Exclusive Mick Brown interview
There can be few anglers across the UK and beyond who have not heard of Mick Brown. ‘The Duke’, as he became known through his TV work with Matt Hayes, might not be fishing as intensely as he used to, but there is still plenty of unfinished business.
This week, to celebrate the release of his new book ‘Born to Fish’, Mick speaks exclusively to Angling Times....
Q. Mick, can you explain what Born to Fish is all about?
A. I decided to write it when I realised my active fishing days were behind me and I wanted to record the best of them in print.
It covers some great stories taken from every era, starting in the beginning at the Birmingham park lakes and Midlands rivers, through my specimen hunting days, travelling far and wide, and finally my television work. There are lots of photos, many not seen before, recording my life from a young lad to an old age pensioner!
Q. You’re largely recognised as a pike angler but it’s clear from the book you’ve fished for a great many species over the years. How has your angling career progressed?
A. My fascination with pike clearly runs through the book, but it will become obvious that I’m an obsessive person with a passion for many other species. As a young man, I just wanted to catch anything and everything, particularly carp, which were quite rare in the UK in those days.
Eventually the big-fish bug bit and expanded my horizons in terms of what was possible with a more thoughtful approach, which led me to target fish of a size I once only dreamt was possible.
Q. You’ve been fishing for more than 50 years. What changes have you seen in that time?
A. The chapters in Born to Fish are based upon works written throughout my career. I have tried to keep each one faithful to the time it was originally conceived.
Above all, I have seen angling move dramatically away from the innocent pastime that it was, into something much more focused and competitive.
I’m not saying this is a bad thing but I can’t help thinking that the end result nowadays far outweighs the adventure and excitement in achieving it.
Q. If you could go back to any era, and any venue, which would it be?
A. It’s clear to me that we have now made angling success into an easily-bought commodity.
But then again, why not? As in many other aspects of life, we have taken the heartache and drudgery out of it, and with a little research on venues and a swift visit to the local tackle shop the result you are seeking is there if you spend enough time at the water. I cannot be critical of this in any way, as millions of anglers thoroughly enjoy themselves.
I guess only people as old as me will understand when I say that the magic of the unknown, whether watching a float against the reeds on the far bank of a canal, or stalking something that was moving under your rod-tip using a piece of crust, provides an electricity that cannot be equalled by watching three rods on self-hooking rigs, often with the knowledge that a known fish will be the end result.
Q. Fishing has taken you all around the world – has there been a favourite destination?
A. Without a doubt, it was my first visit to the Baltic Sea. It was a place I had read about for years, mainly in the old Abu catalogues from the 1960s and 1970s. It was inconceivable to me that pike could be caught in the sea, and it wasn’t until the early 1990s that I found the means to get across there to find out. It was everything I’d expected and more.
Q. Many anglers will be familiar with your TV appearances alongside Matt Hayes – can you explain how that came about?
A. It seemed that Matt and I were destined to become an angling duo.
Fate brought us together on a cold winter morning at Ringstead Grange trout fishery, which was holding a pike fishing event. Neither of us had a boat partner so we decided to share. Idle chatter about fishing led to banter and the realisation that we shared common interests and values.
Q. Are there any angling challenges left for you?
A. They all relate to unfinished business. I know of a swim that holds huge zander, and I do catch one from time to time, but they are so difficult to tempt – I am sure I have not had the biggest.
Then there’s a venue that I have never been able to crack for a big pike, and yet I have found several upper 30-pounders dead after spawning.
Just when I think there are no big fish in there I find another one.
There is a lake that has amazing eel fishing potential that I’m trying to get back on to, and there are some monster stillwater chub I would like to catch.
