38lb 5oz Mirror Carp caught at Lac Le Meunier, France*
In the coming months fans of Mr Crabtree will see our new TV series and shows scheduled for later this year and also into 2013 and beyond.
We are also creating an authentic re-print of the original ‘Mr Crabtree Goes Fishing’ in all of its classic glory (beware of imitations and awful copies!).
There will be a brand new book to accompany the new series ‘Fishing in the Footsteps of Mr Crabtree’ (leatherbound and special pre-order editions will be available soon). There will be gifts and clothing, a limited membership to the ‘Friends of Mr Crabtree’ and a licensed tackle range of fishing tackle and equipment carrying the Crabtree seal of quality, value and heritage.
We’ll be publishing brand new video clips for viewers of this site giving tips and advice, posting content from excellent guest writers and expert contributors. There will be competitions and news and interviews behind the scenes of the filming. We want you to send us your fish capture pics and your ‘Crabtree moment’ photos which can be anything that evokes something magical whilst you are out on the bank. We’ll let you know more about this in the coming weeks as we get the gallery pages set up.
I’m a lifelong fan of Mr Crabtree, having been given the book as a 6 year old by my late dad Bob. From a very early age he took me fishing and it was with him and his brother, my uncle Mike, that I caught the fishing bug and learned to fish. As fantastic anglers who fished for all species, they gave me a great introduction to all types of fishing from all sorts of waters.
My old copy of Crabtree was never too far away from reach and on those days where I couldn’t get out to fish I could lose myself in the stories of Mr C and Peter.
I was lucky that I had great mentors and patient teachers in both of them. Hopefully with Mr Crabtree’s reintroduction we will be able to inspire new generations of anglers and to encourage that key ethos of Crabtree, to take young people fishing, teach them how to fish and to be safe and help them develop as good anglers and decent people.
I sadly lost my dad in 2006 and we hadn’t fished together for a while. I still get an all too rare day out with my uncle Mike (which I must remedy), and it is to these two very important figures in my life that I dedicate the new TV series to.
So what are we going to do with Mr Crabtree and whats in store for his fans and the new generation of anglers…?
We are going to concentrate on all of the best elements; the magic of fishing, the misty dawns, glorious sunsets, swirling fish, bubbling swims, bending rods, powerful runs, a collective joy of catching your target fish, of being outdoors and teaching and helping young anglers.
We will always doff our proverbial caps and be sympathetic to Mr Crabtree and the writing ethos of Bernard Venables whilst, at the same time looking at modern angling and the new generation of anglers.
Thanks for reading and here’s to Mr Crabtree fishing again.
Lester Holcombe
*More info on Lac Le Meunier can be found here
