all. This is genuinely what fishing does for people, and if you listen long enough to the tales that anglers tell, you will hear this message loud and clear. Well, I still look for ‘camp sheeting’ when I fish for perch. I’m sure that one day I’ll find out what it is. Crabtree inspired all of us in our formative angling years to fish through the seasons for proper fish. And floatfishing too. I will never forget taking a barbel into the scale room – now the Rod Room – on the Royalty Fishery and wondering if they were the same scales where Mr Crabtree weighed his 6lb chub – before killing it and taking it home to put behind glass!

MR. CRABTREE GOES FISHING: A GUIDE IN PICTURES TO FISHING ROUND THE YEAR. By Bernard Venables. First edition. I met him, he was a really nice guy. He was clearly very passionate about fishing and he signed all my books for me. I had lunch at the same table with him and a few professors and lecturers, and at every opportunity the talk turned to fishing so I could be included in conversation. I still use “Crabtree” methods to this day, you can’t beat “keeping it simple” A float, a couple of shot and a hook, with a worm on the end, will always get you a good tench or a nice perch and surprise, surprise even a good carp !MR. CRABTREE GOES FISHING: A GUIDE IN PICTURES TO FISHING ROUND THE YEAR. By Bernard Venables. 1961 ninth impression. And in recent years the young Alfie Russell who is a massive inspiration to me. Keep an eye out for this lad . . . some people just have a gift. Above all “Keep it simple”. Simple means carrying less, simple is cheaper when you loose it, simple still works! year-old Michael from Coventry wants to catch carp. John visits his friend and contemporary carp angler Alan Blair to talk about modern methods and to gauge where to start with Michael. Angling isn’t in my family – apart from a Great Grandfather I never met because he died before I was born. I learned with my fellow ‘Baby Boomer’ mates. We just all went fishing and some of them are still in touch and still go. Hampstead Ponds on the 611 trolleybus, Finsbury Park lake and the Lea at Northumberland Park behind the factory my late Father worked in. I wasn’t very old – 6 or 7 maybe. Fishing cost me some time from school too but they have now forgiven me…

I don’t know about angling heroes, but I do have a few people I admire a great deal who have remained nice people as well as becoming famous. One here in your interview list, Jan Porter, a great allrounder and a very nice guy – he always has time for people and especially kids. MR. CRABTREE GOES FISHING: A GUIDE IN PICTURES TO FISHING ROUND THE YEAR. By Bernard Venables. 1960 seventh impression. Henry from Devon and John fish numerous lakes, deploying different methods and tactics depending on the environment and enjoying the natural world as they fish for all species. MR. CRABTREE GOES FISHING: A GUIDE IN PICTURES TO FISHING ROUND THE YEAR. By Bernard Venables. 1957 Fourth impression.As a kid I was introduced to the “Mr Crabtree” books by a fishing mate and I put them on my Christmas list in 1965. I must have read them a hundred times if not more, then one day my next door neighbour informed my parents that Bernard Venables was coming to Crawley Collage for some reason and would I like to meet him. This must have been 1969 as it was the start of term and I was eleven, just before my twelfth birthday. If you’re an angler of a ‘certain age’ you’ll already know all about Mr. Crabtree. Maybe you were one of the 3 million proud owners of the original book Mr. Crabtree Goes Fishing, by legendary angler Bernard Venables? It’s very likely that you refer to ‘Crabtree swims’, that you know what a ‘gentle’ is and that the idea of fishing in a tweed three-piece-suit doesn’t really seem that odd to you. Congratulations you’re a Crabtree kid! The Crabtree ethos reaches far beyond fishing, because at its heart it’s about the most essential of human traits. Through the teachings of Mr. Crabtree it’s possible to convey respect, discipline, tenacity, enthusiasm, confidence and more. The show highlights the importance of role models, mentoring and guidance in forming young minds, and does it in a way that empowers and involves children, letting them make their own mistakes in scenarios designed to boost confidence. Theirs was a mobile sport, filled with discovery, wonder and piscatorial good fortune – A Crabtree never blanks!