Ray Mumford Dead

Anglers mourn the death of southern legend.
The match angling world is mourning the death of top southern rod, Ray Mumford. Ray, remembered by many as the man who bought the pole to the UK, passed away last Friday, December 14th, at the age of 77 years. He died of pneumonia, but had been suffering from dementia for several years.

John Raison, owner of Gold Valley Lakes, commented: “I am very sad to hear of Ray’s passing, he was an exceptionally talented angler in his day. He had his enemies- and was without a doubt a controversial character – but he was also a very deep man, who would go out of his way to help people.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, there was nobody better when it came to fishing – in many ways he was a pioneer. He would make regular trips over to the Favearre Tackle Shop in France, to pick up pole fishing gizmos from the continent. I remember one week, he won a Wednesday match with a 5lb 13oz net of minnows from the River Ivel, a Saturday match with 19lb of crucian carp from a gravel pit, and another river match on the Sunday with a 19lb bag consisting of just five big chub and barbel. He was that diverse.

I think the biggest mistake he made was upsetting the wrong people at the wrong time.  He was incredibly confident in his own ability, and would think nothing of turning up on an England Trial – despite not being invited, and sitting on the end of the line up, just because he thought that he should be there!

Although I haven’t seen him for years, I understand the last few years of his life were pretty debilitating. He apparently spent the last couple of years in a wheelchair, which for an active man like Ray would have been a nightmare.

I hope he rests in piece, as he was a great angler and a pioneer, who helped a lot of people”

Daiwa Dorking team captain, Steve Sanders added: “I can remember Ray taking myself and Steve Gardener up to the River Trent for a day, and explaining about the big effect that moon phases had on fish behaviour. Back then, nobody else worried about such things, which shows just how far ahead of his time that Ray was. In his hay day, there was nobody better – the angling world has lost a real talent in Ray.”

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