Fred J Taylor

May 16 2008 by David Charters, Liverpool Daily Post

IN THE long history of their sport, man and pike have never been equally matched, but the chap in the floppy hat with grizzled whiskers, which suggested that he was auditioning for Emmerdale Farm, narrowed the odds with his cunning introduction of deadbaiting.

To his keen senses, it was obvious that the discerning pike preferred dead bait to live bait.

Such knowledge made him a guru among the waxed-jackets and wellies brigade, leading to him becoming a respected writer.

Frederick James Taylor (Fred J) was born in Leighton Buzzard. At Aylesbury Grammar School, he devel-oped a love of languages, particularly English, which would later couple well with his enthusiasm for old rural England.

As a boy, he learned to catch fish and game for the table, while roaming freely around the local country with his brother, Ken, and cousin, Joe.

His early ambition was to be a baker, and when he served in the Royal Tank Regiment, during the Second World War, he was asked to help out in the kitchens in North Africa. His expertise there was quickly spotted and he was poached to cook for the officers’ mess.

After the war, Taylor became a baker and a hospital chef, but in 1954 his first articles were published in Angling Times.

He would later publish 18 books, mostly about game and fish cookery. “One for the Pot” was particularly popular. His last, Rabbiting Man, came out last year.

With his engaging manner, experience and rich vocabulary, Taylor reached an even wider audience with his spot on ITV’s cookery programme, Heart of the Country.

In addition to his deadbaiting, Taylor was celebrated for his “lift method” of catching tench. This is quite a complicated procedure to those not familiar with angling. But when a fish takes the bait, the shot is often lifted from the lake, causing the float to “lift” out of the water.

Another Taylor discovery was that sweetcorn can be a good bait for carp and other fish.

In addition to his articles for magazines and the national press, Taylor, married with a daughter, was a fine poet, guitarist and camp-fire folk singer, who could make wine from the flavours of the hedgerows. His awards included the Silver Dolphin (the greatest US honour for sport fishing), the Country Man of the Year and the MBE.

Fred J Taylor, countryman; born February 9, 1919, died May 7, 2008.