Ivan’s column in AT ran from about 1972 to 1980 so around 400 articles with this book having about a hundred of them. Peter Collins ghost wrote the vast majority but Chris Dawn did some as well. AT did a good job of the selection for the book.

I too was given the book for Christmas. I found the match reporting nostalgic for an era that few of todays young matchmen would comprehend. Comprehend that is, that a match of a 1000 entrants was not uncommon and could be won with as little as 5lb of silvers.

On the whole it’s a good read for us over 50’s, however, I was left wanting more about the man himself and more anecdotal input from those that knew him personally. Some may say that the string of AT articles/reports that the book largely consists of, gives you this, but I would say it lacks flesh. The younger angler may be disappointed by the book and wonder what all the fuss was about, but he/she needs to read it in the context of the 70’s – 80’s when Rivers were the backbone of angling and rod and line dominated British thinking.

Interestingly, Ivan was credited with speculating on the potential for anglers future earnings to become their main income, for televised matches becoming as popular as golf. His alleged views on continental groundbaits not being needed for ‘our’ waters does in the light of the ‘Ghost Writer’ make me wonder now just how much of this book was Ivan’s take on matchfishing, or someone elses take on Ivan’s take on fishing.

thought it was a great book, what amazes me is the number of fish caught with what today we might describe as crude tackle. 10 foot swing tip rods, i remember the 1st time i used one of those at Dryad, had a bite from a carp that straighted the tip, the line was wrapped around the eye and the who thing got pulled clean off. Never used one again!

My father in law who does fish picked it up and commented it was like Ivan having a chat with his mates (which i suppose it was).

on another note the other book i was given was Mark Wintles “big roach”, great read reminded me of all the blanks in matches i had on the Avon and Stour in winter leagues! Just goes to show the value about knowing the right conditions and where to sit.

There are a number of things that I now think back on with a different perspective. I recall beating Billy Makin off the next peg for a section win on the Oxford canal about 1981 when he was the Kamasan Angler of the Year. Thinking back now, he fished for a win and I fished for what the peg was worth.

With Ivan Marks I have some almost hero worship memories. None more than going ’round my new best mates house when I went to secondary school to find him chatting to my mates dad! (Brian Read of Abu Coventry).

At a packed Howitzer club in Coventry for one of his roadshows, Ivan said that the majority of anglers couldn’t cast accurately. He had a 9′ Persuader bomb rod set up on stage and I used that rod to hit an upright on the bar about 30 yrds away and he gave me £20!

A few weeks later at the Coventry Championships I had a missile float set up on old peg 106. After the match as I was packing up he stopped behind me and bet that I couldn’t hit the far bank with it for another £20. Six casts later I was in the trees!

In hindsight, compared to his winnings (Reportedly paying for a house: You’d be lucky to go on holiday for winnings these days!), that £40 guaranteed him my loyal following and lifelong addiction to the sport: I used to ride the five miles from my parents house to Coombe Abbey (on a Raliegh Chopper!) to watch the major matches when this venue was the Wembley of the time. He was so approachable and interactive with people sat behind him. He never seemed to be under pressure but always got results.

Other big names at the time were very gruff and unaproachable, most of them from Birmingham! That probably cemented my thoughts that there is more to life than winning.

Ivan used to literally chain smoke, lighting the next cigarette off the one he was finishing.

I was fishing at Tunnel Barn at the Winter League and he was there and my big regret is not having a chat with him to say how much he influenced my fishing. Within weeks he was dead.

Ivan Marks on Float Fishing: Superb book written in 1977 I think.

I’ll have to look out for the aforementioned book.

Christ Mark, I’m dripping in nostalgia here.

If you posted more often no intelligent person would need to buy angling magazines at all.

Was the gruff name from Birmingham Clive, or Ken?

