That was the year that was ...

And so, with just a fortnight till the year's end, and me entering my busiest period, the rods have been put away until next year, and the time has come to reflect on one of the most unusual years in my fishing life, in which I've been an angling "prize" at an auction, caught new species fishing in the USA and made a pilot program for a possible TV series, as well as my more usual visiting of lakes, ponds and canals near my east Leicester home.

 

The busy-ness of church and family life meant that I didn't fish nearly as much as I'd like to, but the sessions that I did have were catholic in variety, at times challenging, at times successful and always pleasurable.

 

The sad news was the closing of the lake which had, for the last year and a half been the location for my son and my own pursuit of crucians. We managed just four trips there this year, none of which produced crucians of the 1 pound plus variety that we'd caught the previous year. Here's my son with his last ever crucian from the condemned lake.

 

 

Another highlight was introducing Louie, a teenager from church, to fishing, initially as a result of him bidding for a guided fishing lesson with me in a charity auction. Luckily, the fish were in co-operative mood on the day of the "lesson" and he took a lovely bag of crucians and added a bonus perch of over a pound, all taken on pole fishing gear. Subsequently, much of his pocket money has found its way into the coffers of tackle dealers and fishing shops and he has progressed into a good, keen young angler.

 

 

I also managed a bit of carp fishing, and a number of trips spinning for perch, often accompanied by my son, who has added new skills and experiences to his repertoire, and has developed a liking (not inherited from me!) for bite alarms and method feeders.

 

 

The highlight of my year was spending some time in the States, researching how some American churches in the Southern States have used angling as a means of connecting their Christian activities with their wider local communities. I met some fantastic people, and caught some wonderful fish, in amazing surroundings, from skate and flounder in Charleston to bass and bluegills in Missouri and Arkansas.

 

 

The year ended with a bit of a "media flourish". The readership of this blog dramatically increased as a result of my American adventure, and the Church Times published an illustrated two page article on my exploits.

 

 

 However, the most unexpected spin-off was when I was contacted by a TV producer who had stumbled across the blog, with the result that I, and my fishing minster friend Stewart Bloor, were asked to make a pilot episode for a potential fishing/travel cross-over program with a "light touch" faith element. The filming experience was great fun, and we should know in the New Year whether it has been commissioned for a series- exciting times!

 

 

So, that was this year.

What does next year hold? Does TV "stardom" beckon? Will my son and I uncover new lakes to make up for the loss of the Estate Lake? Will it be a year of bending rods and screaming reels, or blanks and frustrating puzzles? Who knows.

It'll certainly be a season when I continue to develop my evolving passion for "traditional angling", although not to the exclusion of a few night sessions after carp with my son when we'll be doing the whole hi-tech modern carp thing while ensconced in a warm bivvy....... and isn't that just one of fishing's biggest attractions? There's just no way of knowing what 2014 holds, but one thing I'm sure of, is that-in piscatorial terms- it'll "be a blast", just like every other year since I first picked up a rod, over 30 years ago.

 

 

 

Lights, camera, action ...

As someone who's always considered himself to have a "face made for radio", it was a surprise to be contacted in October by a TV company interested in using me to present a potential TV series that would combine fishing and travel and a nod towards my Christian faith. My friend Stewart Bloor, also a church minister, was also recruited to the project, which saw us filming a pilot "taster" episode that will be "hawked" around TV world and shown to commissioning editors in the New Year.

 

And so it was, that after some filming of my own church's Sunday services, along with filming of my family at the Vicarage, we ended up on Monday by a small carp pool with a majestic backdrop of the hills of the Severn Valley.

 



The plan was to catch a few fish for the cameras, before heading on to Great Witley parish church to do some filming there, and to meet their angling mad churchwarden. Part of the sub-plot was that I would fish in a traditional style (I used a handmade porcupine quill float, and perched myself on an old fashioned willow creel, although I didn't go all "split cane fundamentalist" and, rather,  opted for a carbon float rod and fixed spool reel), while Stewart would fish using the full modern carp rods/baitrunners/rod pod/bolt rig and boilies/PVA bag "thing".

 

I'd taken a few small gudgeon on my float-fished maggots, when Stewart's alarm sounded and he was battling the first carp of the day. The cameraman zoomed in on him, the rod took on a pleasing battle curve and then "ping" ...... the hook pulled and the line went slack. No-one said anything. With only 4 hours of actual fishing time (with travelling to the pool, shots to camera, voice-overs and travelling on to the church we were working for at least twice that amount of time, but the actual angling is only a small part of the whole process) we were aware that this might be our only chance with carp, and however diverting gudgeon and small perch might be, they're not exactly great TV viewing!

 

 

Fortunately, after a string of small gudgeon and perch my float once again disappeared, and this time I found myself attached to an angry carp. My float rod and light line combination meant that, although not by any stretch of the imagination, a large carp, the fight was pleasurable, and the fish bent the rod nicely and performed well for the cameras before being pulled over the rim of the waiting landing net, a nice common of about 3 pounds.

 

 

That fish proved to be the "day saver", as only further gudgeon and perch followed its capture. It had always been a bit of a gamble to fish for carp in December with such a small timeframe in which to catch, and my "percentage game" tactics were always likelier to succeed than the "big fish or bust" approach that had been asked of Stewart. It had, however, despite the pressure to produce been a real pleasure, and I've seldom been more delighted with a carp of such humble proportions.

The fish of the day, however, was caught by Steve, a friendly angler not being filmed, who was fishing in a corner of the pond. Not only did he catch far more gudgeon than me, he used one as livebait and caught a beautiful, 1 and three quarter pound perch that I viewed enviously from my swim. Maybe I'll return to target the perch sometime.

 

 

As dark drew in, we drove on into the rural Severn Valley to film at the magnificent parish church of Great Witley. A small church built in extravagant baroque style, it's indisputably a thing of great beauty, and with an organ associated with the composer Handel and ceiling paintings (see below) by Belluci it was bursting with interest for the future TV viewer.

 

 

The bonus was that we were met in the church by its churchwarden, Rick Warner. Not only was he a repository of knowledge about the history and features of the church, nor just was he a link with its current Christian worshipping community who meet in the building, but he is also an avid angler who works full-time for the Angling Trust, helping them to develop national strategies as part of their role as British angling's most significant charitable and administrative organisation. He gave his time freely and generously, and couldn't have been more helpful.

 

                                                                         Dr Rick Warner

 

Altogether, my filming experience had been an eye-opening and enjoyable two days. Throughout the filming in my own church, at the lakeside, and at Great Witley church, our producer and cameraman, Ben,  (for whom the idea of a possible series came as a result of his stumbling across this blog) was a delight to work for, and was unfailingly patient with my and Stewart's first foray into the brave new world of TV presenting, talking to camera, live action filming, voice overs and re-takes (of which there were several!).

 

Now, it's just a case of "watch this space" as the pilot is viewed by commissioning editors in the New Year. Watch out, Robson, I'm after your job .............. although in a less manic,  "hyper" and demented type of way!