Caught In Time DVD ~ Chris Yates/Hugh Miles

Part 1 – Summer Days

I pulled back the Christmas wrapping fully expecting to find a new music CD – Instead I was met with the first instalment of the new ‘Caught in Time’ series on DVD by Hugh Miles and Chris Yates; a very pleasant surprise indeed! The only problem was that I had to wait almost eight hours (family duties and all) before I could sit down and watch it. Much of that time was spent musing upon whether this new offering could in any way match the epic BBC ‘A Passion for Angling’ series; the box set of which has sat proudly upon my shelf for many years.

 

In short, the answer is yes. Ok, you may not have the same fondness for it immediately, but that’s something that akin to ‘A Passion for Angling’, grows in time, and it’s something that I felt build as the film progressed. The result was that come the end I could quite happily have watched it from beginning to end again straightaway!

I have to admit that I’ve become more than a little disillusioned with many recent angling books, videos, and a number of magazines, whose sole aim, it would appear, is to formulate the “edges” required in order that one can “take a water apart”, whilst of course ‘bigging-up’ said angler whose ‘edge’ has been revealed – Not that a modicum of watercraft and a good understanding of your chosen quarry could ever allow for such things you understand!!

Thank goodness then for Summer Days, for me this film epitomises everything that angling *should* be about – magical times out on the bank in tranquil surroundings and not an ‘edge’ in sight! The film charts the angling sessions of Chris Yates on a beautiful old and overgrown estate lake which obviously has a very special place in his heart. The film is not about catching the lakes biggest fish, or trying to better anybody else that may be present – it’s completely the opposite. This film is about one mans journey to try and outwit wily old specimens and charts the achievements and disappointments along the way.

You’ll find no new approaches or methods within, just simple tactics with vintage equipment which work time and time again – Food for thought, no? As a stalking angler who loves fishing on secluded waters, I have to say that this film is right up my street – find the fish and fish for them – what could be simpler? However, you never quite know what fate holds in store and the film captures a good deal of the unexpected. Of course there are carp, and plenty of them, but I’m not going to spill the beans on what kind or how big – all I’ll say is that they are all pristine specimens that I would quite literally give my back teeth to have a crack at!

The sequences are nothing short of spectacular, and nothing less than we have come to expect from the expert handiwork of Hugh Miles. The filming captures everything on each session; the conditions, the wildlife, the mood – everything that I love about my fishing all rolled into one! So, if like me you hanker after the days before bait boats and bite alarms, then this film is a must. A gentle stroll down memory lane, if you like, and an extremely pleasurable one at that!

Running Time: Approximately 60 minutes

Price including postage and packing: DVD £20.00 / VHS £15.00.
http://www.passionforangling.info

Julian Grattidge
January 2006