Good question this,
I've been trying to get to the bottom of this myself but all you get is hearsay. The strongest rumour at the time, was following considerable investment in his own rod range, that didn't sell well, and a lack of motivation in the business because of domestic issues, he sold up?
This is a real shame, as he was one of the few people in the trade who was genuinely deserving of the title 'angling legend'. He was a top flight freshwater matchman, who I believe may have fished for England back in the day when National teams were selected from the winning team in the 'All England' national (now divisional nationals). He was a national casting champion in the early 70's with the Backcast, and was one of the first casters to import quality high performance lines like Stren. He was also very successful on the East Anglian cod scene, having caught at least four 20lb+ shore caught cod to my uncertain knowledge, with I believe a whiting livebait method he developed in partnership with the Coull brothers?
A lot of us miss the Uni-tech rig bits, nothing flashy just sound gear that worked. Dave was an advocate of a single hook flapper for routine codding, with a snood of about 18" set to rest by the lead. Obviously no one has told the cod that this is now 'old fashioned'. I still use the Uni-rest, one of the first of that type not to have flimsy plastic cups and heads. Cetainly, I feel his mail order business is much missed by east coast anglers and hope that rumours that he is on his way back prove true.
T.
