User:Moswento/Fred Buller

Fred Buller is an author and historian of angling, who is considered a leading authority on the development of fishing tackle. He has also been described as the "UK's leading authority on pike" and a journalist in The Times described him as "Mr Pike himself". "world's foremost authority on pike".

Personal life
Buller lives in Little Missenden, Buckinghamshire.

He was awarded the OBE in 2010 for services to Literature. He was presented with this award in Buckinghamshire by Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher, the county's Lord Lieutenant, having expressed his preference to receive the honour locally among family and friends rather than in a central ceremony at Windsor Castle.

Has had a long interest in angling, particularly for pike and salmon. Speaking in later years to BBC Three Counties Radio, Buller recalled: "I was dazzled as a child by the sight of fish...and my interest in them has never slackened".

He is the patron of Angling Heritage, a Devon-based trust committed to the preservation of historical documents relating to angling.

Owned a tackle and gun shop in Little Missenden Owned tackle and gun shop Chubbs of Edgware. In 1984, he also became the owner of several gun manufacturers, namely Hellis, Watson Bros. and Frederick Beesley.

Writing career
Buller has written several books, including The Domesday Book of Mammoth Pike and The Domesday Book of Giant Salmon. The "Giant Salmon" volume reflects 40 years of research.

Buller collaborated with Hugh Falkus to produce Freshwater Fishing, first published in 1975. This is a comprehensive illustrated encyclopedia of over 40 freshwater fish species found in the British Isles. It also contains extensive information on fishing tackle. The pair were inspired to produce the work when they wrote some articles together in the 1960s. The first edition took six years to write, and a further two years of revision followed to produce the second edition. A reviewer in The Times concluded that "there is no other book but this which is so comprehensive and contains such valuable information".

The Domesday Book of Mammoth Pike (1979) chronicles every recorded pike weighing 35lb or over, caught anywhere in the world in the preceding 250 years. Buller travelled extensively to research this volume. Buller himself did not have any captures of his own to include in this list.

In 2007, a similar volume covering large salmon was published, The Domesday Book of Giant Salmon. The work was initially issued in a print run of 5000, but sold out within a month. A more expensive special edition of the book, made available at £650 ($1311), also sold out quickly. This work listed salmon weighing 50lb and over.

Published works

 * Book of Rigs and Tackles (1967)
 * Pike (1971; ISBN 9780356030548)
 * Freshwater Fishing (with Hugh Falkus, 1975)
 * The Domesday Book of Mammoth Pike (1979; ISBN 9780091361709)
 * Dame Juliana: The Angling Treatyse and its Mysteries (with Hugh Falkus, 2001)
 * The Domesday Book of Giant Salmon (2007; ISBN 9781845295981)
 * Fish & Fishermen in English Medieval Church Wall Paintings (2009; ISBN 9781899600984)
 * The Domesday Book of Giant Salmon, Volume 2 (2010; ISBN 9781849013871)