I read Ivan’s column avidly from when it first appeared in 72 but didn’t see Ivan fish until 1977 at the Gladding Masters at North Muskham although I was more impressed that day by Pete Palmer and Kevin Ashurst. A year later I watched Ivan on the National just above Newton St Loe bridge on the Bristol Avon where he was casting right across the river with a bodied waggler to fish alongside a large bush with pinpoint accuracy despite an upstream gale. He fed by hand with little balls of groundbait crammed with casters throwing around thirty yards. He wasn’t catching a lot, weighing in 4lb to finish 3rd in section but a crowd of over a 100 were transfixed, as I was. In later years I watched him on the Trent and Warks. Avon. I last saw him at the NEC in early 2004 when I got lucky photographing him together with Roy Marlow right at the end of the day, the first time this had happened for a long time, the photo subsequently appeared widely after Ivan’s death later that year.

I loved all ivans books and this one was no different. My copy of float fishing is warn out. I only spoke to ivan face to face once (think 13yr old girl meeting justin bieber) but he still gave me time to bend his ear on his float range ( my favourites included the 2mm antenna’s, swingers and the pacemakers). I always feel happiest fishing the float but i’ve spent the last hour converting an old 11ft medium feeder rod over to a swingtip special. I’ve had a good few casts without any tangles ( checking for tangles, a slightly longer drop, a heavier feeder, smooth casting action and feathering the line seems to minimise the swingtip casting nightmares) My only problem is over coming the lakes tow although i’ve just put new line on. I should of used maxima to be authentic as the choice in my area back then in the late 70’s was bayer perlon for the float and maxima for the feeder. Nothing else !

@inky finger wrote:

back then in the late 70’s was bayer perlon for the float and maxima for the feeder. Nothing else !

Love it mate! Bayer Perlon – those were the days 🙂

Must get my swingtip out, great bit of nostalgia as my first ever fish was caught on the swingtip.. 😀

With a heavy tow try using thin solder wire spiral wrapped around the end of the swingtip to weight it. The fish will hardly notice it as they’re already fighting the tow themselves 😉

I’ve still got a variety of swing tips from hollow fibre glass stems to solid wire, short ones and long ones..last time I used one a young lad went running off to his dad and told him ‘that blokes fishing with a broken rod! He must have had a biggun on Dad! 😀

Casting with a swing tip is all about timing, being smooth in your movements and having the right weight feeder or bomb attached coupled with a rod that doesn’t whiplash.

bayer perlon and maxima were just about the only lines you could buy around here when i was a kid.still use them now for all my reel work on natural venues.(and yes it was a long time ago before anyone says it) 😮 😮 😮

Thanks for the tips ! I new about most of them and will give the solder wire a go although we only use the unleaded stuff at work which isn’t as heavy. Lets see if fuzton’s bream play ball tomorrow.

while everyones in swingtip nostalgia mode have a look on youtube + enter go fishing with jack charlton-stillwater coarse fishing(1of3) into the search+enjoy! soz dont know how to put a proper link up im no good with computers defo worh a watch for the over 50s! 😀

The fuzton bream didn’t play ball. I only had one bite and landed a big skimmer but the swingtip worked well enough to not give up on it. I only fed the 20yrd line a few times, twice while talking to other anglers ! I tried 2 swingtips, a drennan 11in fibreglass and my own beast , a 13ins slightly cut down carbon 4oz quivertip. The drennan was easier to cast but the tow got the better of it. My home made job was much better in the tow just a bit more care was needed to cast with it. I sarted off at about 45/50 yards and ended up at about 60/65 to try and find a bite. The for the last hour i put the quiver tip on as the wind had really got up, yes it’s much easier to use but i found the swingtip much less of a pain than i thought i would and oddly satisfiying. I’m no matchman but eventualy ended up on 0.11 to a twenty fishing squatt’s on the hook in despearation for that important 1st bite on the swing tip for 20yrs !

For any Ivan fans hankering after a bit more about the great man, the link below will take you to a press release on this very website about a nice little book I ghost-wrote for Percy Anderson a few years back, shortly before Percy followed Ivan to the great river in the sky.

https://www.total-fishing.com/fishing-news/ivan-marks-complete-angler

We sold quite a few and Ivan’s family attended the cheque presentation of the proceeds to Papworth Hospital.

If anyone would still like a copy then please post here or PM me and I will try and track down any remaining unsolds..