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

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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! On leaving Red Tag he returned to working on a freelance basis and he has his own studio from which he does his design and illustration commissions. It is from here that he also runs an online gallery of his limited edition fishing prints under the name of The fine art of fishing. Fishing in the Footsteps of Mr. Crabtree is what we’re all about – and our book and TV series of the same name are the first steps we’ve taken to illustrate this. We hope you’ll join us on our quest to bring Mr. Crabtree to a new generation of anglers, to share our love of fishing for all species, and to help us spread the word. We are part of a wonderfully diverse community, united by a shared passion. Let’s celebrate that together! John Bailey fishes with 12-year-old Sam from the West Midlands, fishing predominantly for tench using classic and contemporary methods.

Before I am too old – and that won’t be far away – I would LOVE to catch a proper yellowfin tuna. 150lb would be nice. The trouble is they are rare in the Florida Keys and that’s the only exotic place I regularly fish. Perhaps I could try Mauritius in late April/early May – but that’s Boys’ Trip time. Or the Andaman Islands, even Ascension Island but I think the journey’s a bit of a mare. Who knows, maybe it would be wrong to achieve all our goals; what would we do when we eventually said ‘Done it now’. I just love catching perch on the float and that bob bob signals a perch fiddling with the worm. As it slides away remember to wait, wait, then Strike.Author and presenter John Bailey is a lifelong angler, an original ‘Crabtree Kid’, and one of today’s most internationally renowned fishermen and guides. With a publishing and presenting career spanning 4 decades, John is the perfect prestenter for Fishing in the footsteps of Mr. Crabtree. MR. CRABTREE GOES FISHING: A GUIDE IN PICTURES TO FISHING ROUND THE YEAR. By Bernard Venables. 1961 ninth impression. One of my targets that I would be thrilled to bits to catch is a 30lb pike, I’ve been close to it a few times but 30lb would be the ultimate goal. 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! Author and presenter John Bailey is a lifelong angler, an original ‘Crabtree Kid’, and one of today’s most internationally renowned fishermen and guides. With a publishing and presenting career spanning 4 decades, John is the perfect presenter for Fishing in the footsteps of Mr. Crabtree and his knowledge and obvious passion for angling shines through in every episode.

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. MR. CRABTREE GOES FISHING: A GUIDE IN PICTURES TO FISHING ROUND THE YEAR. By Bernard Venables. 1960 7th impression. I fish on average 3-4 times per week throughout the entire season, normally in pursuit of the river species, predominantly Barbel and Chub. My favourite place is the Royalty fishery on the Hampshire Avon where to catch a 16lb plus Barbel would be the highlight of my fishing career.

Casting for Gold

He’s also a contributor to our new book Fishing in the Footsteps of Mr. Crabtree and we’re very happy to welcome him to our virtual sofa to found out more about him: In this episode John is taking James to 3 of his favourite Crabtree locations and much-loved swims on each of them. We are on the Wye and actually in the river getting close to the action chasing Chub and Barbel, then onto an absolutely classic Crabtree swim on the Wensum, before finally retiring to an intimate lake where some real monsters lurk. Our friends demonstrate Crabtree fishing on beautiful rivers and lake. Look out for a real boys-own quest when John and Crabtree Producer, Lester Holcombe go stalking an elusive monster Carp with unforeseen and unplanned results…… Rise of the Fly Above all “Keep it simple”. Simple means carrying less, simple is cheaper when you loose it, simple still works! Sometimes too much and my work suffers. Sometimes not enough because I’ve got too much work. In an average week I will get out for some kind of fishing at least a couple of times. I will fish for ANYTHING – literally anything … coarse, sea, game – they all excite me and my preferred method whatever the species is when I can watch them take the bait, strike – BOSH!

MR. CRABTREE GOES FISHING: A GUIDE IN PICTURES TO FISHING ROUND THE YEAR. By Bernard Venables. 1990 Unwin Hyman edition. MR. CRABTREE GOES FISHING: A GUIDE IN PICTURES TO FISHING ROUND THE YEAR. By Bernard Venables. 1957 Fourth impression.Theirs was a mobile sport, filled with discovery, wonder and piscatorial good fortune – A Crabtree never blanks! 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. year-old Tadhg from Oxford accompanies John to the riverbank for a series of lessons in watercraft and the signs of a healthy waterway. The companions visit many stretches over their two days together, comparing urban and rural waters, discussing the evolution of a river and the positive impact of angling as a community builder.