Newsletter from Hugh and Sue Miles May 2010
At Last – our series on Channel 4 – WATCH IT!
Described by the Angling Times as “the greatest fishing show ever made”, we have finally secured a series of showings on terrestrial television. Ch 4 will be airing the series ‘off-peak’ – Sunday mornings at 07.00 from 13th June to 1st August. Yes, I know it’s early! But maybe watching it before you go out fishing will provide you with the inspiration needed to help you catch your own ‘impossible’ sized fish.
Ch 4 plan to repeat the series in the Spring, and if you all watch and provide them with a big audience, maybe they will give us a more ‘accessible’ slot and we can show ‘proper’ UK fishing with our best anglers to an even wider audience.
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When Martin Bowler, Bernard Cribbins and I started filming on July 22nd 2004, our ultimate goal was to get the series shown on terrestrial television. Our aim was to raise the profile of angling and Britain’s freshwater fish and if we succeeded, it would help to highlight the many problems facing our fish.
Achieving a showing was probably the most ‘impossible’ catch of them all, despite Martin, Bernard and friends catching some truly remarkable specimens. For me, I guess the 32lb pike, the 44lb carp, the 5lb perch and above all the 3lb 5oz river roach stand out, but there were so many amazing catches it is difficult to believe it really happened.
Filming for over five years while trying to catch our “impossible” sized fish was challenging, but the enjoyment we had and the kindness and generosity shown us by the many land-owners, bailiffs and angling friends was remarkable. We can never thank them enough.
However, if we succeed in attracting big audiences for the series then maybe other broadcasters will be encouraged to show more ‘proper’ fishing, free of celebrities and hype, and all our contributors will feel it is mission accomplished. So please tell your friends to watch too.
We have had to edit out eleven minutes of our completed films to accommodate the commercial breaks, and in case you think we are going to get rich from a TV ‘sale’, this process of re-editing is actually costing more than the fee we are being paid. Sadly, our “making of” – Episode 9 won’t be shown, so if you want to view the unedited films, then we’d be delighted if you would purchase the DVDs. Everyone involved during the last five years has invested a huge amount of time for free, let alone the £400,000+ we have spent on making the programmes and though we weren’t foolish enough to create the films with a view to turning a profit, the sale of DVDs will help us to recoup some of the expense.
Freshwater fish conservation is my mission in life, so our other news is also encouraging. I have finally convinced the BBC that they should be looking below the surface of our rivers and lakes for new wildlife stories and last October the BBC made a little film about me and the filming of roach and barbel in the Hampshire Avon.
This will be shown on “Springwatch” on the 7th June I believe, with further short sequences to be shown on the 8th, 9th and 10th June. I will be concentrating on the River Wensum’s roach, barbel and trout, and maybe carp and tench on some of the local lakes. On April 28th I filmed roach spawning for the Avon Roach Project and hope to add barbel spawning on the Wensum, maybe even ‘live’ on the box.
The Roach Project, masterminded by Trevor Harrop and Budgie Price is wonderful, and going from strength to strength. Now in it’s third year, Trevor, Pete Orchard and I recently completed the ponds into which last years ‘babies’ have been released for growing on ….. thousands of them …. and eventually they will be released into the Avon to create self-sustaining populations of lovely fat roach. Need to keep the cormorants controlled, but that is another story. The whole project is funded by voluntary contributions, with some help from the EA, so if you have more than a few pennies to rub together, please contribute to the work and the habitat restoration we have planned for the future. To read more, please visit the “Avon Roach Project” website. www.avonroachproject.co.uk
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| Roach spawning filming and action, the baby roach and the pools for release with Trev and Pete. |
All this conservation work and wildlife film-making has reduced my fishing to virtually nil, but on one memorable visit to Sway Lakes, this magnificent 2lb 14oz roach showed up, along with one of 2lb 4oz and six others of around 1lb 12oz., all on a tiny waggler and single red maggot on a 20 hook – proper fishing.
On completing the making of “Impossible”, I treated myself to a long held ambition of fishing for mahseer in S.India and Pete Reading and I had a wonderful time, catching plenty of amazing looking fish. What a beautiful place it is too.
Was also invited to the R.Test by Martin Salter and we caught some lovely roach. He also honoured us by inviting Sue and I to a dinner at the Houses of Parliament to celebrate his retirement as an MP. There were several other fishing pals there, including Fisheries Ministers and shadow ones too …. all mad keen anglers which is great for the future, regardless of who is governing us when you read this. But we sure will miss Martin and his energetic and forthright defence of angling and the environment in which fish live.
Now the filming is all complete, I realise what a rare privilege it has been to explore the alien worlds of our wonderful freshwater rivers and lakes and to search for the mysterious monsters that swim in these landscapes of surprising beauty.
