In episode one – Tench – there’s an early morning sequence where Sam and John visit a channel between two lakes to fish for tench. It’s a beautiful swim, full of lily pads and spooky tench and John has high hopes that it might deliver a decent fish for Sam.
Sam strikes into a fish, and it looks like a really good size tench, but the fish disappears into the lilies. John takes the rod from Sam to attempt to ease the fish out – sadly the end result is that he loses it… the look on Sam’s face says it all!
John says:
“Of course, you always realise that you’re not going to get everything right when it comes to fishing, kids and TV. I’m just really grateful to everyone out there who has taken the time to watch and has seen something they like in the shows.
However, you don’t get everything always right all the time, I guess.
The first thing that really raised eyebrows came in the first episode when I was fishing for tench with Sam. Some of you will remember that we were in a comparatively narrow channel when Sam’s first decent fish buried itself in some lily pads.
What should I have done? With only a split second to think, you have to make an instant decision – It’s worth remembering that Mr Crabtree didn’t let Peter have the rod at all in some of the original sequences and most pertinently, we’re making a TV show and occasionally this means taking a slightly different tack…
First, we’d been filming for a day and a bit and still hadn’t had a decent fish and I think, solely for the purpose of making the programme, I was desperate that this fish should be landed and, I think to be fair, with the rod in my hands we stood a bit more chance.
Probably as importantly, all the time I was growing up, the mentors that would take me out fishing would have done exactly the same. It was by watching them coax fish out of difficult situations that I actually learnt how to do it for myself. This was a totally new problem for Sam and I tried to explain what I was doing, and in doing so I clearly demonstrated my own fallibility because, of course, I lost the fish.
Throughout the lily bed tussle I was constantly telling Sam that once I got the fish on the move, the rod would be his again, so, in no way was I trying to steal his glory. I just passionately wanted to see that fish in the net.”
