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161:(also known as the Third Battle of Ypres) in 1917. The emotional scars of what he had witnessed as he tended the wounded and dying in Flanders were to remain with him for the rest of his life. It could well be that his wartime experiences led to his desire to live in idyllic surroundings and pursue the gentle art of fly fishing with such single-minded dedication.
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bank, casting as he went. He cast out as far as was comfortable. He made no attempt to go for distance but let the flies sink slowly, judging the time so that the tail fly did not get snagged on the bottom. He used the knot at the end of his greased silk line as a bite indicator. When the flies were fully sunk he would gather them in slowly.
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Bell would always go off on his own, trying to avoid other rods. He had a pear-shaped landing net slung over his shoulder on a cord. He always fished from the bank with three unweighted flies on a gut cast, size 1X. He liked to fish over sunk ditches and holes and weed beds. He moved slowly along the
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Dr Bell eventually retired from medical practice in 1963 and carried on fishing for a few more years until, as a result of advancing age, he was unable to continue. He died on 2 December 1974 at the age of 86. His wife Sophia Mary 'Millie' Bell died a little over two years afterwards on 9 February
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Bell was a bank angler and, as far as is recorded, he never fished from a boat. In its formative years
Blagdon anglers would normally employ large sea trout or low water salmon flies during the daytime, very often using tandem and multi-hook arrangements; or alternatively lures at night. Dr Bell
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Dr Bell has several reservoir nymph patterns to his credit: the
Grenadier (bloodworm), Amber Nymph (sedge pupa), Blagdon Buzzer (midge pupa), and Corixa; derivatives of which are still in use on reservoirs almost one hundred years after their creation.
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on reservoirs in the early twentieth century. At a time when employing flashy 'attractor' patterns was the norm he employed the alternative tactic of using artificial flies that represented the shape and form of the creatures present in
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he caught and after examining the contents he made an index of all the food available to the trout. Following on from that he devised imitations of all the creatures present and the local
Blagdon anglers quickly followed his example
139:, BBC political correspondent and angling historian, had these words to say about him, "Dr Bell of Blagdon had the greatest formative influence of any man on the development of reservoir fishing in the first half of this century".
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His flies were quite small, 10s, 12s, sometimes 14s. He might have a Worm Fly on a single hook on the point, a
Grenadier on the middle dropper and a Buzzer on the top. All his dressings were plain and simple".
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Recent research (in 2018) has led to the publication of a number of previously undocumented flies designed by Dr Bell including the
Stickle Fry, Green & Yellow Damsel Nymph and several other patterns.
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Among his lesser-known patterns are the
Blagdon Green Midge which he may have devised with the assistance of others, Green & Orange Nymph, Translucent Nymph and Bloodworm Nymph.
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Dr Bell's Trout Flies: The
Stillwater Nymph Patterns of Dr Bell of Wrington, Coch-y-Bonddu Books Angling Monographs Series Volume Twelve (2020)
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He was a shy, sensitive and reserved individual and the horrors of war affected him deeply. He was one of the few who survived the
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He liked to fish alone, always on the move, slowly covering sunken ditches, holes and weed beds as he sought to locate the trout.
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Regrettably, being the reclusive person that he was, many of his other patterns have been lost in the mists of time.
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Dr Bell of
Wrington: Pioneer of Reservoir Fly Fishing by Adrian V W Freer, Welford Court Press (2019)
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A History of
Flyfishing by Conrad Voss Bark, Merlin Unwin Books (paperback edition 1994) page 120
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A History of
Flyfishing by Conrad Voss Bark, Merlin Unwin Books (1992) chapter 15: Bell's Bugs
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would use neither, but instead he preferred to fish with his own small imitative patterns.
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Trout & Salmon magazine, Article by Lt Col. Esmond Drury (February 1975 issue) page 50
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Tying and Fishing the Nymph by Taff Price, Blandford a Cassell imprint (1995) page 29/30
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The New Encyclopaedia of Fly Fishing by Conrad Voss Bark, Robert Hale Ltd (1992) page 31
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Tying and Fishing the Nymph by Taff Price, Blandford a Cassell imprint (1995) page 192
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A fishing friend of Bell's, Alick Newsom, described his method of fishing as follows:
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Advanced Stillwater Flyfishing by Chris Ogbourne, David & Charles (1993) Page 160
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A book documenting all Dr Bell's fly patterns of which there is a record entitled
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A Further Guide to Fly Dressing by John Veniard, A & C Black (1964) page 123
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The New Encyclopaedia of Fly Fishing by Conrad Voss Bark, Robert Hale Ltd (1992)
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The Field magazine, Article by J K B Crawford (6 February 1975 issue) page 211
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The Field magazine, Article by J K B Crawford (6 February 1975 issue) page 211
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The Flyfishers' Journal, Article by Alick Newsom (summer 1975 issue) page 112
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Reservoir and Lake Flies by John Veniard, A & C Black (1970) page 53
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William Alexander Bell (father), Adeline Eliza Bell (née Tooth) (mother)
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Reservoir Trout Flies by Adrian V W Freer, Crowood Press (2010) page 91
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Fly-Dressing II by David J Collyer, David & Charles (1981) page 109
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FlyFishing & FlyTying magazine (February 2015 issue) page 43
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Dr Bell's Trout Flies: The Stillwater Nymph Patterns of Dr Bell
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and served abroad in Flanders and Palestine in World War I.
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1977 and they are buried together in the churchyard at
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Dr Bell of Wrington: Pioneer of Reservoir Fly Fishing
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447:Flydresser magazine (Spring 2019 issue) page 7
168:written by Adrian Freer was published in 2019.
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221:Reservoir nymph patterns devised by Dr Bell
188:Bell made it his practice to spoon all the
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256:. There is a pathway off School Road in
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67:All Saints' Church, Wrington, Somerset
535:British Army personnel of World War I
180:Contribution to reservoir fly fishing
91:Sophia Mary 'Millie' Bell (née Cross)
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530:20th-century British medical doctors
495:http://webdatauk.wixsite.com/dr-bell
150:in London. He was enlisted in the
142:Howard Alexander Bell was born at
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540:Royal Army Medical Corps soldiers
213:Fly patterns designed by Dr Bell
175:Biography of Dr Bell of Wrington
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47:Bletchingley, Surrey, England
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117:Angler's map of Blagdon Lake
133:where he fished regularly.
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148:St Bartholomew's Hospital
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159:Battle of Passchendaele
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164:A biography entitled
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57:(1974-12-02)
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515:1974 deaths
510:1888 births
476:6 September
126:fly fishing
504:Categories
264:References
72:Occupation
41:1888-02-21
104:Relatives
80:Education
258:Wrington
96:Children
467:"index"
88:Spouse
190:trout
478:2018
99:none
52:Died
35:Born
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25:Dr
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