A Bibliography of Chub

The chub. A fish that seems to have become somewhat overshadowed in recent years most likely down to the spread and rise in popularity of barbel and barbel fishing. They are however one of our most obliging species, taking freely on the hottest and coldest days of the year. One of those species I associate with overgrown forgotten streams and for that alone they are most certainly near the top of my favourite species list. They have however not attracted a huge amount of attention in the angling literature. The list below is probably fairly complete and most of the books can be picked up relatively easily. The only ones you may have a few problems locating are the two Chub Study Group books and William J. Howes little paperback, The Sporting Chub.

• Bailey (John) & Miller (Roger) - Chub & Dace 1990
• Bell (Henry) - Fly-Fishing For Chub & Dace 1910
• Buteux (Bob) - Full Circle 2007
• Chub Study Group - Chevin 2010
• Chub Study Group - Chub: Commemorating Twenty-One Years Of The Chub Study Group 1994
• Etherington (John) - Big Chub And Roach: John Etherington's Thoughts And Encounters 1985
• Gibbinson (Jim) - Chub (Osprey Angling Series) 1975
• Howes (William J.) - The Sporting Chub 1960
• Martin (John William) - Barbel and Chub Fishing 1896
• Miles (Tony) - My Way With Chub 1988
• Miles (Tony) - Search For Big Chub 1996
• Seaman (Kenneth) - The Complete Chub Angler 1976
• Pullen (Graeme) - Go Fishing For Chub & Barbel 1990
• Shephard (Michael) - Chub: How To Catch Them 1954
• Stone (Peter) - Fishing For Big Chub 1983
• Wagstaffe (Fred) - Catch More Chub 1974
• Wilson (John) - Catch Chub With John Wilson 1991

A Bibliography of Perch

The perch is one of those fish we all know and love. It is often the first fish an angler catches and quite often, having spent years in the pursuit of the more fashionable species, a fish that same angler will return to. The simplicity of sitting on the bank watching that first quiver of your float as a perch stalks your worm sets off a feeling deep within most anglers. It seems odd then that a fish so loved by so many has had comparatively little writing dedicated to it. What writing it is though! The list below, though small in number, contains some of the best angling books you will ever read.

• Bailey (John) & Miller (Roger) - Perch: Contemporary Days and Ways 1989
• Jardine (Alfred) - Pike and Perch 1897
• Mansfield (Kenneth) - Perch: How to Catch Them 1954
• Martin (John William) "The Trent Otter" - Days Among the Pike and Perch 1898
• Nixon (John) - The Art of Pike and Perch Fishing 1964
• The Perchfishers - The Biggest Fish of All 2011
• The Perchfishers - The Book of the Perch 1990
• Various authors - Pike and Perch: Fur, Feather and Fin series 1900
• Venables (Bernard) - Fishing for Perch with Mr Cherry and Tim 1962

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A Bibliography of Pike

Pike angling has always had a bit of a cult following. You have to be slightly obsessed to get up at 5am on a freezing cold February morning to go and sit in a boat all day in the middle of a windy Scottish loch. That obsession has led to pikers being great collectors of books and if the writing has a bit of "rogue angler" about it then all the better. There are certainly quite a few to collect and some are pretty hard to get hold of. Good luck.

