The one that landed Clarissa

[Jardine]

A couple of weeks ago my wife handed me an envelope and said" you asked me to keep these for you". I looked at the brown envelope
" it was years ago" she continued. We had been clearing our old house and had been packing for days.
Inside the envelope were various fishing photos of me in the seventies and some black and white ones from the 80's.
I was quite excited as I hadn't seen these in years and put them on my desk, a few days later I went through them.
My memory is poor (and my fishing diaries are in London and I'm in Thailand) but I think that the following photos were taken in the early eighties on a small Sussex carp pool when I was fishing with my old friend Chris Yates. Chris Ball, a friend of CY whom I'd met on a few occasions was also there.
The first photo shows a posed photo of the two anglers with cane rods.I think that the rod that Chris Ball is holding could be the famous MK IV that landed Clarissa.I think that he had brought it down to show CY. I have seen the rod in real life and CY showed it to me before he took it back to Redmire to catch the carp in "A Passion For Angling". There are also a couple of pics of the carp that were caught that day.
Best regards
Mem

Update 30th June 2017

I am back in London now and have found my diary for that year, these photos were taken on Monday the 13 to of June 1982, the 30th anniversary of the capture of Walkers 44. Chris Yates and I had arrived the day before and fished overnight, Chris Ball joined us on the following day and used the Walker record breaking rod to catch this 8lb 3 oz mirror on a peanut. My carp weighed 5 3/4 lb and Chris Yates blanked.

Best regards
Mem

Hello Mem,
If you remember I’d be interested to see that photo you mention, I have a couple but the quality is pretty awful. Yes, your landing net. It was a lovely old lake that the Golden Scale Club fished at times, remote and quiet with carp leaping now and then is how I remember it.
Regards,
ChrisB

Hi Chris,
I have updated my original post and added a photo of your carp that day.
The day in question was Sept 13 th 1982, the 30th anniversary of the capture of Clarissa.
Best regards
Mem

[Chris Ball]

“Hi Chris,
I have updated my original post and added a photo of your carp that day.
The day in question was Sept 13 th 1982, the 30th anniversary of the capture of Clarissa.
Best regards
Mem”

Hello Mem,
Thank you very much for the picture of that carp, it’s a lot better than the photo than I have.
You’re a star...
ChrisB

[CrayCane]

Lot no. 380
http://angling-auctions.co.uk/page-8/

[Paul F]

4-6k

[Keston]

I really need to win the Euromillion tonight

[Beresford]

So the Yates Bishop Avon was hand-built by Walker and not a B. James rod. It appears that with the sale of the Yates rod and other rods on offer elsewhere that possibly the most significant rod collection is being sold or at least choice items from that collection are being sold.

It will be interesting to see what the Yates Avon fetches.

[CrayCane]

It just leaves me more unsure about the origin of the rod. Two believable but contradictory accounts.
Pete

[Tengisgol]

It just leaves me more unsure about the origin of the rod. Two believable but contradictory accounts.
Pete

Forgive me because I haven't read in to all the background on this rod (I know a few of the stories) but could it not have been a B James blank then hand built (i.e. ferrule, handle and rings) by Walker - therefore both are strictly speaking correct?

[Beresford]

The version presented in this thread states that the rod used to capture the Bishop had the usual B. James decals but the auctioneer's catalogue states that it has minimal script on the butt. However, with the information now presented to us by the vendor, the auctioneer and Yates himself suggests the description of the rod earlier in this thread is simply be a case of mistaken identity. That Chris Yates is confirming the Walker built rod is the one that he used to catch the record seems to settle any other speculation to the contrary.

I think there is a very simple explanation. I believe that Yates owned more than one MkIV Avon and his own writing would confirm that in my view. The first one he bought and first used as a teenager was a B. James rod. (Image(s) of this rod are in Casting at the Sun.) The rod that was used to catch the record was indeed Walker built and a later acquisition. He may also have had others for all we know.

It is the Walker built rod that he used to catch the Bishop and it is this rod that is for sale in September.

[CrayCane]

It just leaves me more unsure about the origin of the rod. Two believable but contradictory accounts.
Pete

Forgive me because I haven't read in to all the background on this rod (I know a few of the stories) but could it not have been a B James blank then hand built (i.e. ferrule, handle and rings) by Walker - therefore both are strictly speaking correct?

The auction description says it was hand built by Richard Walker and supplied to his friend Don Baker as a blank so I take it as not a B James rod.

Pete