This move neatly coincided with the
huge growth in the popularity of fly fishing, with literally hundreds of
stillwaters opening in the space of just a few years, with iconic venues
such as Avington pushing the boundaries of innovation especially with the
size trout, styles of fly fishing and innovations in both tackle and flies.
A lifetime away from the snooty
stores of Farlow’s’ and Hardy’s in London’s clubland, The Rod Box was
the place to go where the rack of fly rods was both a thing of great beauty
and temptation. I still have today my first fly rod, an 8.5ft five weight
fibreglass Rod Box own brand, with an Intrepid reel, that Ian sold me in
1972. As well as the shop, Ian and Scrappy were at the forefront of opening
up the chalkstreams to allcomers, creating a chalkstream letting agency. In
the 1990’s The Rod Box moved to Kings Worthy on the outskirts of Winchester
until Ian retired in 2010, the store eventually moving to Sutton Scotney
under the care of Ian’s long-time associate Richard Webb who runs it today.
For Ian his heart was always with the
Itchen, his favourite beats upstream of Winchester around Chilland but he
was both a keen salmon fisher with annual trips to the Spey and enjoyed his
shooting, which took the place of the Mini car racing of his younger years.
Ian died on the 19 May aged 78 years
after a short illness, a quirky coincidence of a date it being the date
Scrappy always held to be the prime day for River Itchen mayfly. Ian leaves
his wife Erica, and three sons Christien, Jolion and Simeon.
|