• Allen (David) - Catch More Pike 1972
• Bailey (John) & Page (Martyn) - The Predator Becomes the Prey 1985
• Bannister (Malcolm) - Tales from a Pike Angler's Diary 1993
• Barder (R.C.R.) - Spinning for Pike 1970
• Batten (David) - An Introduction to Pike Fishing 1989
• Bergh (Kit) - Northern Pike Fishing 1975
• Berlin (Sven) - Jonah's Dream 1964
• Bettell (Charlie) - The Art of Lure Fishing 1994
• Bickerdyke (John) - Angling for Pike 1888
• Booth (Graham) - A History of Pike Fishing: Volume 1 2011
• Brown (Mick) - Mick Brown: Professional Pike Angler 2011
• Brown (Mick) - Mick Brown's Guide to Pike and Predators 2009
• Brown (Mick) - Pike Fishing: The Practice and the Passion 1993
• Bucher (Joe) & Smith (O.) - Hunting Trophy Muskies and Northerns 1992
• Bucknall (Geoffrey) - Big Pike 1965
• Buller (Fred, Editor) - Great Pike Stories 2003
• Buller (Fred) - Pike 1971
• Buller (Fred) - More Mammoth Pike 2005
• Buller (Fred) - The Domesday Book of Mammoth Pike 1979
• Chillingworth (Bill) - Tactics for Big Pike 1985
• Cholmondeley-Pennell (Harry) -  Fishing: Pike and Other Coarse Fish 1885
• Cholmondeley-Pennell (Harry) - The Book of the Pike 1865
• Church (Bob, Editor) - Big Pike 2006
• Craig (Thurlow) - Baitmaker's Delight 1953
• Craig (Thurlow) - Spinner's Delight 1951
• Crossman (E.J.) & Casselman (J.M.) - An Annotated Bibliography of the Pike - Esox Lucius 1987
• Fickling (Neville, Editor) - Big Water Pike Fishing 2008
• Fickling (Neville) - Everything You Need to Know About Pike Fishing 2002
• Fickling (Neville) - In Pursuit of Predatory Fish 1986
• Fickling (Neville) - Mammoth Pike 2004
• Fickling (Neville) - Pike Fishing in the 80s
• Fickling (Neville) - Pike Fishing with Neville Fickling 1986
• Fickling (Neville) - The Tackle Shop Guide to Pike Fishing 1986
• Fleuron (Svend) - Grim: The Story of a Pike 1920
• Fox International - The Fox Guide to Modern Pike Fishing 2006
• Fur, Feather and Fin - Pike and Perch 1900
• Gay (Martin) - Beginner's Guide to Pike Fishing 1975
• Gay (Martin) & Rickards (Barrie) - Pike (Boydell Angling Library series) 1989
• Gibbinson (Jim) - Pike (Osprey Anglers series) 1974
• Gray (W.E.T.S.) - Pike Fishing: Red Letter Days and Others... 1923
• Gustafson (Paul) - How To Catch Bigger Pike 1997
• Hampton (J. Fitzgerald) - Hampton on Pike Fishing 1947
• Hanna (Alan) - Fly Fishing for Big Pike 1998
• Harper (Stephen) - Broadland Pike 1998
• Harper (Stephen) - Dream Pike 2010
• Holgate (James, Editor) - Catch Pike with Lures 2007
• Holgate (James) - Big Water Pike Fishing: Book 1 - Bank Fishing 1989
• Holgate (James) - Big Water Pike Fishing: Book 2 - Boat Fishing 1990
• Holgate (James) - Catching Pike on Lures 1991
• Holgate (James) - Lines on Pike 2007
• Holgate (James) - Lure Fishing for Pike: Volume 1 1987
• Holgate (James) - Lure Fishing for Pike: Volume 2 1988
• Horton (Dave) - Ultimate Pike 2000
• Irish Tourist Board - Pike Angling in Ireland 
• Jardine (Alfred) - Pike and Perch 1897
• Jensen (Michael) - Fly-Fishing - For Pike 2003
• Ladle (Mike) & Casey (H.) - Lure Fishing: A New Approach 1988
• Ladle (Mike) & Masters (Jerome) - Tactical Pike Fishing 2009
• Lindner (Al) - An In-Fisherman Handbook of Strategies 1983
• Lumb (Dave) - Fishing with Lures 1996
• Lumb (Dave) - Modern Pike Rigs 1992
• Marlow (John) - The Pike Fisherman's Handbook 1966
• Marsden (Graham) - Beginning Pike Fishing (unsure of date)
• Martin (John William) "The Trent Otter" - Days Among the Pike and Perch 1898
• Matthews (A.R.) - How To Catch Pike 1921
• McCully (Chris) - Fishing and Pike Lures 2009
• Miles (Tony) - Pike Fishing: Expert Advice for Beginners 1991
• Morgan (Paul) - The Pike Angler's Library 1998
• Moules (Denis) & Barrett (Mark) - Fenland Pike 2009
• Moules (Denis) - Fenland Thirties: A History of Fenland Pike 2003
• Nixon (John) - The Art of Pike and Perch Fishing 1964
• PACGB - Advanced Pike Fishing 1987
• PACGB - Basic Pike Fishing 1986
• PACGB - Pike Fishing Beyond 2000 2000
• PACGB - Pike in Your Waters 1992
• Page (Martyn) & Bellars (Vic) - Pike: In Pursuit of Esox Lucius 1990
• Palmer (Bill) - Dimples to Wrinkles 1997
• Phillips (Dave) - Pike (Successful Angling series) 1990
• Pullen (Graeme) - Go Fishing for Pike 1990
• Pye (Dennis) - The Way I Fish 1964
• Reynolds (Barry) & Berryman (J.) - Pike on the Fly 1993
• Rickards (Barrie) & Bannister (Malcolm) - The Great Modern Pike Anglers 2006
• Rickards (Barrie) & Bannister (Malcolm) - The Ten Greatest Pike Anglers 1991
• Rickards (Barrie) & Gay (Martin) - The Pike Angler's Manual 1987
• Rickards (Barrie) & Whitehead (Ken) - Plugs and Plug Fishing 1976
• Rickards (Barrie) & Whitehead (Ken) - Spinners, Spoons and Wobbled Baits 1977
• Rickards (Barrie) & Whitehead (Ken) - Spinning and Plug Fishing: An Illustrated Textbook 1987
• Rickards (Barrie, Editor) - The Best of Pikelines 1988
• Rickards (Barrie) - Big Pike 1986
• Rickards (Barrie) - Fishing for Big Pike Revisited 2010
• Rickards (Barrie) - Modern Lure Fishing 2008
• Rickards (Barrie) - Pike Fishing Step by Step 1976
• Rickards (Barrie) - Success with Pike 1992
• Rogowski (Steve) - Pike and Freshwater Predator Fishing in the British Isles 2006
• Rogowski (Steve) - Pike and Predator Fishing in the UK and Ireland 2003
• Rudd (Donald G. Ferris) "Jock Scott" - Spinning Up To Date: Trout, Salmon & Pike 1937
• Ryan (Will) - Northern Pike: A Complete Guide to Pike and Pike Fishing 2000
• Sidley (John) - River Piking 1987
• Spence (Edward F.) - The Pike Fisher 1928
• Spencer (Sidney) - Pike on the Plug: Notes on Bait-Casting by the American Method 1936
• Sternberg (Dick) - Northern Pike & Muskie 1992
• Swier (Ad) - Passion for Pike: The Challenge and Mystery of Flyfishing for Pike 2006 
• Thomas (Terry) - Catching Pike is No Joke 2010
• Turner (Eddie) - Mega-Pike 1990
• Turner (Eddie) & Davis (Jason) - Mega Pike: The Return 2007
• Turrell (W.J.) - Pike Fishing 1953
• Twemlow (Cliff) - The Pike 1982
• Venables (Bernard) - Fishing for Pike with Mr Cherry and Jim 1961
• Wakeford (Phil) & Barrett (Mark, Editors) - PAC30 2007
• Ward (A.L.) - Pike: How to Catch Them 1954
• Watson (John) - A Piker's Progress 1991
• Watson (John) - Pike (Master Fisherman series) 1989
• Weatherall (Norman L.) - Pike Fishing 1961
• Webb (Ray) & Rickards (Barrie) - Fishing for Big Pike 1971
• Whieldon (Tony) - Pike Fishing (Fishing Skills series) 1987
• Whitehead (Ken) - Ken Whitehead's Pike Fishing 1987
• Willett (Richard) - Let's Start River Pike Fishing 1990
• Williams (Nige) - Just Williams 2005
• Wilson (John) - Catch Pike 1991
• Winship (Bill) - Pike Waters: An Expert Guide to Fishing in Great Britain and Ireland 1990
• Wolsoncroft-Dodds (David) - Fly-Fishing for Pike 2010
• Zeiske (Wolfgang) - Esox: The Story of a Pike 1964

