Adrian Freer is the author of books on reservoir fly fishing, fly dressing, trout fly patterns, religious topics, children's stories and poetry.

In recent times I have been involved in writing a biography dedicated to the life, the artificial flies, the pioneering techniques in stillwater nymph fishing and ultimately the angling legacy of Dr Howard Alexander Bell (1888-1974) of Wrington, Somerset. Dr Bell regularly fished Blagdon Water in the years following WW1 where he sought to devise better methods of catching reservoir trout.

 

As a result of his enquiring and scientific mind Dr Bell did not follow the standard practice of the day of employing 'attractor' patterns but rather he studied the creatures that the fish were targeting and endeavoured to design artificial patterns which replicated them, and retrieved them in a manner which mimicked their progression through the water. He was probably the first angler we know of to implement such an imitative approach to reservoirs and his Blagdon Buzzer is the forerunner of the multitude of buzzer artificials employed today.

 

Reservoir fly anglers who adopt the imitative approach of offering nymph patterns to the trout, recovering them slowly in the manner of the natural creatures, are following in the footsteps of this innovative angler.

 

There is a biography of Dr Bell, a history of the development of reservoir fly fishing and some reminiscences by those who knew him. That is followed by references to him gleaned from a variety of books and publications, the dressings of his flies and the only surviving article attributed to Dr Bell. There are also several images of flies designed and tied by the doctor. Facsimiles of some pages from his fishing notebook are reproduced, there is a picture gallery of related images and finally several obituaries. The acknowledgements page lists a number of links to material about him.

 

As part of this project of making Dr Bell's legacy more widely known a website devoted to Dr Bell and a Wikipedia entry have also been created.

 

The website can be accessed at www.webdatauk.wixsite.com/dr-bell and the Wikipedia entry at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_A._Bell or use the buttons below.