Lockdown angling audio
Relax in your favourite chair, or pop your headphones in while you take your daily exercise, and listen to some fishy tales old and new...
Dick Walker on Desert Island Discs
This might be one of the most interesting things we’ve unearthed in lockdown. From deep in the BBC’s archive comes this recording from 1974 of Richard Walker picking his favourite eight tracks to be castaway with on a desert island.
Unlike today’s guests on this long-running Radio 4 show, the former carp record-holder seems at pains not to share too much information. There’s even a crackle of tension in the air as host Roy Plomley tries patiently to tease out some colour. It is certainly of its time and, despite some clipped responses from Walker, sheds light on the life and times of one of the country’s greatest anglers. His final track – and the one he picks as his favourite – will also be familiar to many a sports fan…
Fishing for Doubters with Chris Yates
Another gem from the BBC’s vast archive, this is a 30-minute Omnibus programme first broadcast in 1996. It follows Chris Yates in pursuit of carp and, interspersed with famous quotes on fishing, has the feel of an audio-only version of A Passion for Angling.
In fact, keen fans of the TV show will recognise Yates’s comparison between carp fishing and playing chess with a grand master.
It’s a beautifully relaxed half-hour in which Yates is at his eloquent best.
The Carp Cast
With many of us having time on our hands right now, the Carp Cast’s huge back catalogue could be just the thing to stimulate carp anglers’ minds. There have been 99 episodes of this podcast – more than any other UK fishing podcast – and most of them are well over two hours long. Each episode features a lengthy interview with a star guest, from Danny Fairbrass to Adam Penning, via Jim Davidson and Kevin Nash.
The Thinking Tackle Podcast
A relative newcomer to the podcast landscape, this series of in-depth interviews is produced by Korda but doesn’t just feature anglers associated with their brands. And it’s not as carp-heavy as you might think. Host Simon Pitt is given free rein to explore his guests’ upbringings and outlooks on life, making the episodes feel much more rounded than some other angling podcasts.
We’d pick the Simon Scott one if you want to enhance your fishy knowledge and listen to a master storyteller at work. All of the episodes are available to
watch too.
