Divers unlock the mysteries hidden beneath the surface
Behind the masks of these two fearless divers are the faces of fishing fanatics eager to reveal the secrets of lakes and stillwaters across the UK.
Jodie Calladene and Mark Barrow come closer to fish than most anglers can only dream of, while offering their free service to angling clubs and fishery owners.
To unlock the secrets that lie beneath the surface of some of our most popular venues, the Yorkshire pair strap on their diving kit and venture into the unknown. This has revealed the location of pike and carp to over 30lb, and taught them more about angling and fish behaviour than they could ever have imagined.
Mark, who has dived in salt and freshwater for over 30 years and fished rivers since he was a boy, says the service has dramatically improved his fishing skills while helping fishery owners understand their venues much better.
“I started fishing at eight and always had a fascination for what lies at the bottom of a river. When I started diving it blew me away that the mental image I had of a river or lakebed was completely different to how it actually is,” he told Angling Times.
“The dives have taught me so much about how fish move, how far they travel and how they feed – observations which have improved my angling fourfold – and we’ve been passing this information on to fishery owners and clubs for free because we love what we do.”
Jodie and Mark’s project, Beneath British Waters, was launched in 2014 but it only recently have they started to take requests to take photographs or shoot underwater videos.
They have covered the rivers Derwent, Wharfe, Eden, Esk and Liddle, plus dozens of stillwaters, in order to find out more about their stocks.
However, not all their weird and wonderful sights have been down to nature.
As well as some stunning fish and fantastic plant life, the guys have seen all sorts of strange things, from river crossings used by soldiers to escape the battle of Marston Moor in the English Civil War to sunken vehicles at the bottom of lakes. One object will stay in Mark’s mind forever: “I was doing a solo night dive on the River Wharfe. We swam into this 4ft deep pool and there, staring back at me, was a fully dressed mannequin in a blue dress, all made up as if she was going out on a date – it was the most creepiest thing you could ever imagine,” he said.
The pair, who fund all their dives from their own pockets, are not stopping there. Dozens more trips are planned for the coming months as more and more fisheries request their services.
For Jodie, a carp angler from Morton, in North Yorkshire, it’s all an education: “At the end of May we have been invited to a water that holds 35lb-plus pike, so we are hoping to get these fish on film, as we have been working on a pike production for the last 12 months,” he said.
“This year will also see us doing vidoes of barbel and freshwater eels and we are hoping to hit the salmon run underwater – which will be amazing. We are even considering filming carp taking an angler’s bait.”
Watch the videos online
Mark and Jodie’s videos and images can be viewed on their Facebook page and on their YouTube channel. Search for Beneath British Waters.
And if you’re interested in them paying a visit to your water, email: beneathbritishwaters@gmail.com