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The Glory Days of the Giant Scarborough Tunny

The British Tunny Club, Hardy Bros. tackle and big game fishing in the 1930s
by Mark Ross

What a fantastic book this is. Buy it, borrow it, steal it.....however you get hold of a copy just make sure you get a read of this book if you have even the slightest interest in the subject.

It tells the story of an era long since passed and never to return. During the 1930s huge shoals of herring descended on the British coast every summer. Following closely behind were the bluefin tuna, a fish of immense proportions and reputedly uncatchable on rod and line. What follows are some of the most amazing stories of fishing in British waters you're ever likely to come across. Stories of seven hour battles, boats being towed twenty miles, telegraph pole-like rods being snapped in two, a 763lb tunny being landed by a 12 year old boy only to be refused a certificate by the British Tunny club on a technicality and many more.

All of these stories are set off by hundreds of stunning period photos. The author is also a very keen collector of the old tunny fishing tackle and so there is a great deal of information and hi-res photographs of the kind of tackle being used to tame these huge fish.

Mark Ross has done a very good job of writing this book. It is a bit of a balancing act between a dry book on the history and social history of the Scarborough tunny fishery and the effect it had on the UK and the world; and also an enthralling story of the people involved. On first reading this book I found it very hard to put down, I always had to turn just one more page to see what happened next. Ross, thanks to his extensive research, has brought every character back to life and I found myself getting quite deep into the story.