In this International Year of Biodiversity, I was surprised to learn that of the World’s known species, 40% of them live in freshwater habitats, so there is still a lot of conservation filming for Sue and I to do if we’re to make a difference. In fact, all of us should get out there and contribute to the pressing need to conserve our precious and increasingly rare freshwater fish. If we don’t, I fear that all our ‘impossible’ sized fish will be consigned to history.
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Hugh and Sue Miles
- May 2010
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| Newsletter from Hugh and Sue Miles November 6th 2009
We are very happy to report that the series is finally complete, programme nine “The Ones That Got Away” having been wrapped up only yesterday. It made everybody laugh in the studios in Bristol, so we are sure it will work for you too. It has been such fun making the series these past five and a half years and this film captures the enjoyment and laughter perfectly.
Programmes seven and eight show lots of truly monstrous fish being landed, so we hope you enjoy the climax of our journey around Britain in search of “impossible” sized fish.
Nothing is impossible of course, and if you are a specimen angler, maybe you too will rise to the challenge and see how many of our “impossibles” you can catch each year. We’d love to hear how you get on and you could let the angling press know too. We’ll try to run a competition with prizes for the angler who catches the most each year…and we hope, like us, that you won’t cheat!
Our Targets: Carp – 40lbs, Pike – 30lbs, Perch – 4lbs, Barbel – 15lbs, Roach – 3lbs (from a river!),
Rudd – 3lbs, Crucian Carp – 4lbs, Tench – 10lbs, Bream – 14lbs, Chub – 7lbs, Dace – 1lb,
Grayling – 3lbs, Trout – 10lbs, Zander – 10lbs, Catfish – 40lbs, Salmon – any size will do, Eel – 5lbs.
Martin, Bernard and our friends caught eleven of our seventeen “impossibles” during our four years filming, with the other six only a few ounces short, but whatever your ambition, remember that you are meant to enjoy the quest and that fishing is just a bit of fun.
I haven’t had much time for fishing in recent months but when I have escaped from the editing, it sure has been enjoyable. Roach are my favourite species and I’ve caught lots of big ones on the pole this year, with this 2lb 6oz specimen the most immaculate of several two pounders.
Went fishing with Martin in the summer for an Angling Times feature. Nothing unusual in that you might think, but this time the tables were turned. Martin was behind the camera and I was the one who had to catch a fish! But with Martin’s advice and deadly rig, I managed a couple of good barbel, though he wouldn’t give me ten pounds for the largest. I’ve since had a couple more of about the same size, on my own this time, and they are such splendid, hard fighting fish that I wonder why I don’t fish for the golden beauties more often.
Chris Yates and I were asked by Kev Green to catch some big crucians for “Improve Your Course Fishing” and we had a thoroughly enjoyable day, partly because we both caught crucians to 2lbs 12ozs. But the pressure to “deliver” certainly makes you respect even more the achievements of Martin, Bernard and friends in our quest for big fish. I enjoyed the extra challenge, but probably only because we caught lots of big ones!
I was very kindly invited onto the R.Test for the second year running by S&TA stalwart John Slader and we had a great day sipping tea and eating cake, in between having a few casts for the beautiful trout...and we caught lots too. After that treat I couldn't refuse the request to make four conservation films for them could I, so my next series is already lined up...and there was I thinking I might have time to go fishing! Dream on....
When we had finished editing the films last week, I had a memorable day of celebration with Chris Yates and Trevor Harrop (of roach project fame – see links). We fished in a peaceful little lake, caught lots of good roach to a pound and one or two good perch, and all this was interspersed by generous quantities of kelly kettle tea and big slices of Sue’s famous cake. What a great day.
Due to the success of “Catching the Impossible”, I was asked to film a little sequence on underwater fish for the BBC’s “Autumnwatch”, concentrating on roach and barbel and got some lovely shots for them. I’ve been dubbed their “Rivers Man”, so watch out for me in the future on ‘Celebrity Come Dancing’ and ‘Get Me Out of Here’…no chance, I’ll be out fishing!
The response to our series has been terrific, and thank you for all your complimentary letters. We hope you enjoy the final three films, and the book if you haven’t read it yet.
If you’re lucky enough to go fishing, catch one for me please…and here’s wishing you all a good Christmas and a fish filled year ahead.
Hugh & Sue |
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P.S. To give you an idea of the response to the films, here’s a small selection of the comments in the press and on your blogs:
“The greatest angling show ever made…simply breathtaking” - Angling Times.
“I can still remember watching ‘A Passion for Angling’ and from what I’ve seen of “Catching the Impossible” it is going to be even better - Anglers’ Mail.
“This is a proper fishing programme and perfectly catches all the aspects that make us go fishing…the underwater footage reminded me of the BBC’s “Blue Planet” series”. Gary Newman – Anglers’ Mail.
Headline in Anglers’ Mail: “’Catching the Impossible’
MUST be seen on BBC TV”.
