Saturday 23 February 2013

TERRY LAMPARD - A TRIBUTE - 1947 to 2013


What very sad news, the loss of such an inspiring, gentle and kind man - and like many of us no doubt, I find it difficult to believe that he isn't still out there on the river, waiting to pull off yet another awesome conjuring trick.

                 
Terry's 7/4 River Stour chub
                                    
We all know that Terry  was a great angler but more than that, he was simply a lovely bloke, always full of fun even when he had his sights firmly set on a giant fish. 

Typical Terry - out there with a few of his many friends + big fish of course.

I was very fortunate to share experiences and favourite swims with Terry in the good old days when we were pursuing 3lb roach on the River Stour at Whitemill Bridge. He was always generous with his stories and optimistic about the prospects, even after we had both blanked, a familiar occurrence when hunting those elusive monsters … though of course, he blanked a lot less often than I did!

Virtually the only other angler I saw in those rock hard days was his very close friend Tim Norman, so I always felt honoured to be sharing the same challenges as these two wonderful blokes. Do read Terry's descriptions of those inspiring winter days on the Stour in his book ‘First Casts’ – as good a book on fishing as you are ever likely to read.

Terry paid Martin Bowler and I the honour of agreeing to help us with the filming of ‘Catching the Impossible’. We set him the challenge of catching a seven pound chub … certainly not ‘impossible’ for a man of his 'kaliber'!  After all, he had already caught so many he had lost count … and that is not a suggestion that he ever showed a hint of false modesty. He was just good at it!

But catching a seven pounder to order with the camera clunking about on the bank, well that is just a little more difficult. We enjoyed many happy hours together trying to hit the target and these even turned into days … but in the end of course his legendary perseverance paid off … as can be seen in the film clip from the series.

Then we did set him an impossible task, a three pound roach but from a river! Martin and I considered this to be the only truly impossible target in the series, the title just being a device to help us tell the story. Tim and Terry even doubted there were still any three pound roach left alive in the River Stour, let alone being able to catch one but they generously gave it a go and needless to say, Terry turned our dream into reality. It was one of the happiest moments in angling that you could ever imagine. 
a 3/5 river roach - impossible!
No doubt I’m not alone in thinking that everyone who ever met Terry will miss him deeply. What a lovely man.



We hope you’ll enjoy watching Terry doing what he did best - catching monsters. He’s probably still out there in a favourite swim, catching even bigger ones!

7 comments:

  1. Lovely tribute.

    What an angler. His 3lb roach in Catching the Impossible must rank as one of the greatest fish every caught on film. The 7lb chub caught trotting wasn't bad either!

    His book First Cast is a superb read.

    I read a lot of fishing blogs and have been saddened by the lack of reaction to his passing. Maybe people just don't know? He made the impossible possible.

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  2. What a lovely down to earth gentle man he was.He hand delivered a leather copy of his book whilst i was fishing the stour.He sat behind me,i being a total stranger,and chatted for an hour and a half whilst i lost several big chub which he must have found amusing but never let on.I used to ring him occaisionally on the Stours condition as i live so far away and he was always willing to give me the river conditions.I just can't believe he's not here anymore.Huge huge loss to angling and all who knew him!!R.I.P Terry.

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  3. Wonderful images, two huge fish, caught with watercraft & released to live & be caught again.
    Mr Miles thank you for allowing this clip to be seen.
    I never met Mr Lampard but on this showing he seems to be the type of "Angler" many of us seek to be, skilful, warm, kind & generous.
    I can only echo previous writing on the sad loss to his family & Angling.

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  4. A true inspiration to all anglers now and to anglers of the future, a angling CV to envy for sure. Thanks for sharing Hugh.

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  5. Lost touch with Terry. Reading his book brought things back and filled in the rest. Lovely man thank you for your help over the years.

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  6. Just seen this and can't believe it. Inspirational watching him on the Stour. RIP

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  7. A true legend of fishing and simply the best specimen angler of all time.

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