Adam Entwistle British Wildlife+Angling Artist: 2019

Before I forget

By Rod Hutchinson

I thought it was time to catch up on a blog considering it's been a couple of years.....how time flies! I certainly haven't been as productive this year regarding my art work, and most of my work is now sold to regular customers, and via other social media platforms, so that has been another reason for so little activity here. Despite the lack of volume over the last 12 months, I have certainly been working on larger projects, alongside some well known faces in Angling, which has been both exciting and a great privilege. But enough of the excuses, I felt very blessed to be involved in this book and I hear it's hot of the press as I type, and I'm looking forward to getting my hands on a copy.

It's hard to quantify the impact this man had on the angling world, so much has been written by the man himself, alongside others who have crossed his path over a life long career in the business, and he certainly left his mark on many levels. I always saw Rod as the George Best of the angling world, a big character to say the least, a cheeky northern lad with a wicked sense of humour....with an eye for the ladies and for a pint of the golden stuff.....he was larger than life!

His pioneering skills within angling have laid the foundations for the rest to follow, boarding on a genius in his own right.....he was literally light-years ahead of the rest when he started to develop the bait making industry, then moving onto to tackle development and manufacture, & without his early input, we could be looking at a very different sport right now. Rod was thinking on a whole new wave length when his Catchum bait making company started to advertise in the local angling publications. A development of bait making flavours & ingredients that to say was revolutionary is a complete understatement.......& with it came results & success, with his name being whispered in tight circles that something exciting was brewing in the cauldrons of the carp world, and the household name was born. This is not a historical account of his life, because so much has been said by others who know him far better than myself, having the privilege to witness in person his skills on the backside. Plenty of anglers exist who have the ability to catch a carp, but when you bring numerous elements together that were both pioneering at the time, combined with his drive to turn these ideas into commercial products, he was boarding on dangerous.....dangerous from the carps prospective because there was no place to hide. Articles and pictures followed of catches of carp from the length and breadth of England by Rod Hutchinson that had never have thought real...and this momentum continued through the 70s, 80s, 90s...in fact he was making a name for himself as early as the mid-70s when I was still a twinkle in my mothers eye.....he had seen and done it all, and then some.

You would think he had already enough skills, in fact you could consider him greedy with too many for one man, but throw into the mix, a working class northern lad with the ability to write in a unique style combined with side-splitting humour he really became the man of his time. Some say "The Carp That Strikes Back" is one of the greatest angling books ever written, and it certainly is one of the great classics residing in nearly every carp anglers library....not just in this country but throughout Europe.......which then brings me to the whole reason for this Blog.

Wayne Cryer is the proprietor of the "Little Egret Press". He had been working alongside Rod through the year of 2016/2017, collating new writing material, along with the chance to get the privileged opportunity to cast his eyes over his massive image library, a lifetimes worth of angling photos, moments frozen in time and etched onto 35mm that could make the mouth of any hard core carp angler slobber like a bull mastiff eating a water melon. At the time I had the opportunity to cast my eyes over the original manuscripts, with only Rod & Wayne being the other two who had done so! Exciting stuff, gut turning in-fact and I still say without question some of the most raw, uncouth, side-splitting angling writing I have read. It's not a big book, but you will be treated to the final words of the man himself. You can hear the words of a dying man, one reminiscing of his good old days, happy times of memories etched into his grey matter, with the synapses firing away for one last time as he started to put his thoughts onto paper for his final book. Untold stories from the ground breaking times at Redmire, his first meeting with Mr Yates, Catchum history, along with other stories never told. But the one chapter that left its mark on myself was the Windmill Story. His descriptive power and writing is something else, a real roller-coaster ride from start to finish, which had me crying with laughter alongside an emotional pang to have known these memories had been his life, a time when he was young free and on the way to making his way in the world.....way before he even knew himself what path lay ahead and who he would metamorphosize into.....magical writing indeed. I so wish time was on my side to have done more illustration for the book, but once again a very tight time scale from the publisher, alongside my own personal life getting in the way.....I applied myself with passion & fire in my belly with the time at hand, to provide artwork covering different subjects & not just fish......hopefully they will resonate with the reader. It's clear from Rod's words he was also passionate about his wildlife, with snippets of birds & animals filtering through some of the chapters, quietly in the background, which was another reason his words where such a big hit for me personally.

I have a small selection of the original artworks available from the book which I will list below, alongside a very limited edition print run of two carp drawings I provided for the book in different sizes, unmounted, mounted & framed. This is a unique opportunity to purchase an original drawing which will be accompanied with a hand written letter of authenticity to confirm it's for the book......not just another angling book, but the last written by Rod Hutchinson and one I personal feel will be remembered as his very best.

I huge thank you to the man himself, RIP Hutchy and "Don't forget to smell the Hops along the way"

A sincere thank you to Wayne for the chance to be involved...I feel honoured.

Please find below the illustrations I provided for the book with details of which are still available to purchase.

LARGE OVAL CARP DRAWING: Original Sold
I limited edition print run of 100 will be available of this drawing. They are an exact replica of the original, professional printed on 300g paper, A2 size (mounted they measure 610mm x 470mm)
Each print is signed & numbered priced at £55 including p&p.

This print can also be purchased with a lazer cut extra thick, double mount & backing board which makes a huge difference to the print once framed. Priced at £85 including p&p for this option.

I will be producing a very select number of 10 prints of A1 size. These professional prints are of the same standard as the above prints, but they will be mounted in an extra thick double cream mount with wooden frame (measuring over a metre in length) Each numbered print will be signed & numbered, alongside a original pencil Remarque added of your choice to the mount of any subject related to "Hutchy". Please feel free to email regarding further information about these extra special prints.

Carp ink drawing on scraper board:Original Sold
Limited Edition Professional print run of 100 available. Size A3 (mounted they measure 500mm x 400mm) signed & numbered. Price £40 including p&p