Anglers' Net - The UK Online Fishing Magazine: Fifty Years A Fisherman

Fifty Years A Fisherman
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Martin-Salisbury on 18 October, 2000 04:00:00
 
FIFTY YEARS A FISHERMAN
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOHN WILSON
The Autobiography of John Wilson
With Christmas on its way this is more of a short reminder than a review.
If wives and girlfriends are intelligent and devious enough (devious enough Im
sure) they will visit the review pages of Anglers Net to get ideas for our
Christmas presents. (Sorry for the sexism fisherladies). If not, you might have
to point them in this direction to get what you want!
However, if you unwrap your Christmas present to discover John Wilsons
autobiography you shouldnt be disappointed as his book makes an interesting
read.
If youre after an instructional fishing manual or youre not a John Wilson fan
then this book isnt for you. But if your fishing literature collection is
already packed with books then this will make a most welcome addition.
The book follows John through his life and highlights all the successes and
failures in both his fishing and private life. Mind you, most of the time its
difficult to unravel the two as fishing has obviously played a major part in
his life through his exploits on the bank, writing, filming and owning a tackle
shop. Im not going to spoil any of the stories, so youll just have to buy the
book. However, I can tell you John has travelled around the world in pursuit of
both fish and females, and he seems to have captured both with varying degrees
of success!
He does go into great detail on the construction of his pride and joy, his own
syndicate lake, the state of angling and politics, plus his other interests
such as making his own wine, flowers and fauna etc. This can become a little
tedious if all youre interested in is the fishing, but all in all it doesnt
detract from the book and does go to show the true John Wilson. In fact, the
construction of the lake probably brings about more jealously than tedium; it
looks just how I want mine! Surprisingly, there isnt as much detail about the
filming of Go Fishing etc as I expected.
The variety and weight of fish caught and the methods used by John for coarse,
sea and game fish show the true extent of this great mans ability and
knowledge of the sport. The end of the book includes all the species caught by
John, where from and their weights. This is a truly awe-inspiring list and has
led me to try emulating John; Ive now started to compile my own list, which I
might add is considerably shorter!
Once again, if youre after an instruction manual forget it, but if you want a
damn good read on Christmas day point the wife in the direction of this review.
Tight lines,
Martin Salisbury.
Click here to check the best price for this book on Amazon.
18th October 2000