Angling Lines blog

by Paul Cooper

One of the finest aspects of carp fishing is arriving at a venue to find that you are the only one the lake. Peace tranquillity and the choice of swims, you cannot beat it.

But what happens when you capture a specimen fish that you want to record on camera?

With most cameras there are facilities that will enable you to fix your camera to a tripod. Once the camera is on the tripod you need to accurately focus on the area that you intend to take your pictures and then you need a means of taking that photo shot.

Another angler or passer by, maybe? You are on this lake and there is no-one around.. Do you sack the fish until someone does arrive or do you think of the welfare of the carp? Now my answer is self photography.

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Like so many things these days the advances in technology have meant that top quality video even high definition is accessible to everyone, not just professional television crews, as was the case just a decade ago. The latest range of DV and HDV cameras are just mind-blowingly good. But have a good camera doesn’t turn you into Spielberg over night. You need to know how to use it and a few basic rules will help you shoot better carp fishing footage and better still be able to edit it into DVD’s or web clips for Youtube etc….
There is nothing worse than watching wobbly, out of focus, poorly shot videos. so below are the first basic rules on how to get better result with your video camera. continue reading…

by Gareth Watkins

The use of a polariser adds drama to this shot

As a follow on article to my post on ‘Making Fishing Videos’, I thought I’d look at the close links there seem to be between Fishing and photography. I know a number of anglers who are accomplished photographers. Nearly all the guys who contribute regularly to the Angling Press are good shooters. You need to illustrate your articles so it is important to get well composed, sharp high quality photos. Photography then, is an integral part of fishing today. We all like to get good trophy shots. So even for anglers who never write, learning to use a camera is an important part of modern angling. continue reading…

I read to a recent Opinion Piece – by Jeff Woodhouse on Making Angling Videos posted on the Fishing Magic website, commenting on the poor quality and low standard of angling videos on the market. As a photographer/cameraman the subject is naturally of interest to me.
Jeff writes:(…..why should we put up with this sort of poorly produced material any longer. For years, anglers have been sold off with videos from every half-famous Joe who fancies making a name for himself in the job of TV presenting. Most don’t suit and many should stick to their day jobs….)

He then goes on to discuss the merits of the various presenters who have made a name for themselves including John Wilson and Matt Hayes. continue reading…

by Gareth Watkins

Most of my summer 2007 was spent out ‘On the Road’ to produce the 2008 DVD.

We generally get under way in April and set out a list of venues we need to cover. These are in priority the new lakes we have on our books, lakes that have seen significant changes to either the facilities, fish stocks etc and venues that we have not covered for a while.

Last year was made doubly awkward due to the absolutely lousy weather we had for much of the summer.

We were delighted to add some quality fishing to our portfolio, such as Molyneux, Commons Lake, Long Lake, Etang de Moulin and St Christophe. All these venues I’m sure will do well in 2008.

The other great thing about visiting the lakes in person is the people we meet. None of our video sessions are staged. We don’t bait a swim for weeks or re-hook fish. What you see on the clips is as it is. Some venues produce well others don’t. That’s not to say the venues who don’t throw up a biggy for the camera don’t hold such fish though.

In 2007 I was generally very mucky and on most waters I was able to capture some good action and some nice fish, even if I had to wait for them.

I think the highlight though was shooting with Shaun Harrison, what a star… not only has he never failed to catch when I’ve turned a camera on him, at St Christophe, against all the odds when the lake was fishing really slowly and many anglers blanking during the busiest holiday week of the year… he banked a fabulous 54lb 6oz mirror.