fishydreams

Towards the end of last month I got an email from Ed Booth who is a series producer with BriteSpark films. He is working on a series for Channel 5 on scenic rivers of the world. He had come across me through reading this blog and was kind enough to say some very nice things about it. He was even kinder when he invited me to participate in the programme currently being filmed on the Guadalquivir river. Needless to say I jumped at the chance!

Ed suggested that it might be interesting to feature some fishing from float tubes and I got in touch with a couple of my friends here to ask if they might like to take part and Steve Lawler, who absolutely lusts after fame, immediately put his hand up. The filming took place last Sunday and Steve and I had a great day. We were joined by Georgia Pearce and Danny Spencer who were working their way down the river filming various ways that people enjoy and interact with the river as well as the natural beauty of the river itself.

The film team initially filmed a lady who does wild swimming in the river some way upstream, and they also filmed paddle boarders working their way downriver and they stopped at a small olive farm that takes water from the river to irrigate their trees. These, and several other stories would be stitched together to make the final episode on the Guadalquivir river that is going to broadcast in around April of next year. Our little float tube fishing adventure was to be one of the featured elements too and the footage gathered over an afternoon on the river would likely be whittled down to a segment lasting four minutes or so.

The thing that stood out for me was just how much fun it all was. Georgia and Danny were great company and Steve and I felt very much at ease as we did our thing out on the river. The filming was done from some fixed cameras on the shore and footage was also recorded from a drone that was expertly flown by Danny. When we were fishing we could hear the drone buzzing around our heads but carried on as if it was not there. We just needed to get a sense of when it was safe to cast without a risk of hooking the thing! We had each been rigged up with a microphone and were encouraged to engage in a bit of banter. Fortunately, as a couple of seasoned bullshitters that came naturally to us.

We were not alone on the river. There were a number of coarse fishermen who were legering for carp and these guys managed to catch a few fish while Steve and I paddled around and caught absolutely nothing! To be honest, ours might have been a more interesting approach to fishing from the point of view of the TV audience but it was maybe not the most effective way of trying to catch.

I don´t know what footage will make the final cut but the river here is beautiful that the audience will surely be impressed by the scenery even if they have to put up with a couple of middle aged men splashing around and waving fly rods in the air!

Roll on April!