Farewell to fly-fishing writer and conservationist Brian Clarke

Brian Clarke, one of the most influential angling writers of his generation and a founding figure of the Wild Trout Trust, died on 14 March 2026. He was 87.

Brian wrote two landmark works on fly-fishing – The Pursuit of Stillwater Trout (1975) and, with John Goddard, The Trout and the Fly (1980) – and served as fishing correspondent for both The Sunday Times and The Times. A self-taught fly-fisher who took up the discipline in the mid-1960s, his first book revolutionised stillwater technique at a time when lure fishing dominated, advocating small nymphs fished on long leaders based on meticulous autopsy and aquarium study of trout food. It has since been reprinted and translated many times and remains one of the acknowledged classics of modern angling literature.

A passionate and effective advocate for wild fish, Brian was the first president of the Wild Trout Trust, serving in that role from 2003 to 2008 before becoming a vice-president. His fishing column for The Times ran for 27 years, covering everything from chalk stream conservation to global fly-fishing adventures.

He is survived by his wife Anne and three daughters.