Hooked on Fishing Series 2

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The first programme of the second series of Hooked on Fishing, finds Paul Young in Mazatlan, on Mexico’s northwest Pacific coast. Along with expert fisherman, Trey Combs, Paul sets off in search of Sailfish, a highly prized, blue water sporting species. Sailfish are hard-fighting predators that once hooked spend more time in the air than in the water. However, Paul has an extra challenge - to catch one of these amazing fish on the fly! So to do this it’s back to school to discover the secrets of extreme fly fishing success!

Paul travels to northern Russia to pioneer fishing the mighty and remote Yokanga River for Atlantic salmon. The stunning Yokanga River is inside the Arctic Circle and has a growing reputation for producing big Atlantic salmon. Not only is the fishing great but even travelling to the various parts of the river is exciting and is done courtesy of huge Russian helicopters, providing a grandstand view of the river. At the Lily Oak Pool Paul catches a fine 15lb salmon, a ‘bar of silver’, just before a spectacular red and gold sunset decorates the arctic skies. The action continues on the Island Pool when Paul catches another hefty silvery salmon, then an 18lb fish that provides plenty of spectacular rod bending action!

Paul’s off fishing the wetlands surrounding the mighty Mississippi River, in search of Speckled Trout and Redfish. There’s non-stop action as Captain John L Taylor, and Paul whiz off in a jet boat and hook up some very lively speckled trout that thrive in this area. Humour as a Flounder and then a Catfish are caught and excitement when John catches a big Redfish of 8.5lbs. In part 2 Paul joins Papa Joe B, a veteran of shallow lagoons and creeks that are a feature of the Louisiana wetlands. The action continues as they fish for freshwater Redfish with special spinner baits.

Paul returns to his native Scotland and joins Richard Phelps to fish for wild brown trout and rainbows in the beautiful Glen Devon Valley, between Stirling and Perth, known locally as ‘the secret glen’. Paul and Richard explore the small chain of manmade reservoirs built over half a century ago and which follow the course of the old River Devon and the one time cattle drovers’ trail. Using traditional Scottish fly-fishing tactics in this superb picturesque setting both anglers are more than rewarded with some wonderful sport from both Brown and Rainbow trout.

On magnificent Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Paul joins local guide Kensey Cuthbert to try drift boat fishing on the crystal clear River Nitinat, in search of huge king and silver salmon. On their 4 mile drift down this remote river the scenery encountered is breathtaking and big salmon can be seen swimming freely in the clear waters. Throughout the day fishing action is steady and once hooked these Pacific salmon are dazzling fighters, stripping yards and yards of line off the screaming reel and providing great sport! On the way back five Black Bears, (also fishing in the river), delay the journey home!

From the heart of swinging New Orleans Paul heads for Cyprus Grove Marina, to join Richard Hussar to fish the Gulf of Mexico for a spot of rig fishing, although rig fishing is not quite what Paul expects with the entire fishing area surrounded by oil and gas drilling rigs. But there’s plenty of good fish to be caught around these rigs, which are known locally by anglers as ‘FADS’ or ‘fish attracting devices’ and they attract big numbers of fish like Snapper, Groupers, Specks and Amberjack. Drop the line down and it’s like a lucky dip as to what species the fish will be! Next day, they join experienced skipper, Frank Lawson and set off to the Gulf’s big game hunting grounds to try for the ton up, back breaking, hard fighting, Yellowfin Tuna.

On the shores of Lough Furnace near Newport, County Mayo Paul teams up with well-known fish scientist and fanatical angler Dr Ken Whelan, who along with his team of specialists runs the Burrishoole salmon research agency of Ireland. After a whirlwind look at the agency facilities it’s time to set off for some lough fly fishing for Salmon. But after only a few Trout have been caught in the bright, windless conditions, a change of tactics is called for. So Ken offers to take Paul to one of his secret little loughs for a spot of fly-fishing for Pike, which turns out to be a great success, with lots of surface action, fly caught Pike and even Perch.

From the Canadian city of Victoria, the capital of Vancouver Island, Paul joins skipper Wayne Dealey to fish the rich northern pacific waters. Paul’s target species is Halibut (known locally as butts), giant flat fish that can strain the toughest of tackle and anglers often go weak at the knees with the sheer power of these overgrown Flounders. But surprise, surprise, the first catch of the day turns out to be a very unusual species a Ratfish which, as its name suggests, looks very much like a rodent. After 6 hours of quiet inactivity the action erupts as a halibut tears off with Paul’s herring bait and the fight is on and he lands a specimen Halibut of over 60 lbs. In part 2 Paul meets up with fishing guide Kensey Cuthbert to fish the tidal estuary of the River Renfrew in pursuit of Silver Salmon. Several Salmon are successfully hooked but the estuary seals are not slow in taking advantage of handicapped salmon and to Paul’s utter disbelief they make off with his fish before it can be landed. Finally Paul gets one to the boat, a beautiful silver that is steered rapidly but safely into the landing net!

