The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

Bernard Venables MBE, let’s not forget his title it was well earnt, when I won the school book prize I chose Mr Crabtree Goes Fishing. I then met him on the River Medway in 1953 when he helped release tagged perch through Angling Times scheme, one of the perch was worth £25.00 a huge amount of money in those far off days.

I have many memories of fishing with Bernard, also lots of wonderful lunches and dinners with Bernard, Eileen and Kate. In my book he made a 2 million plus anglers with his comic strip in the Daily Mirror and Mr Crabtree Goes Fishing. He no doubt helped keep many of us youngsters out crime as we went fishing.

He definitely made me an angler mainly through his wonderful books and drawings on fishing and for this I am eternally grateful.

Must have worn that book out, reading it in bed as a kid, with a torch under the covers. I will be eternally grateful too.

For me he was and still is the greatest inspiration in my Angling life, with the exception of my father and late grandfather. Bernard’s books take pride of place on my bookshelf and are regularly dipped into, I never met the great man but would have loved to share some bankside time with him and perhaps a pint afterwards....

One of my earliest angling memories is of Bernard Venables articles, he was the inspiration for so many of us!

Mr Crabtree was certainly my little book of dreams and many is the time I have thumbed through the pages prior to a fishing trip in my youth. Bernard Venables you certainly inspired me.