I had a few
as a kid growing up and coarse fishing my all time hero was Ivan Marks, probably one of the all time great anglers
John Wilson, having read his autobiography (I highly recomend it) this guy went from a dodgy hairdresser to a top class angler. Admittedly his laugh is a bit annoying but his cathc results all around the world are something to be jealous of.
Now I'm more into carping than the other aspects of fishing I don't really have an angling "hero" so to speak. I have read Hearns books and whilst his captures are fantastic his writing doesn't really wet my appetite