Extreme Fishing (36 page)

Born in Northumberland on 18 December 1964,
Robson Green
is one of the best known faces on British Television. He has been associated with a number of the most
celebrated television dramas of recent times including
Soldier Soldier
,
Reckless, Touching Evil
and
Wire in the Blood
. Robson still lives in Northumberland and spends whatever
spare time he has seeing his son Taylor, reading, walking, going to the gym and fishing.

Charlotte Reather
first spied Robson Green across a sea of meat-heads and spray-tanned strippers at a cage-fight at the Radisson Edwardian, Heathrow, and asked if she
could interview the actor for a magazine.

Robson says, ‘It was fate and when I read the article I instantly knew Charlotte was the only person who could write this book. She is a serious talent, hilarious, gifted
and inspired.’

Charlotte writes comedy scripts for TV and film. She is a columnist and contributor to several magazines and newspapers including
NFU Countryside
,
The Field
,
Country Life
and the
Telegraph
. Originally from the Cotswolds, she lives with her husband in Washington DC. This is her first book.

www.charlottereather.com

‘Charlotte is incredibly funny, fearless and terrifyingly ambitious. Look out world!’ Maurice Gran, co-creator of
Birds of a Feather.

1
. After the first series we always remembered to ask contributors if they had ever actually caught a fish and how long ago that was. It was a
steep learning curve.

2
. Except I’ve since learnt that sparkling water or white wine are much better for carpet stains, as well as being very refreshing
drinks.

3
. Alexander Pope,
An Essay on Man
.

4
. Meaning they spend most of their life in the sea but return to freshwater to breed.

1. A giant wels catfish that, I have to say, bears no resemblance whatsoever to a cat

2. ‘OK Robson, be interesting, insightful and entertaining.’ And . . . action!

3. Let’s just say this carp is no stranger to the dessert trolley (or isn’t on the Weight Watchers diet!)

4. A super-pod of dolphins. A rare and extraordinary sight that just makes your heart sing

5. Show-off! If I could leap like that I could be my own stunt double

6. The sailfish. The marine equivalent of a Ferrari!

7. ‘Sometimes I hear, and sometimes I don’t!’

8. Dinner is served, Costa Rican style

9. A survivor of the terrible massacre in Room 25

10. The setting for the iconic 1970s movie
Jaws
. I don’t think my tackle is big enough . . .

11. A bluefin tuna that really put the
Extreme
into Extreme Fishing

12. Two crayfish and a prawn

13. Has anyone seen my drum kit?

14. Even in the Amazon jungle there’s always a pap lurking in the undergrowth. Thankfully I’m not topless

15. How on earth are we going to top this? I came in search of the ultimate angling experience, and I think I’ve found it!

16. Check out the mahi-mahi (and the Mangina!)

17. It’s the only way to travel, especially if I’m at the controls

18. The last picture ever taken of the bloody cockerel that kept me awake in Costa Rica

19. An actor with a harpoon, what could possibly go wrong

20. Mine’s bigger than yours, Tarzan

21. If I run the caiman gets me, if I swim the piranha get me, it’s a Catch-23 (which is like a Catch-22 but worse!)

22. Cuba. A 1950s paradise, and one of my favourite places on the planet

23. A rose between two thorns. Or should I say barracudas?

24. What more does an angler need? Well, a bathroom would be nice!

25. And then a storm removed our humble abode from the earth

26. On its day, Ascension Island is the greatest fishing destination on the planet

27. The one that
didn’t
get away

28. Honestly, it was THIS BIG!

29. On this adventure I have caught the weird, the wonderful . . . and the downright dangerous

30. During this extreme journey it was only a matter of time before I caught king crabs

31. Wouldn’t a worm be better?

32. WE.ARE.IN!

33. A bigger version of something you might see in a bowl at home

34. Some of the scenery on this trip can only be described as simply breathtaking

35. ‘Team Extreme’ living the Dream in Patagonia

36. Not for the first (or indeed the last) time, we play the waiting game

37. Rarely a case of ‘one man and his boat’ and barely enough room to swing a minnow, you could cut the atmosphere with a cricket
stump

38. There are so many lovely folk in the world, and my philosophy is you should try to meet as many of them as you can

39. Table for two, please

40. Travelling the globe and catching fish most anglers only dream of, where do I sign up?

41. Err. . . Erm. . . I think this is its head

42. One lean, mean, killing machine

43. The crew in Costa Rica

44. Pound for pound the Papuan black bass has to be the greatest fighting fish on the planet. Think of it as Muhammad Ali in fish form

45. Spot the guy who thinks the plan for today
isn’t
a good one

46. My Uncle Matheson, the Obi-Wan Kenobi of fly-fishing and the man who taught me everything I needed to know about angling. Can you tell
he’s genuinely gutted I got the gig and he didn’t?

47. My dad, Robson Senior, or Big Rob as he is known to his mates. My Rock, well, more a mountain

1. A giant wels catfish that, I have to say, bears no resemblance whatsoever to a cat

2. ‘OK Robson, be interesting, insightful and entertaining.’ And . . . action!

3. Let’s just say this carp is no stranger to the dessert trolley (or isn’t on the Weight Watchers diet!)

4. A super-pod of dolphins. A rare and extraordinary sight that just makes your heart sing

5. Show-off! If I could leap like that I could be my own stunt double

6. The sailfish. The marine equivalent of a Ferrari!

7. ‘Sometimes I hear, and sometimes I don’t!’