As mentioned, the author has put a huge amount of research into this book and it really does show. He has turned up huge amounts of original photographs, local, national and international newspaper archives, certificates issued by the British Tunny Club, articles and letters from the Fishing Gazette, various anecdotes and personal accounts and even personal letters between anglers of the time. For the reader wanting to get even further into the subject there are many appendices at the rear of the book plus a bibliography.

Unfortunately the tunny fishing was cut short by the start of the second world war in 1939. For the next six years almost no fishing was done and once the world situation settled down again in 1945 the herring shoals had drifted away and to this day the tuna have never returned to British waters in any real numbers. This book is a glimpse into a fishery I am never likely to see in my lifetime but once existed and despite lasting such a short period has left its mark forever on British fishing history.

This book is the last word on the subject as well as being a fantastic read in its own right. If you are at all interested then I can only suggest you get yourself a copy now while it's still freely available at the cover price of £89. I feel confident that this will set the standard for writing on the history of the Scarborough tunny fishery and will almost certainly become a sought after collector's item in the future. Grab it while you can.

Coch Y Bonddu Books have new copies available for the cover price of £89.

Privately published by the author in 2010. Cloth-bound hardback limited to 250 numbered copies. Deluxe leather-bound edition limited to just 20 copies.

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Barbel Fishing: A Logical Approach

by Tim Lennon 

It's a difficult one this. Tim Lennon is clearly a skilled angler and on his local rivers he has found a technique that catches, catches very well actually. Unfortunately for me that's about the limit of this book. One method on one river, well maybe two. 

That's not to say I didn't enjoy it, I did in fact find it a pretty interesting read and I guess I might be being a little unfair. Much of what the author writes about can be applied to other rivers.... on the condition that you can actually see the fish you are targeting. But then to be perfectly honest, if I can see a shoal of barbel then I generally have little trouble catching them. I'll put my tin hat on before I say this to protect myself from the tins of Spam about to come flying my way, but barbel are surely the easiest fish in the UK to catch, right? 

As I said at the start this book is pretty much entirely about one method. I would have loved it as a guest chapter in another book but I'm not sure it needed an entire book of it's own. It reminds me of my school days when we had to write out our essays to a certain number of words. I procrastinated and rambled on, writing in circles to hit that word count when I could have said everything I needed to in less than half of that. 

The major emphasis throughout is on finding the fish and then spending time building confidence in the shoal before you introduce your hookbait. I won't give away too much detail, you can read the book for the specifics. I'm not sure this warranted an entire book. I also think Lennon is guilty of crediting barbel with far more intelligence than they actually have but then maybe I'm just used to fishing for stupid ones. I've never fished the Hampshire Avon or Dorset Stour so perhaps he's right. If you fish rivers where you generally can't sit and observe the shoal you are fishing for then this book will be of little use to you.

This book commands a fairly decent price on the second hand market and I think that is mainly down to the low numbers it was printed in. There was a small hardback edition limited to just 200 numbered copies plus a paperback run too. The hardbacks usually just about reach three figures though they don't often come up for sale. 

First published in 2004 by PICS Publishing Ltd. "PICS" stands for Paving Industry Contractor Support. No I don't understand why a paving company have published a book about barbel fishing either.

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A Bibliography of Barbel

Well I feel this bibliography, at the time of writing is pretty complete. If you're into collecting barbel books then you're in luck. There are enough out there to keep you interested, including one or two hard to find ones, yet not so many that your collection will never be complete. There are a few you might struggle with however - William J. Howes 'The Quest for Barbel', a small paperback that rarely comes up for sale and it's even rarer to find it in anything approaching fine condition. Peter Wheat's 'The Fighting Barbel' is usually available but don't expect much change out of £300 for a decent copy. Then of course there's the Trent Otter's 'Barbel and Chub Fishing' first published in 1896. It was reprinted a few years ago by the Medlar Press and even that has become quite hard to find now. I'm still looking for a first...

