In reply to Post #124
Probably a bit harsh given he's not here to defend himself.

Bit of a disclaimer here, I knew John well, went on one of his guided trips and also guided him on one myself, 12 days just me and him somewhere off Africa. He outfished me 3 to 1 off the back of the same boat, same baits, same rigs, I'd fished 5 weeks there, it was his first day.

At the time he was very popular every time we went somewhere he was approached, 90 % of the time he was willing to talk to people, 10% caught him at a bad time.

I defy anyone, especially as we get older, to be nice to people 100% of the time, I struggle to be nice to my dog all the time, let alone total strangers

I'm sure he pulled plenty of stunts over the years to get that shot and that capture but I'm pretty sure he never re-hooked anything, maybe the odd use of a bucket for some of the rod bending shots but nothing like this.

Just leaves a bit of a sour taste when people start slating those who can't defend themselves and are probably responsible for more people fishing than anyone else.

In reply to Post #4
Definitely not as simple as that, I've seen too many reels taken out of hand luggage and then sent in crappy canvas bags unprotected as hold luggage.

Basically, take the spools off and you're left with a lump of metal with a big spike coming out of the top, all it takes is a security guy that is having a bad day and you're in trouble.

In reply to Post #20
The one in North America and Canada are a different species to the European and Atlantic Sturgeon.

The ones over there are white sturgeon.

Have posted this on a previous thread but still makes me wonder why I keep doing these trips !!

Quite a few unfortunately !!

Most of them on one trip though, fishing at a remote lodge in Zambia for tigerfish.
Day 1, one of our boats got bumped and bitten by a hippo.
Day2 we pulled into the riverbank to bypass some nasty rapids, spoke to 4 native kids that were playing and messing about on the bank, handed over the usual sweets and pencils etc, came back 10 minutes later to collect the 2nd boat to find only 3 youngsters, one had been taken by a crocodile in that short period and never seen again
Day 3 we nearly had somebody washed over the waterfall when they lost their footing, thankfully we managed to grab his ankle and he was saved the 20m drop into a pool of crocs.
Day 4 some of the guys were taking photos of 'just some snake' that had come out from a nearby termite mound for a slither around the camp. Turned out to be an 8ft Black Mamba that unfortunately had to be despatched, it had been partly injured by one of the camp staff but I had to deliver the coup de grace before it used it's last energy to tag one of my customers !!

Day 5 was a peaceful day !!

Despite that it was one of the best trips we've had.

Got called over to a guy who had been injured on Lake Nasser once, asked if we had any plasters on our boat. Poor guy had slipped on one of the mountain tops into a crevass and had gouged his thigh almost to the bone. Just missed Femoral artery so could only clean it out, soak in iodine and steristrip it back together. Met him in the hotel after the trip and he'd had 160 stitches once he got back to civilisation.

On returning from a trip to Panama a couple of years ago I was sat in my office a few days later when my daughter announced that we had a scorpion in the dining room !! Managed to shut the cat away and capture it before disposing of it, I may have had a bit of a bollocking for that one !!! Little sod had crawled into my gear at the lodge and survived going through the wash and had fallen out of my shorts that were drying out in the dining room on an airer.

I think a lot of this is down to the failure of shop owners to adapt. I have 5 tackle shops within 5 miles of me, 2 big chains and 3 independents.

I spend a lot of money on specialist tackle for overseas trips and also have a significant input in what our customers buy, with lures up to £50 easily this soon mounts up as you'd imagine.

I have explained this to the 3 independents and none of them are even willing to look at the trade catalogues available to them and supply me. This isn't an issue with volumes as I'm talking about bulk orders.

I can't think of any other business where the offer of circa £20k of business a year is dismissed or rejected so easily.

In reply to Post #13
IMHO this all depends how the booking was handled once COVID kicked in.

I work in overseas fishing travel, nothing carp related but we have a simple rule. If the booking has been rolled over and people have left their cash with us then the prices are honoured from the original booking.

People that pulled all of their money out as soon as Covid raised it's ugly head and then want to rebook 2 years later will pay the current rate.

I'm obviously biased but the amount of money people are spending with next to no financial protection amazes me.

In reply to Post #27
Quite a few unfortunately !!

