Obituary James Holgate 1957-2009

Angling has lost one of its nice guys who was also an excellent angler and a great worker who promoted the sport of angling. On Friday June 12th 2009 51 year old James Holgate a journalist and editor of Pike and Predators magazine, who was also joint Editor of Coarse Angling Today sadly passed away. Many experienced anglers rated Coarse Angling Today magazine the best published magazine in the shops today.

I first met James along with his friends when I attended Lonsdale AC headquarters for the annual prize presentation. It was the first time I met James and his friends who were probably in their early twenties. I was amazed at their keenness and energy.Not only did they serve on the committee , they also created their own lake, at the time I was using a wheelchair due to having MS. I spent many happy hours fishing the water.

David Mason Secretary of Lonsdale AC said " James is a great loss to us, he will be greatly missed at our meetings, having been a member of the club and committee in the region of 30 years plus"

Jon Neafcy secretary of Region 31 of the Pike Angling Club of Great Britain said "I considered James a mate, I will miss our correspondence. He was a great ambassador for the sport. We will be implementing a James Holgate memorial trophy, for the member who contributes the most to pike fishing (as James did)" .