Fishing TV

[Ken L]

Of late, I've hardly watched any fishing TV because every time I flick the channel, I realise that I've seen the offering before.

I've also just had a quick look on the Discovery Channel website and discovered that sure enough, the same few programs are being repeated ad infinitum.

I had noticed from the schedules but Discovery also appear to have dropped Rex Hunt's shows completely.

Now I know that they had decided not to comission any new stuff in 2008 but had assumed that that didn't include not buying in any international content.

 

Things are looking a bit grim for the nations armchair anglers.

[Andy Macfarlane]

If you're talking about Real Time Extra, you get to watch and record every episode of a whole series, in order, over the space of 1-2-3 days and then you get the same with another angling show and then another. Considering there is fishing on 24/7 that's a lot of viewing time to fill and when you also consider which TV series have been run, in their completion, you're getting a pretty good chunk of fishing TV for next to nothing. People have asked about Passion For Angling, many times over, quoting prices their willing to pay, when you can switch on and record the series in it's entirety for free. That's just an example but it's a good example of what you get. What's the problem? Is it the lack of angling shows that are out there? Maybe so but I don't think we get a bad deal at all.

As for Rex Hunt....maybe the number of anglers that switch off when his comedy appears is reason enough for Discovery to drop the programme. I can't think of another TV angler who has been criticised more than Rex Hunt, almost to the point where anglers have campaigned to have him removed from TV because he isn't representative of their methods. In fact, I cannot think of a single angler I'd rather have removed from TV than Rex Hunt. His 'knowledge' is shaky at best and his fish handling techniques are extremely questionable. Maybe you find him entertaining. I find him stomach churning.

Give me repeats of Mick Brown and John Wilson over that idiot any day.

[dutch1862]

What TV offerings do we get these days? I have Sky+, but no Sky Sports (yet I hasten to add) so would be interested to hear what channel numbers there are etc.

 

Rex Hunt struck me as a stereotypical Aussie. His programme was mildly entertaining at best, probably when he kissed fish that were uglier than my mother-in-law.

 

Bruno Brookes and Keith Arthur (?) used to have a programme on Sky Sports 1 I seem to recall that I enjoyed. The trouble is they put these things on too late for me these days, but Sky+ is the best invention ever!!

[dapper64]

At the moment there doesn't seem to be hardly any angling on at all,I caught one episode of passion for angling on saturday,yes it was an episode I have seen a few times but I didn't mind,I would like to see more,total fishing,day ticket,compleat angler,and just fishing.I never really liked rex hunt eighther,or the great and greater rod race.

[mjbarnes12]

www.onlinefishing.tv

[Angly]

What TV offerings do we get these days? I have Sky+, but no Sky Sports (yet I hasten to add) so would be interested to hear what channel numbers there are etc.

 

As Andy says, Discovery's Real Time Extra (Sky 242 according to their website) shows plenty of angling shows, a few months ago it was angling 24/7 (god I hate that expression) for the whole month.

[Peter M]

there decision to not commission any more angling programmes was IMO very short sighted they have lots of new shows on real time including programmes about narrow boats, building with Tommy Walsh and imported shows on people having tattoos so why are they not commissioning new angling programmes.

[Ken L]

Love him or hate him, Rex Hunt changed the face of sport fish conservation in Australia in the 1990's and although the stuff shown in some of his shows may seem a bit odd (I don't like some of his unhooking procedures/leaving hooks in fish stuff myself) he was pitching his show at an audience of Ockers rather than at a UK audience who consider antiseptic for hook hold damage to be "normal". Had he tried to preach UK fish handling to the Aussies in 1993, he would have been laughed off the telly.

Personally, I find him rather entertaining and Steve Starling and K Bush clearly know their onions. Then there are Rex’s two young protégés who are taking forward the tactics and the message of conservation for the 00's with their I-Fish show.

The thing is none of the Aussie shows are currently being shown, there is no US or Canadian programming (although there must be loads of it in the can) there's nothing new being commissioned and even though they show the likes of John Wilson, they're only showing his material from the last three years despite there being 15 or 20 years worth of his material available, much of which is as relevant now as it was then.

Yes, they had fishing 24/7 a couple of months ago - but it was the same programs being delivered three times a day!

The future of fishing TV is looking dim from my perspective.

[hermes]

I get Discovery's Real Time Extra on Virgin Media and have done for many years. I used to like the fishing programes but over the years they have all just become repeats.

 

All the Total Fishing, The Great Rod Race, Record Breaking Fish, Lake Escapes etc etc are as far as I know repeats, I have seen them all so many times I don't bother watching them anymore.

 

They might as well rename the channel Discovery's Real Time Repeats.

 

They seem to think by showing these repeats that they are catering for the angling viewer but personally I am a little bored watching the same old thing.

 

The John Wilson series are very good but again I think most of them are repeats arent they? If I were the controller I would like to see some fresh faces on the channel, some good British venues and forget the exotic Caribbean Bone fish fly fishing and deep sea shark fishing that are virtually unattainable to the average British angler.

 

Rex Hunt, well what can I say, never knew if he was meant to be taken seriously or not, again another face that I was sick of looking at!

 

Chris Sandford's Just Fishing was quite good, a little innocent and simple viewing, not bad really.

 

I used to watch Jack Hargreaves and his Out Of Town series, to me he was a God of outdoor pursuits, at the time I thought that they were all about angling but after getting the DVD sets I see that very little of his programmes were actually about fishing!

 

I think we could do with some more British venues and some new blood or some old blood with some new ideas.

 

Slightly off topic but when do you think these so called angling experts are going to use landing nets instead of dragging a fish onto a gravel swim eh, It's disturbing the amount of times I see John Wilson or Matt Hayes not use a landing net, not very politically correct is it.

 

Rant over

[Angly]

I used to watch Jack Hargreaves and his Out Of Town series, to me he was a God of outdoor pursuits, at the time I thought that they were all about angling but after getting the DVD sets I see that very little of his programmes were actually about fishing!

 

Even as a small boy I used to love watching Out Of Town, but then I was odd (was?), I used to watch Open University Programs too! I met Mr. Hargreaves on holiday and have a signed copy of something, I'll have to look it out.