T C Ivens

Ivens’ philosophy regarding fly selection was based on fish behaviour and he proposed that ‘exact imitation’ on reservoirs was unnecessary and that ‘general representations’, to suggest a range of food creatures, should form the first line of attack whenever possible.

[9] Ivens stressed the importance of long distance casting and favoured the use of slowly recovered ‘deceiver’ nymph fly patterns when the conditions allowed.

The opening of Grafham Water in 1966 brought about new problems for fly anglers due to its large size (and most importantly its depth) which resulted in stratification and trout which remained deep-down for much of the time.

Ivens devised new methods to tackle these deep-lying fish and designed a supplementary series of flies to accompany the new techniques which were described in the third edition of his book in 1970.

[15] Davenport and Fordham Ltd of Ware, Hertfordshire produced a series of split-cane and later fibreglass fly rods designed by Tom Ivens bearing his name.

The 'Stillwater' boat manufactured by Thanetcraft of New Malden, Surrey, designed in collaboration with Ivens, incorporated several unique features for a fishing boat: high seats for a better casting position that were well-spaced apart, fixing rings for the mooring ropes, anchors and drogues mounted on the exterior of the hull, and a snag-free interior to avoid fly line tangles.