It seems I am doing this far too often just recently, with the passing of three good friends and fellow anglers in just 12 months.
First it was well known specimen angler and one time river carp record holder Ted Head.
Then less than 12 months later his brother Len Head passed away. Len was known worldwide as an all round specimen angler and writer but most people will remember him for his vast knowledge of his favourite fish the tench.

Now it is with great sadness that I have to pen the following article regarding my good friend Keith Culley.
Keith had suffered a long illness and passed away on the morning of the 24th June 2000.
As this was Keith's own page on the Tackle Mart website it seemed only fitting for this to appear here…..

Keith expertise in our sport was pole fishing, not the match size tactics often associated with pole fishing, tench and carp were his favourite quarry using this method.
He certainly opened my eyes when I first told him that I had quite recently taken up the pole to see what it was about and was obviously doing it all wrong judging by the size of the fish I kept catching.
Well, over the next few weeks he regularly bashed out endless mails giving me tips, hints and general information on pole fishing. With every word he wrote or spoke on the subject there was one thing that always came to the fore, his great love for this method.

We first arranged to meet at one of my favourite local waters, Foxearth Nr Sudbury in Suffolk. I turned up to see Keith set up and in full swing, whilst many of the regular anglers sat around motionless behind their buzzers, twiddling their thumbs Keith happily lifted into perch, roach, rudd, crucian and tench with the odd carp making an appearance, this was in the first couple of hours!
As we chatted, discussing fishing and life in general I felt I already knew Keith well and not just through the Internet either. It is a very hard thing to describe to people but it wasn't like meeting a new angler on the bank it was just like turning up to see your mate again.
One thing that became very evident very quickly was his sense of humour, as I sat there watching him he had a broad grin on his face and said " I raised a good few knowing smiles from the locals when I first set this gear up this morning, but I have had to stop for a coffee once already, nobody else on the lake has moved"
I started to scan the other nearby swims and noticed that every time Keith's pole went skyward with another fish on, anglers all over the lake adjusted their position on bedchairs and seats to get a look at what he was bringing to the net this time.
It was about this time that he told me it was my turn as he wanted a rest, he sat me down on his box gave me the pole and said "off you go then".
For the next hour or so I was totally immersed in catching perch, roach and even a tench, all the time I had fished Foxearth and I had never tried this way before, what a waste! When I finally left Keith that day I went home and as soon as I got in the front door the wife declared " you've got a grin like a Cheshire cat, had a good day?" I immediately launched into great detail on my captures of my fish on the pole.

Keith was also responsible for me entering and fishing my first ever match, with my main approach being the pole! We were both members of Graham Marsden's fishing list from his first angling website. Through this we soon got to know anglers from all corners of the UK and abroad.  After a while we felt we had to go one better and have a match between us all to enable us to meet and put faces to names and so it began to take shape.
Now before this event the most competitive edge I had ever put to my fishing was to have a bet with fishing buddies such as a pound on the first fish and a bottle of something on the biggest. I had never even considered entering some of my local 20-30 peg matches and here was I now getting prepared to fish the River Nene on a 300-400 peg match!!
Over the coming weeks not only did Keith give me endless encouragement but also floats, rigs and various other bits and pieces he thought I would need.
We both thoroughly enjoyed the day and travelled back full of the event, all the new people we had met and how the power of the internet allowed this kind of thing to take place.

The next mailing list event that Keith and I attended was the weekend trip to Larford Lakes in Stourport ( full story on page 8 ).
I know Keith and I spent evenings bashing away endless mails and phone calls to each other in preparation for the event and we both were very exited at the prospect of catching our first ever barbel.
I know for a fact that one of the major highlights in Keith's angling life was getting to know and  finally meeting Graham Marsden, and the real icing on his cake came when Graham and Keith shared the same swim fishing for barbel . This and the added bonus of meeting Des Taylor gave him a weekend that in his own words " he would never forget". I know he re-counted the weekend to many of his local fishing friends on many an occasion and kept the memory close to his heart.

I managed two more fishing sessions with Keith before his illness made it near impossible for him to continue with his beloved sport.
The first being Bosmere Lakes where we had heard of very good tench and Keith persuaded me to go for them with the pole!