• Arbery (Len) - Barbel For Life 2011
• Bailey (John, Editor) - Barbel by the Barbel Catchers and Friends 1988
• Bailey (John) - Barbel: Perfect Days 2008
• Baker (John) - Modern Barbel Baits and Tactics 2001
• Barbel Society - Barbel Tales 2013
• Baxter (Terry) - Barbel Mystique 2011
• Baxter (Terry) - Barbel Epiphany 2012
• Berry (Jon) - A Can of Worms: The story of barbel and the men who fished for them 2007
• Church (Bob, Editor) - Big Barbel: Bonded by the Challenge 2005
• Cope (Ken) - Catch More Barbel 1974
• Crouch (Fred) - Understanding Barbel 1986
• Elliott (Graham) - Guiding, Barbel and Other Fishing Days 2008
• Elliott (Graham) - Memories and Milestones: The Fishing Tales of a Southern Angler 2008
• Everard (Mark) - Barbel River 2009
• Frost (Pete) - Barbel Fishing Step by Step 1976
• Giles (Nick) - The Nature of Barbel 2002
• Holgate (James, Editor) - Barbel: A Handbook of Techniques 2008
• Howcroft (Ian) - Barbel  (Osprey Anglers Series) 1975
• Howes (William J.) - The Quest for Barbel 1960
• Langridge (John) - Lizarralde: The Man who Fished for Barbel 
• Lennon (Tim) - Barbel Fishing: A Logical Approach 2004
• Marsden (Graham) & Wintle (Mark) - Practical Barbel Fishing 2010
• Martin (J.W.) "The Trent Otter" - Barbel and Chub Fishing 1896
• Miles (Tony) - Elite Barbel 2004
• Miles (Tony) & West (Trefor) - Quest for Barbel 1991
• Miller (Roger) - The Complete Barbel Angler 1996
• Orme (Andy) - Barbel Mania 1990
• Orme (Andy) - Roving for Barbel (Part 1: Theory) 1994
• Orme (Andy) - Roving for Barbel (Parts 1 & 2: Theory & Practice) 1999
• Pullen (Graeme) - Go Fishing for Chub and Barbel 1990
• Singleton (Bob) & Woods (Mick, Editors) - Barbel Rivers and Captures by the Barbel Catchers 2004
• Stayner (Steve) - Barbel: A Thirst for Knowledge 2004
• Stayner (Steve) - Barbel Mysteries, Theories and Tactical Solutions 2002
• Stayner (Steve) - Barbel: Obsession 2005
• Stayner (Steve) - Barbel: The Immortal Challenge 2003
• Stayner (Steve) - The Edge: Tactical Revelations for Barbel and Carp Anglers 2006
• Stayner (Steve) - The Ultimate Big Barbel Experience 2001
• Stone (Peter) - Bream and Barbel 1963
• Stone (S. Donald) - Barbel: How to Catch Them 1955
• West (Trefor) - Barbel: A Lifetime's Addiction 2005
• Wheat (Peter) - The Fighting Barbel 1967
• Wilson (John) - Catch Barbel 1992
• Yates (Chris) - River Diaries: The Fishing Diaries of Chris Yates, June 1982 - March 1984 1997
• Yates (Chris) - The Deepening Pool 1990
• Yates (Chris, Editor) - The River Prince 1998

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Coarse Fishing: A Guide To Successful Angling

Various authors

introduction by Tom Pickering

This was one of the first books I bought about fishing. I say bought, what I actually mean is nicked off my brother. I read it so much when I was younger I practically knew if off by heart.

It may be a book for beginners but there are some top names in the line-up of authors - John Bailey, Chris Ball, Neville Fickling, Jim Gibbinson, Dave Harrell, Martin Hooper, Bob James, Peter Mohan, Andy Orme, Barrie Rickards and John Watson to name but a few.

It is divided into four main chapters - Techniques and tackle, Baits and lures, Know your fish and A specialist approach. Each chapter is then broken down into many smaller sections dealing with specific subjects. There really is something for everyone here, from bloodworm and joker fishing on the whip to drifting deadbaits for pike on Scottish lochs. Every aspect of coarse fishing gets a mention. The section on freelining by Bob James pretty much turned me into the fisherman I was to become, with Barrie Rickards' words on lure fishing seeing me through the winter months. The 'specialist approach' chapter got most of my attention.

If you are new to coarse fishing or you know someone who is then this book is well worth tracking down. The magazine article style format of each section makes it very clear and easy to read. Yes it's nearly 20 years old now, but being about A4 in size, over 220 pages, with full colour photographs and illustrations on every page this book is crammed full of information, the vast majority of which is still perfectly relevant today. Thoroughly recommended.

Coch Y Bonddu Books should have no trouble finding you a copy and it won't cost a great deal.

First published by Collins Willow in 1992. This review was written after reading the 1993 Colour Library Books reprint.

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