Ever since I could remember I have been out on the water catching fish.
From my first fish, a simple mackerel on a loch, to 10 pound salmon in Alaska. But I can honestly say that no matter where I am, the excitement of fishing remains the same. When reading ‘Fishing In the Footsteps Of Mr Crabtree’ I felt as if I was Peter, that I was being taken on the journey, I developed a really good understanding about how to fish in different ways, it didn’t just teach me it made me really interested in all the different kind of fishing techniques.
I think that no matter what age you are you can find great enjoyment out of this book. I believe that the cartoons made me feel like I was walking in the footsteps of Mr Crabtree. Every fisherman has Crabtree moments; my personal Crabtree story was when I went fishing for the intriguing fish barbel. We were out for several days, many of them were spent in the rain, and what I was told was “just wait until you catch your barbel, they are beautiful fish with very interesting features”. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting and baiting I finally hooked my barbel and the fight for it was truly a brilliant, though tough, feeling.
As it says in the book barbel really are a difficult fish to catch – it takes an amount of skill, and I think that a good description and understanding of barbel fishing was portrayed in the book. While reading ‘Fishing in the footsteps of Mr Crabtree’ I read something about barbel that amused me “it is a strong fish that disputes hard for its liberty.” this was said by Bernard Venables in the original ‘Mr Crabtree goes fishing’ and I liked the thought that no matter what age you are you can feel the struggle and the success of catching each fish. I think this helps prove that no matter how old you are fishing is for everyone and the thrill stays with everyone. And that’s why I would highly recommend this book for all anglers and even non-fishermen for it explains the joys and struggles of fishing in an enjoyable way, it takes you on a journey with Mr Crabtree that is hard to forget.