One of my targets that I would be thrilled to bits to catch is a 30lb pike, I’ve been close to it a few times but 30lb would be the ultimate goal.

Sometimes too much and my work suffers. Sometimes not enough because I’ve got too much work. In an average week I will get out for some kind of fishing at least a couple of times. I will fish for ANYTHING – literally anything … coarse, sea, game – they all excite me and my preferred method whatever the species is when I can watch them take the bait, strike – BOSH!John and ‘Peter’ will be targeting coarse fish in this series with dedicated shows for Carp, Pike, Tench, Barbel and Perch, as well as River and Lake specials bagging up on a variety of species. It kept me and my mates’ enthusiasm high, especially through the closed season … how much more influential could anything be? If you’re an angler of a ‘certain age’ you’ll already know all about Mr. Crabtree. Maybe you were one of the 3 million proud owners of the original book Mr. Crabtree Goes Fishing, by legendary angler Bernard Venables? It’s very likely that you refer to ‘Crabtree swims’, that you know what a ‘gentle’ is and that the idea of fishing in a tweed three-piece-suit doesn’t really seem that odd to you. Congratulations you’re a Crabtree kid! In Casting for Gold John and James continue their summer holiday angling adventures in search of Tench, Carp and record breaking Crucians at Godalming Angling’s, Johnsons Lake. In this episode John and James try out some real Crabtree float fishing in the Lily pads, as well as more current techniques and get into some really exceptional specimens. Look out for some special Crabtree angling guests in Alan Stagg and Alan Blair and some fantastic surface floater fishing for Carp – will James get another PB? Chasing Shadows

Before I am too old – and that won’t be far away – I would LOVE to catch a proper yellowfin tuna. 150lb would be nice. The trouble is they are rare in the Florida Keys and that’s the only exotic place I regularly fish. Perhaps I could try Mauritius in late April/early May – but that’s Boys’ Trip time. Or the Andaman Islands, even Ascension Island but I think the journey’s a bit of a mare. Who knows, maybe it would be wrong to achieve all our goals; what would we do when we eventually said ‘Done it now’. He’s also a contributor to our new book Fishing in the Footsteps of Mr. Crabtree and we’re very happy to welcome him to our virtual sofa to found out more about him: Although best know for his carping abilities, Alan is a complete all-rounder and he relished the opportunity to fish at Godalming Angling Society’s Johnson’s Lake for Crucians. We had a chat while he concentrated on the fishing… Presented by John Bailey, the new series premiered on Quest on January 24 that 9pm. The Discovery network’s biggest UK channel, reaching 1.2 million adults on a daily basis, Quest is accessible to almost 100% of the UK’s households, available on Freeview (38), Sky (154) and Virgin (179).

Reflections of Summer

Mr. Crabtree Goes Fishing, created by Bernard Venables, was originally published in The Mirror newspaper in the 1940s. [1] It is the comic strip story of a father who takes his son Peter on a series of angling adventures over the course of a year catching species such as chub, pike, carp, roach, tench and trout, on rivers and lakes. In 1949 the first Mr. Crabtree book was published. Mr. Crabtree Goes Fishing has sold around four million copies to date. A few years ago we became convinced that it was high time that someone brought the Crabtree heritage to the small screen. As dedicated anglers and Mr. Crabtree enthusiasts with a wealth of knowledge in production, publishing, and communications, we started talking with the Mirror, the original commissioners of Mr. Crabtree, about how best to proceed. Very much a passion project, it’s taken until now to evolve to where we wanted it, but we are now finally able see the results of these efforts. His formal art training was at both Hull and Bolton art colleges from where he was tempted to move down to London to work with many leading design groups and advertising agencies. He eventually moved out to quieter quarters, setting up a design consultancy called Vista in partnership with well respected designer John Drummond. Vista ran successfully for nine years before merging with a marketing group to form the agency Red Tag, for whom he was Creative Director for a following six years.