It’s mid August and Paul visits the beautiful tree lined River Ness in Invernesshire, to fly fish for Atlantic salmon. With bright sunshine and high water river conditions fly fishing is far from simple and nothing is caught. So, as evening approaches, it’s on with the spinning tackle, which to Paul’s delight accounts for a handsome early autumn salmon. In part 2 it’s something completely different as Paul heads even further north to Loch Garve in Wester Ross to fish for pike with Dominic Moore, a pike fanatic form Essex. Dominic, who now lives in Scotland, is convinced the new British record pike will come from these northern lochs and he has all the equipment needed to catch the big one, including high tech bait launchers, hand held digital depth sounders and mercury switch bite alarms!

Paul sets off for a spot of Irish brown trout fishing and begins on the Blackwater River in County Meath, a delightful little river that is full of little Brown Trout that are more than happy to take a well-presented dry fly. From the Black Water, Paul heads northwest to Lough Maher in County Mayo and using traditional Irish wet fly patterns has a high degree of success. In part 2 Paul joins well-known Irish journalist and angler Peter O’Reilly and boatman Dennis O’Keeffe to fish the renowned but daunting Lough Sheelin. To everyone’s amazement, Paul’s biggest ever dry fly wild Brown Trout is caught, a magnificent golden flanked beauty that tips Peter’s scales at 5.5lbs.

Paul is in the Faroes for some summer fishing, in Tórshavn he joins the crew of the Heidrikur and they set of out to sea to fish for Cod, Catfish, Haddock, Whiting and Flatfish. The mystique of the Faroe Islands is explored as Paul catches sight of the looming sea cliff, Enniberg, the world’s highest vertical sea cliff and cruises past the fabled ‘Giant’ and ‘His Wife’ rocks. But legend or no, Paul soon hooks into a whole array of species and in flatfish bay is transported back to boyhood as he catches dabs and Flounders!

For the first time ever Paul enters a coarse angling competition at one of England’s premier coarse fishing venues Golden Valley Fishery near Aldershot. Golden Valley Fishery is a state of the art venue with its own restaurant, bar and clubhouse. In the summer it is so popular that anglers often have to queue for hours until a vacant fishing peg becomes free! Before the competition Paul teams up with Steve Sanders one of Britain’s top match anglers, who shows him the ropes and the most effective techniques used for successful, competition coarse fishing.

Paul explores the angling potential of inshore fishing in Mazatlan in Mexico and begins by trolling for Red and Black Snapper along the rocky breakwater of the El Cid estuary, where a double figure Red Snapper jumps on the bait and tries to head back to the rocky cover. While heading a little further offshore to fish for Dorado, Paul comes across a vast pod of dolphins jumping and rolling alongside his small boat and they provide us with a spectacular water show! In part 2 it’s a world first as Paul sets off to try and catch huge hard-fighting Sailfish, but fishing for them without any hooks! Using only string in place of the hook Paul lands 2 fabulous 80lbs plus Sailfish.

Paul returns to the Louisiana Wetlands and meets up with local guide Capt Phil Robichaux to explre the myriad of channels and waterways in the area. They start by throwing a chartreuse coloured soft plastic lure with a jig head and in no time at all Paul has a small Speckled Sea Trout safely landed. The sport continues in earnest and the fish get gradually bigger. Its all going well until they move to a creek and Paul hooks into a small Alligator which is expertly landed by Phil! Next up Paul finds a small Redfish, the first of the trip. The following morning, Capt Phil takes them to a new sport looking for a bigger Redfish but first up for Paul is the Redfish' cousin, the Black Drum. Moving into another shallow channel, Paul finally gets into the Redfish he's been looking for and he finds out why these fish are so popular.

It’s extremely early in the morning when Paul and fishing guide Kensey Cuthbert descend on the misty waters of Vancouver Island’s serene Cowichan River to fish for wild Brown Trout. The black bears and herons are still out searching for food when Paul hooks his first beautiful Brown Trout on the fly, a fine fish of about 2lbs and another quickly follows, even larger. As the morning progresses and the sunlight descends on the river it’s time to pack up and move to the lakes, where they take things a little easier, fly-fishing from armchair style float tubes. But the leisurely floating stops as Paul and Kensey snare some specimen Cutthroat trout, with Kensey catching his personal best Cutthroat of around 5lbs. Next day sees them flying out to Stafford Lake to fish virtually pristine waters for beautiful Rainbow Trout and Dolly Varden