Most of them on one trip though, fishing at a remote lodge in Zambia for tigerfish.
Day 1, one of our boats got bumped and bitten by a hippo.
Day2 we pulled into the riverbank to bypass some nasty rapids, spoke to 4 native kids that were playing and messing about on the bank, handed over the usual sweets and pencils etc, came back 10 minutes later to collect the 2nd boat to find only 3 youngsters, one had been taken by a crocodile in that short period and never seen again
Day 3 we nearly had somebody washed over the waterfall when they lost their footing, thankfully we managed to grab his ankle and he was saved the 20m drop into a pool of crocs.
Day 4 some of the guys were taking photos of 'just some snake' that had come out from a nearby termite mound for a slither around the camp. Turned out to be an 8ft Black Mamba !!
Day 5 was a peaceful day !!

Despite that it was one of the best trips we've had.

Got called over to a guy who had been injured on Lake Nasser once, asked if we had any plasters on our boat. Poor guy had slipped on one of the mountain tops into a crevass and had gouged his thigh almost to the bone. Just missed Femoral artery so could only clean it out, soak in iodine and steristrip it back together. Met him in the hotel after the trip and he'd had 160 stitches once he got back to civilisation.

On returning from a trip to Panama a couple of years ago I was sat in my office a few days later when my daughter announced that we had a scorpion in the dining room !! Managed to shut the cat away and capture it before disposing of it, I may have had a bit of a bollocking for that one !!! Little sod had crawled into my gear at the lodge and survived going through the wash and had fallen out of my shorts that were drying out in the dining room on an airer.

In reply to Post #77
I have one of his old travel quivertips that he used for bait catching on the Zambezi and one of the famous waistcoats and a Rovex cap amongst other things that I use regularly.

That trip to Africa was certainly an education for both of us !! I remember him telling me on one of the first days we caught fish that you may only get one chance with fish pictures, initially I thought he was a bit crazy asking to see the photos before returning the fish, sometimes 3 or 4 times but now I can see the value in it.

He also taught me that the first thing he ever does when starting to fish somewhere, be it on land or in a boat, is to think where he is going to take the trophy picture, and ensures that no-one has rods 'growing' out of their heads or random objects in the frame. I have used this approach on all of my overseas trips as there is nothing worse than a cluttered photo when someone has paid £'000s to catch their dream fish.

I'd like to think that I taught him the value of using the business lounges before flights !!!!

Fond memories of him singing Edith Piaf songs with our French hosts on the island after several bottles of wine and a few beers, heaven knows what the natives of Guinea Bissau on the next island thought about this !!



Fittingly, I heard of his sad demise when we arrived back in Victoria Falls after a fantastic trip upriver for tigerfish in Zambia with a group of fellow angers, it's fair to say we had a few toasts to his memory that evening, in one of his favourite places.

In reply to Post #12
I think John Wilson has inspired more anglers than anybody else in this country.

Christine wasn't his wife though, she just organised all of his trips via Tailor Made, she is still doing this, but the company name is now SFC Travel ( www.sfctravel.com )

I spent a lot of time fishing with John as I was doing a few escorted trips with Christine at the time. I once spent a very memorable 10 days with him in West Africa on a tiny island about 80m by 30m. I had been there 4 times before and it was all new to him and he outfished me every single time, with every single method. Even to the extent of having identical livebaits, out the back, on the same rigs within a couple of feet of each other, he still outfished me 3 to 1 !!

Some great evenings spent listening to his tales and learning. HE taught me a hell of a lot about taking fish photos and I really wonder what he'd make of the current trend for the long armed, pea-head pics that seem to be so popular at the moment.

I personally have a lot to thank him for and treasure a few of his possessions that he gave me before he left for Thailand, not only that I am now in the very fortunate position of taking groups around the world in his footsteps. Tiger fishing on the upper and lower Zambezi, Salmon and Sturgeon on the Fraser River, GT in Madagascar as well as the newer destinations like Panama that he never fished to my knowledge.

Some people said he was a miserable old sod, he would be the first to agree !! You cannot be 100% happy all of the time and for all of the thousands of people that meet somebody with a high profile, 1 or 2 will always catch them on a bad day.

In reply to Post #17
Ouch, that's not a good place to have that kind of bug.

I picked something similar up in Madagascar, no fun whatsoever and jut have to flush it all through.

One more thing if you're fishing like that, you will lose rods so go and get yourself a couple of dog leads, loop the non looped end through the loop and slide it over the reel stem and pull it tight. Secure the other end to something solid, a 5lb Jack will take that pod in the water in seconds.