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Nov
Meet the Harrogate man who has spent 60 years chasing monster pike
Landlocked Harrogate is an unlikely place to find one of the country’s leading anglers. Bill Winship, however, is nationally recognised as a leading authority on pike fishing.
Bill is a former president of the Pike Anglers’ Club of Great Britain and has just published his third book, Pike Fishing in Scotland.
Two of those have been written in the six years since he retired in 2020. “I retired on a Friday night and on the Monday, I started writing,” he says.
River Pike in Northern England was published in 2022. He then spent four years on his latest publication, which is based on experience of pike fishing gained when he had a sales job in Scotland.
Bill recalls:
The previous rep got into trouble with the ladies and for drinking during the evenings. When I went for the job, they asked what I was going to do in the evenings and I think they were relieved when I said I’d go fishing.
'It's the dramatic size of them'
Bill's books are a labour of love. As well as researching and writing them, he illustrates each one with his own watercolour paintings. The attention to detail and quality of production reflect the care he puts into his work.
Bill remains a regular angler, usually heading out twice a week between 8am and 2pm. Early mornings can be particularly productive, as pike often feed at that time.
All the fish he catches are returned to the water.
Bill Winship at home in Bilton with his book.
His personal best remains a remarkable 34lb pike caught at Lindholme Lake, near Doncaster, in 1984.
So what is it about pike that has kept him hooked for more than six decades?
“It’s the dramatic size of them,” he says. “They can grow over four feet.”
At 71, Bill still has plenty of enthusiasm for the sport he first discovered aged 10. His home in Bilton, which he shares with wife Liz, is filled with reminders of that lifelong passion, including around 20 fishing rods and a collection of angling memorabilia built up over more than 60 years.
Favourite water
Although he’s roamed far and wide in pursuit of pike, Bill’s favourite water is the nearby River Ure.
He says: “I was born about a quarter of a mile from it and grew up in Tanfield. I consider it to be the spiritual home of fishing and it’s particularly good for grayling and trout.”
Bill’s first book, Pike Waters, was published in 1989. Things have changed a lot since then and contrary to much of what is said about the state of waterways these days, Bill is full of praise for organisations such as the Environment Agency.
He says:
Forty years ago, most rivers were sewers. Now all Yorkshire rivers produce pike, perch, roach and carp. It’s wonderful how they have come back. And Yorkshire has possibly the best grayling fishing in the country.
Bill Winship fishing a local lake. Pic: Bill Winship
Anglers, he points out, are often among the first to spot and report pollution, making them important eyes and ears when it comes to protecting waterways.
Bill also runs a trout lake near Grantley, close to Ripon, and is passionate about encouraging the next generation to take up fishing.
He believes the benefits extend well beyond learning how to catch a fish.
“Fishing is so good for children,” he says. “It gets them into the countryside and off their phones.”
For someone who has spent more than 60 years with a rod in his hand, Bill is living proof that a passion for fishing never needs to fade.
You can order his book here.
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