The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

Carp fishing has been in the blood of Chris Ball since the late 1950s when barely a teenager he caught a small carp. From these humble beginnings the pull and indeed the thirst of all things carp has consumed his life.

For years Chris has been a well-known member of the carp fishing community, being an early member of the British Carp Study Group in 1969 to the Carp Society in the 1980s - holding committee level posts in both. Chris is also a member of the almost mythical Golden Scale Club and has become a major force in writing about carp fishing’s past beside being held in high regard regarding vintage tackle collecting. Chris has successfully fished for carp, with particular reference to surface fishing and has graduated to fish some of the most famous waters in the country.

His writings on the subject of carp fishing have been extensive since the late 1980s with abundant chapters in books and magazine articles. He has written three books - Floater Fishing with Brian Skoyles (1991), The King Carp Waters (1993) and Best of the Famous Catches (2012). The launch of Carp-Talk in 1994 and later Pike & Predators and Coarse Angling Today gave Chris the chance to make his hobby his job. He retired recently from the business and lives in Lymington, Hampshire with his wife Lynne and Barney the dog.

My personal favourite is 'The King Carp Waters', but all three are well worth having in you library.

Must be a gent of the highest esteem being a member of the G . S .C .Must say I have never heard of him either ,my ignorance im afraid . Must look out for his books . Regards . Woolly Bear .

I would go along with that. I fished with Chris in Canada and found him to be a good bloke. We bump into each other at the Carpin on shows and he always tells the story about how I lost a Small mouth Bass. Very well read man on all things Carp. The photo album he has at these shows is well worth a look.

i met him at reditch fair he was great to talk to he showed me his album of photos

He used to pop into the shop I managed & the office where I worked. A true gentleman and an excellent 'floater' angler.
I once saw all his cane rods at his home when he lived locally in Farnborough.

As well as the three books listed above he was also co-author of the excellent book - A Century of Carp Fishing (with Clifford and Paisley being the other co-authors).
A really informative book - a sort of everything you ever wanted to know about carp fishing in the 20th century.

Rest in peace Chris Ball. Thank you for all your hard work, your knowledge, your generosity and kindness to all us fellow anglers who were lucky to have met you. You have left a void that will be difficult to fill. It was an honour to have known you.