Ed’s Note: Sam is one of the ‘Peters’ from the TV series ‘Fishing in the Footsteps of Mr. Crabtree’. He appeared in the first episode, Tench. Check out the TV reviews page for his response to seeing himself on TV. Here’s what he thought of the companion book of the TV series:

Dreams, that’s what keeps a fisherman going.

When times are hard that dream of the elusive 20lb pike or that lump of a carp appears in your mind, and for that split second your body tingles with excitement as you gather your thoughts on what could happen in your near future. The idea of not knowing, yet you do know, that one day that truly all inspiring, magical moment will happen!

The tales of winter, the time most suited for the real passionate anglers, those who aren’t afraid to risk getting a bit of a cold to catch that fish of a lifetime! Spring everything goes back to normality.

Back to school, everything green once again and, now you’re desperate to get back to the local lake or canal or river, to capture that species that captivated your inner fisherman instinct late that Friday night. In your head fish are beckoning you to fish for them, and that’s all you can think all that night. Then relief, the alarm clock awakens you at that early hour and the anticipation gathers so greatly you’re bouncing around the house unaware as to how tired you actually are. ‘The lake awaits me, surely today will be fun!’ And so it always is!

Summer, those fish that wouldn’t appear at all earlier that year, now swim in shoals breaking the surface every now and then! A tench is located by your eagle eye, and just as you watch the silhouette disappearing, the head of a carpĀ  breaks the surface sending the water into a lively lake of ripples! Breathtaking! And you know there’s a chance of catching that fish and that’s what keeps a fisherman a fisherman!

And finally autumn the time you’re most likely to see that perfect sunrise over a lake covered in golden leaves, and the fog rolling of the glass like water! Everything is still… Until the float dips then dives, and suddenly its gone! Heart in mouth you strike, hooking that monster that is only a rod length away from your grasp!

The book is almost like a anglers mind filled with the perfect inspiration for an angler and filled with passion, it will either take you back to those all so precious days or it will take you forward and give you an idea of what that magic moment could be like….

Sam Gallagher