Work on our new series “Catching the Impossible” has been relentless, and we are delighted that the next three films of the series will be on sale at the beginning of August, and for more details and a view of some clips, visit www.catchingtheimpossible.info. There are also inland breeding cormorants, 2,096 at the last count in 2005, so the pressure on our freshwater fish is relentless and surely unsustainable. This is damaging our bio-diversity, and some rivers have already been denuded of their fish life. Members of the Avon Roach Project created a petition to attempt to change the law and make it easier for us to protect our wildlife from excessive cormorant predation. We plan to deliver the 16,000+ signature petition to the Fisheries Minister in February. We all say it, but what happened to last year? It just flew by! It's been so busy that I don't know how I ever had time to spend my life making wildlife films. But thankfully, the year has been a lot of fun, not only because I got to make a few films - I love it - but also went fishing...not a lot...but being out there is always a treat, especially with close friends Trevor Harrop and Chris Yates. Catching the Impossible’ is a different kettle of fish, intentionally of course as I felt it ridiculous to try to

Like all creative endeavours, making films is an inexact art, there is no right or wrong … which is probably why I was able to earn a living making wildlife films! I have made over sixty now, for all the worlds major TV companies, so I guess I got some of it right. Whatever the truth, it was a privilege to go to so many wild places to share my life with charismatic animals and meet so many great guys and gals.

A three-pound roach was also on the list and at the time was far from impossible. After all, even I had caught four of that size so Martin raised the stakes and decided that the challenge should be a three-pound roach … but from a river. Now this was impossible, for after the squadrons of killer cormorants had invaded our rivers, even two-pound roach are very rare. I mention the perch last as Martin had already caught twenty-three perch of that size and we thought it would be easy to achieve. Wrong! The challenge nearly broke our resolve but in the end we didn’t just hit the target, Martin actually caught a perch of five pounds four ounces. The Angling Times informed us that it was the biggest perch ever caught from a river, [not any more], but at the time we were blown away by it’s size – and we still are! The very cold weather was hard for everyone out there, especially our wildlife, and I was very sad when this lovely buzzard that had adopted us in the garden finally succumbed to starvation. We had kept it alive for weeks with scraps of squirrel and rabbit but the weather cut off our supplies and with a foot of snow and ice covering the ground, there was nothing for it to eat. However, we still have twelve long-tailed tits though, thanks to the RSPB's fat-filled coconut treats .... they love 'em The series comprises nine one hour films in sets of three on three DVD’s so you don’t have to buy them all at once! They are full of great fishing and some folk even prefer the series to ‘Passion’ but we’ll leave you to be the judge of that. There’s a splendid book describing our adventures too, full of pictures [400+] along with film clips and beautiful illustrations by the celebrated artist Rodger McPhail so you don’t even have to read it. I still love that sequence, even after twenty five years, for those misty images accompanied by Jennie Muskett’s perfect music and Bernard’s dulcet tones of narration capture the very essence of the magic of angling.

Yates was one of two central characters in BBC2's 1993 TV series A Passion for Angling, made by Hugh Miles and also featuring Bob James, in which the pair go fishing for carp, salmon and other species across Britain. The series was shown in many countries including Mexico, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Italy, Norway and Japan. [4] Radio [ edit ] Chris and his catches at the legendary Redmire were famous because they culminated in his record 51lb6oz carp, a fish that followed the even more famous capture of Richard Walker’s 44lb monster. As mentioned above, 2013 is our 20th Anniversary and by any standards, that’s some kind of a record for a TV programme. We all hope it continues, for though it will never make us rich, it helps to eke out the meagre pensions of Bob, Chris and ourselves …‘every little helps’. The important cause for celebration is that the series of six fifty minute films are unchanged with the passing of time, depicting a peaceful world when there were lots of fish in our rivers and seemingly more time to catch them.Chris Yates is an angler, photographer, broadcaster, tea connoisseur and author born on 19 April 1948. He is a former holder of the record for the heaviest-recorded British carp, a 51.5lb specimen captured from Redmire pool in 1980. [1] Yates is a former co-editor (with Jon Ward-Allen) of Waterlog magazine, [2] and is a regular contributor to The Idler. Most experiences are more enjoyable when shared with close friends and a May visit to Skomer Island with Robin, who I've known since childhood was particularly memorable, with puffins and flowers covering the island. Sharing the roach fishing with Trevor at Sway was always enjoyable and on two summer days I managed to catch sixteen two pound roach up to 2lbs 12oz, though the angling press ignored this story in favour of yet more carp stories - a sad reflection on their judgement of 'priorities' in angling. HUGH MILES:“Sixty-odd, on the basis of those measurements. Chris had a picture of his record fish from Redmire and Harry took one look at it and said, without any hesitation, “Oh no, it’s bigger than that,” so yes, it would easily have been a record at the time.” We all became great friends and would have included Bernard in every ‘impossible’ challenge but he was very busy at the time, chasing David Tennant’s Dr Who round the film sets at night. Even worse, he was suffering from cancer and had to put up with chemo every week. How he managed to successfully battle big carp and 20lb pike after all those challenges was remarkable. The Avon Roach Project led by friends Trevor Harrop and Budgie Price released hundreds and hundreds of three year old roach into the Hampshire Avon in December in an attempt to re-establish self-sustaining populations of this iconic species. The river was once famous for its' roach fishing and this is the best chance we'll ever have to see those glorious days returning. It might take ten years work, but we're up for the challenge. More details of this inspiring project can be seen on:

When creating our ‘Passion for Angling’ series for the BBC, it was a no brainer to choose Bernard to describe the adventures of Chris Yates and Bob James and it was his dulcet tones that contributed so much to the success of the series. Hugh Miles, Angling Trust Ambassador and film maker, said Bernard was a creative genius – and a very good angler.tench of over six pounds and Steve’s awesome mullet of 7/12 that fought for an eternity and circled Lifelines-An Anthology of Angling Anecdotes, and More…‘’ NAROD Publishing, 2021. A collection of 27 short stories centred around angling by 27 different authors including 16.6 by Chris Yates.

Taking friends fishing is always more rewarding than going it alone, so sharing "mullet madness" with Brian from Norfolk was especially enjoyable. Summer days spent crucian fishing with close friend Chris Yates are always a treat and I helped Annabelle and young Joe catch their very first fish and all washed down with tea and Sue's delicious Victoria Sponge. Anyway, Happy New Year to you all, even if the turn of the year seems a long way off already. May this year be better than the last for you … dryer and sunnier too hopefully. Four and a half years in the making, we all took a lot of trouble to make the six films as well as we could and we are constantly grateful, even surprised that you think we made some good decisions. Many in the angling world will remember Bernard as the voice of ‘Passion for Angling’ in which he described the adventures of Chris Yates and Bob James, and for his contributions in the ‘Catching the Impossible’ series with Martin Bowler, which featured some of the best angling films ever produced.A Passion for Angling’ and ‘Catching the Impossible’ are still capturing big audiences, for they describe the magic of being by the waterside with a rod and line like no others. HUGH MILES:“I was up on the scaffolding and we saw the fish approach. We’d agreed a signal, Chris whistled, the line tightened and it all went solid. Then ping! “Shall we go and have a cup of tea?” I think Bob said straight after!