Blew me away how many people wanted to talk about bass fishing at a carp show (The Big One), plus I got to see plenty of gear which could easily pass me by

I never know what to expect at these fishing shows. I have such strong memories of one of those old weekend events which used to be at the Birmingham NEC every year (was it called Go Fishing?). I guess it was the second TV series I did that had just come out on some obscure satellite channel and to be honest I thought nothing of it. I went up to the show to do my stuff and all weekend there were anglers coming up to me all the time to have a yap because I was on the telly and things like YouTube or TikTok weren’t a thing back then. Everybody was really nice but to be honest it spooked the hell out of me! I never did TV as such to get recognised by a bunch of anglers, and I can remember calling my wife after the first day of the show and saying that I was never going to make another programme again because this “getting recognised” stuff just wasn’t and isn’t me at all…………..

But I do love communicating about fishing with anglers. The Big One Show is historically a massive and very busy carp fishing show that takes place up in Farnborough once a year. Predator Tackle decided to go a few years ago and I was asked to attend because I work with Savage Gear/Pure Fishing. It was a really good couple of years, but then for reasons I am obviously not privy to, Predator Tackle decided not to go this year. A very dynamic and professional lad at Pure Fishing UK was tasked with delivering two stands - Savage Gear and Penn - and basically gambling with what had to be a lot of money to see if it would work with “us” being at The Big One Show this year as THE (freshwater and saltwater) lure, shore and tuna fishing people.

I wasn’t there for the setup so I got to see the two stands for the first time before the show actually opened at 8.30am on Saturday morning. Yes I work with Pure Fishing so I know a lot of people within the company, but honestly, I was really taken aback by how good the stands looked. They were awesome, but would we see many lure anglers turning up to see and buy gear at what is honestly a scary-big carp show?

By 9am on Saturday morning we were absolutely rammed on the Savage Gear stand, and I know it was the same over on the Penn stand. I work for myself and I am perfectly happy to spend good periods of time on my own without talking to anybody. But I do love talking about fishing. Obviously. It’s now Monday morning and I am hoarse because I talked way more than I am ever used to over the weekend about bass fishing. It was absolutely incredible how many people of all ages wanted to discuss all things bass fishing, and it was extra special to get to yap to plenty of youngsters who either go bass fishing or want to go bass fishing. One group of three youngsters I talked to for a while reminded me so much of myself at that age - doing the school stuff you have to do but all you are really doing is thinking about going fishing! I love it.

What an amazing weekend then, and a lot of credit and respect must go to a bunch of Pure Fishing people for all their hard work (plus Todber Manor and Fils Tackle). The public has no idea how much work goes into these shows behind the scenes. I get to rock up and yap fishing so that’s the easy part. The main lad behind this year’s success did an amazing job and I hope that the grownups above him recognise what an achievement the whole weekend was.

I acquired this photo from the Savage Gear UK Facebook page, hope it’s okay!

A big thank you to a lot of you kind people who came up to me about bass fishing. It always makes my week to meet real anglers who read this blog - thank you so much. I also got to see a good amount of interesting freshwater lure stuff from Savage Gear that I would never usually see and which I think might have some application for some of my bass fishing. Contrary to popular belief a company like Savage Gear doesn’t just send out free samples of everything they make to people like me! I work on the saltwater side so that is my area of concern, but where do you think lures like the DoLive Stick, senkos, cheb weights and creature baits etc. come from? Yep, the freshwater lure fishing world. I am going to see if I can get hold of a few (freshwater) bits and pieces that I saw and have a proper play with them. It’s essentially how the Slender Scoop Shad from the freshwater world ended up being one of the best paddletails I have ever used for my bass fishing, so who knows what might happen? Keep your eyes and ears open at all times and make sure you communicate with other anglers who fish for different species…………….