ARTHUR’S ARCHIVES
Was it really 33 years ago that John Wilson’s first Go Fishing TV series aired? It was way ahead of its time, as was he...
A look back to when the first episode of Go Fishing aired in 1987
“Many of John’s shows were little short of miraculous”
IMAGINE how the wonderful John Wilson felt as he prepared to make the initial cast of his very first Go Fishing programme, shown here fully 33 years ago.
The photo from that day shows what catching fish for the telly is all about: camera and sound man bang in front, standing in the swim while you prepare to extract a fish under alien conditions. It’s all changed quite radically since John’s days, what with today’s drones and advanced camera technologies. Back then it was a case of putting up with it. Thinking back to many of John’s shows, they are little short of miraculous. Doublefigure bream, near-30lb pike, huge Wensum roach, shark fishing trips and ventures abroad in search of India’s mighty mahseer...John’s shows had the absolute lot.
It’s hard to explain to a millennial what an impact the original Go Fishing shows, aired on Channel 4, had on our sport. I was working in tackle shops for many of the 20 years that the show ran, and the easiest sale ever was a John Wilson Avon Quiver. That rod had several incarnations as John’s sponsors changed, but it mattered not. It had the great man’s name on it and sold by the shedload.
John went on to make 108 Go Fishing TV programmes, the last one airing in 2002. His passing in November 2018, which still feels like just the other day, showed exactly how much the anglers – and angling – cared for him.
Famous for catching fish on telly, with that infectious chuckle, he was a great angler in his own right. Like so many of us Baby Boomers born in and around big cities, John began fishing on his local Lea Navigation Canal.
He was honoured by the Queen with an MBE and loved by many. I felt privileged to play a part in his memorial service to a packed house at Norwich Cathedral.