Carp Fishing Hall of Fame 2023 Inductees
We are pleased to announce the following anglers have been selected and inducted to the Carp Fishing Hall of Fame 2023, Ritchie McDonald, Oz Holness, Paul Forward, Bill Walkenden and Tom Mintram
CARP FISHING HALL OF FAME WEBSITE
Bill Walkeden
Midlander Bill Walkeden was the joint cause of probably the most famous headline in carp-fishing history when, in July 1972, the Angling Times described a Redmire result enjoyed by Bill and John Macleod as ‘The Night of the Beer Barrels’. In his Redmire write-up of the great catch in Tim Paisley’s book Memories of Carp (2004) Chris Ball has this to say about the successful duo: ‘Not much is heard of John Mcleod these days, John being over sixty and Bill a good deal older*. Their carp-fishing days started long before they became Redmire Pool members – I have newspaper cuttings of them both with carp caught in the midlands area, and beyond, prior to them joining the Redmire syndicate. The epic result consisted of John landing carp of 40lb (the ‘38’) and 28½lb, while Bill accounted for two leathers of 25lb and 22¼lb.’ Earlier that week Bill had landed the famous Pinky at 36¼lb, the last capture of the famous fish. As far as we know this was the first really significant catch of carp on sweetcorn, and still stands as one of the greatest of Redmire results. Now in his nineties Bill is still going strong and always attracts a strong attendance at his occasional talks at gathering of carpers.
*Contact with Bill as we completed the induction process reveals that he is 102 years old, surely the first centenarian to have been inducted into the Hall of Fame!
Austin ‘Oz’ Holness
It is on record in Forces of Nature that Kent carper Oz is an angler with soul. His dedication and uncompromising nature ensure that he leaves no stone unturned in his relentless pursuit of anything he sets his mind to, and that single-minded focus and vision, accompanied by intense self-belief, takes him through the most demanding situations in both his working life and angling situations. Spending 20-plus years as a firefighter taught Oz to be a humble man: never one to shout about his achievements, he is always there for his family and friends, and lives a life of uncompromising balance. His carp-catching record compares more than favourably with anyone’s, from British record-holder (Two-tone from Mid-Kent at 67lb 14oz) to Burghfield commons and ancient Leneys, to the big mirrors of the Kennet Valley, not forgetting the harsh realities of life on the Sailing Club Pit on a quest for the rarely caught Baby Black Mirror. Oz’s stunning beautifully-illustrated 2014 book Forces of Nature is a testimony to his love of nature, the carp fishing environment, and his carp-catching record to that point, a success story which has since continued unabated. In 2023 he added his selfless organisational ability to the world of carp fishing when he organised and ran the MNDA Fish With the Stars fund-raiser at Linear Fisheries in memory of his friend the late Paul Forward. His efforts raised in excess of £50,000 for the MNDA and Oz hopes to make the fund-raiser an annual event.
Paul Forward
Successful Nottinghamshire angler Paul Forward moved to Kent in the 1980s through his love of carp fishing. He was unfailingly successful throughout the years until his death from Motor Neurone Disease at far-too-young an age early in 2023. Paul was charismatic, and high profile through his consistent carp captures, his involvement with the media, and interaction with his many friends in carp fishing. Famously he was a regular contributor to Carpworld with his cult, highly popular Mr F features from early this century onwards and contributed a revealing chapter to the Carp Society’s 2021 book Every Picture Tells a Story. His consistency was amazing and he managed to keep fuelling his monthly column with captures from the pressured Kent waters, and beyond, throughout the fifteen years or so his column ran. Paul teamed up with his great friend Dave Lane many times for both his session fishing and their highly popular and entertaining talks at carp gatherings. His popularity was such that following his premature death a Fish With the Stars event was organised by friend Oz Holness at Linear Fisheries to commemorate his passing, the proceeds going to the MNDA.
Ritchie McDonald
The entry for Ritchie in A Century of Carp Fishing reads: ‘Surrey. High profile and successful big fish angler of the late 70s, 80s and early 90s. First angler to catch three different forties. Excellent speaker and the author of Ritchie on Carp, where many of his exploits are described. Gave up carp fishing in the mid-90s.’ It hardly does him justice! He enjoyed success on Ashlea, The Crayfish Pool, Yateley, Longfield, Savay, Redmire, Cassien to name but a few of his stamping grounds! His book was up-dated to Ritchie on Carp, the Whole Story in 2014, by which time Ritchie had emerged from retirement to restart his pursuit of carp. It should go on record that when Ritchie caught Bazil from Yateley North Lake in October 1984 Chris Yates Redmire fish of 51lb 8oz had still not been accepted as a record by the BRFC, although the world of carp fishing and the NASA-formed Record Fish considered it to be the record. Ritchie could have claimed the record, but didn’t and soon after Chris’s fish got its due recognition in the BRFC record lists. It's fair to say that Ritchie is (or was) a ‘colourful character’ and a bit of a jack-the-lad and when his Redmire membership was terminated (he felt unfairly) he poached the pool the following close season by way of a degree of revenge. Colourful character or not it’s true to say that Ritchie was at the pinnacle of carp fishing during the golden age of carping from 1975 through to the mid-80s. He had a long lay-off from carp fishing but has recently resumed his efforts, concentrating on the Korda Embryo water of Norton Disney. As with Tom Mintram it could be said with some justification that his induction into the Carp Fishing Hall of Fame was well overdue.
Tom Mintram
From Surrey Tom Mintram was part of the fabric of carp fishing from the sixties onwards and had a huge impact on the pursuit of big fish. He was a circuit-water angler spending time on Yeoveney, Brooklands, Spicer’s, Eggett’s, Longfield, Brooklands and other emerging carp venues when, following a chance conversation, he acquired the fishing rights to Ashlea Pool. How he came by the Ashlea rights is described in detail in Chris Ball’s final book Ashlea Pool (2023). Sometime later Tom encountered Jack Hilton at Spicer’s in Kent and famously asked “You the bloke who’s never caught a twenty?” (Quest for Carp p75.) Tom and Jack became friends and Jack enjoyed success at Ashlea, and later acquired the rights to fish Redmire Pool. Tom was part of the original Redmire syndicate and went on to lead the syndicate when Jack retired from fishing during the 1975 close season. Tom later handed the running of the syndicate over to John Carver but remained involved into the eighties and was instrumental in arranging the Redmire Interview the year before the syndicate lost control of the pool. He fished a number of high-profile carp waters but is mostly associated with his involvement with Redmire, although at times his fishing was limited through health problems. His capture of the ‘38’ is well-documented and is described in detail in Jack Hilton’s book Quest for Carp. He also had the distinction of being Roger Smith’s father-in-law for some years! The big-fish scene developed from Tom’s acquisition of the Ashlea Pool fishing which makes him a pivotal figure in the development of the pursuit of big carp. (The Redmire Interview and the resulting Jack Hilton Interview appear in Tim Paisley’s book Carp Season.)