Bernard Venables was an artist, angler, journalist and author. [2] He co-founded the Angling Times in 1953, was founder editor of Creel magazine in 1963, and wrote over 20 books. He was an early environmentalist and his love of the natural world inspired many of today's British anglers, and he is remembered as one of the great and influential anglers of the 20th Century. Most of my angling heroes are in the ground – or in the water. Heroes are for young people because they are revered and looked up to. There are anglers today that I envy which isn’t that great really. I envy them the time to do what they do and fish the places they fish. I am still very much a worker but rather pompously I believe that by carrying on what I do, the message of angling is put before an audience that wouldn’t necessarily see or hear it otherwise. So that envy isn’t real. As a kid I was introduced to the “Mr Crabtree” books by a fishing mate and I put them on my Christmas list in 1965. I must have read them a hundred times if not more, then one day my next door neighbour informed my parents that Bernard Venables was coming to Crawley Collage for some reason and would I like to meet him. This must have been 1969 as it was the start of term and I was eleven, just before my twelfth birthday. Keith Arthur needs no introduction to Britain’s anglers. As host of Sky Sports’ Tight Lines and his own TalkSport radio show ‘Fisherman’s Blues’, he has established himself as a top angling professional and expert on all things ‘fishy’.Dietmar Isiash, lately of Fox Rage fame. A brilliant predator angler, an ex world champion along with his wife Carmen. This guy is a fish catching machine and has invented so much of the modern lure gear you use and take for granted; a more enthusiastic angler I have yet to meet and another one with time for others less skilled than himself. In 2013 ‘Fishing in the Footsteps of Mr. Crabtree’, the TV series, was produced by Toast Entertainment Group for Mr. Crabtree Ltd. It was aired in the UK on Quest during January and February 2013. [3] And in recent years the young Alfie Russell who is a massive inspiration to me. Keep an eye out for this lad . . . some people just have a gift. Fishing in the Footsteps of Mr. Crabtree is a television series on Quest, first airing in January 2013. It is based on the 1940s comic strip Mr. Crabtree goes Fishing, by Bernard Venables. Angling isn’t in my family – apart from a Great Grandfather I never met because he died before I was born. I learned with my fellow ‘Baby Boomer’ mates. We just all went fishing and some of them are still in touch and still go. Hampstead Ponds on the 611 trolleybus, Finsbury Park lake and the Lea at Northumberland Park behind the factory my late Father worked in. I wasn’t very old – 6 or 7 maybe. Fishing cost me some time from school too but they have now forgiven me…

The original book inspired millions of new anglers and this new book will be a modern angling classic for today’s angler, in turn inspiring a generation of young anglers coming into the sport. The original Mr. Crabtree goes Fishing is the comic strip story of a father who takes his son Peter on a series of angling adventures over the course of a year, fishing for a variety of species along the rivers and lakes of Britain. It became the most iconic angling book ever – selling something like 4 million copies! Fishing in the footsteps of Mr Crabtree’ will see John fishing for a different species in each episode, using many different methods and techniques. Along with ‘Peter’, John will be fishing in typical ‘Crabtree’ swims. Fishing in the Footsteps of Mr. Crabtree is what we’re all about – and our book and TV series of the same name are the first steps we’ve taken to illustrate this. We hope you’ll join us on our quest to bring Mr. Crabtree to a new generation of anglers, to share our love of fishing for all species, and to help us spread the word. We are part of a wonderfully diverse community, united by a shared passion. Let’s celebrate that together!year-old Michael from Coventry wants to catch carp. John visits his friend and contemporary carp angler Alan Blair to talk about modern methods and to gauge where to start with Michael. I think they need to learn the trade from the basics. A lot of young anglers want to go for Carp fishing and catch a 30lb’er straight away. They should learn about all the aspects of fishing before deciding that carp fishing is the one for them. This is what was great about Mr Crabtree, he taught Peter about all aspects of fishing. I don’t know about angling heroes, but I do have a few people I admire a great deal who have remained nice people as well as becoming famous. One here in your interview list, Jan Porter, a great allrounder and a very nice guy – he always has time for people and especially kids. My other association with him was that I regularly fish Graham Harman’s Lac Meunier in France. This is the lake that got Kev all excited about fishing in France and it was there that he filmed an ep of Carp Crew with Brian Skoyles. If you haven’t seen the ep its worth a watch as they caught some lovely fish from this beautiful and intimate lake. Those fish are now even bigger and the place is magical.