“Anglings’ equivalent of the BBC’s ‘Planet Earth’ series”.
“…made hair stand up on the back of my neck…”
“Martin Bowler’s film was incredible”.
“An amazing underwater photographic journey along the Hampshire Avon…the like of which has never been seen before” - The Salisbury Journal.“
…head and shoulders above other angling programmes”.
“…it looks absolutely wonderful”.
“The most celebrated fishing films ever made”
.“After “A Passion for Angling”, an eager audience wanted more – only better. “Catching the Impossible” didn’t disappoint.”
“20 yrs. later he has raised the bar, setting an even higher standard with a series that features awesome underwater footage…”
“The book is a true classic” - John Wilson.
“ I have never seen anything like it. Fantastic, I need a copy now.”
“ …this is gonna be wicked…maybe one to match passion for angling?”
“ hello im only 12 years old and i love ur videos its awesome!”
“…nothing short of a master piece. hugh miles rocks…”
“ Bernard Cribbins Narrating Legend!”
“ …these wonderful films showing the beauty of our country and the wildlife…”
“ Excellent set of DVD’s and the book is worth getting too.”
“ …a fantastic formula! Inspiring stuff.”
“ looks great, about time as well, it’s been many years since
“a passion for…” well done to the team who made it.” |
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“ Outstanding! These videos are an inspiration to amateur vid makers like me. It’s
almost as good as being there.”
“Quality is fantastic and the photography is superb…”
“Ahhhh Man! This NEEDS to be on BBC TV!...perfect viewing, will drag millions of viewers in.”
“Wow. Just wow! Watched them clips. Looks amazing, perhaps even better than A Passion for Angling.”
“It was a brilliant read.”
“…it’s the sort of DVD you will watch millions of times and not get bored.”
“…there is some stunning photography. I’d advise anyone to get a copy.”
“DVD is superb…10/10.”
“The book is excellent and so is the filming, brilliant to watch and a pity it is not on terrestrial television.”
“Hugh’s masterful camera work.”
“Martin Bowler is a great ambassador for our sport.”
“CTI will take angling programmes to the next level.”
“There is some stunning underwater filming…”
“Quality is fantastic and the photography is superb…”
“I just watched the first one – wow!”
“Those u/water sequences are terrific.”
“amazing footage”
“…absolutely first class…the u/water scenes are something else.”
“…watched the first episode last night and the quality is absolutely bloody amazing.”
“Brilliant book…superb text & photos.”
“Got the book today and it’s BIG!!”
“…the pictures and illustrations are amazing…have already watched the DVD twice.”
“Fantastic.”
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Newsletter from Hugh and Sue Miles ......... Release of films 4 to 6 ......... July 2009
An update from us is long overdue, our excuse being that we’ve been burning the candle at three ends to finish the next three films in our series, “Catching the Impossible”.
No 4, “A Sport for All Seasons” is complete, No 5, a glorious journey down the Hampshire Avon called “Going Against the Flow” is virtually finished, and No 6 “A Winter’s Gift” is only awaiting its music to be composed and recorded and that will be complete too. The films contain some suitably ‘impossible’ sized fish and if they are received with the same enthusiasm as the first three, then we will be well pleased.
They will be on sale from the beginning of August, from ‘Calm Productions’ as before, and with improvements in the available ‘man-power’, we hope to avoid the delays that a few of you experienced with the last release. The company just didn’t expect to be swamped by the thousands of orders you sent in, so on their behalf, our apologies to you unlucky ones who suffered delays.
| Because I’ve been working night and day on the editing, I’m not complaining – I love making films – I haven’t been fishing much, but the few days I’ve escaped have proved particularly lucky. On my first day on the rivers last winter, the 12th March I caught a PB chub of 7lb 1oz, followed next cast by a roach of 1lb 15oz |
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Then in May, fishing with a pole on a carp lake, I had seven roach over two pounds, with a best of 2lb 10oz…a wonderful days fishing as it included a 7lb 14oz tench ; I never knew elastic could stretch so far!
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Then on the glorious 16th I joined Chris Yates so we could chill out on a lovely little crucian lake and enjoy tea and Sue’s delicious cake. We caught lots of tench too, and plenty of crucians up to 2lb 4oz. Chris returned there the next day and got a PB crucian of 2lb 151/2oz (no picture of that one sadly as I had to edit film No 7).
The last three films of the series should be available in early November, then I plan to do a lot more fishing.
In the meantime, catch one for me and enjoy.
With our best wishes,
Hugh & Sue
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 I’m a very lucky man! Not only do I spend my life making wildlife films around the world on such wonderful critters as tigers, polar bears and snow leopards but I’m also an angler and that takes me even closer to nature because I actually get to touch it …assuming I’m not blanking of course!
As many of you know, so long as we don’t take the catching of fish too seriously, angling can transport us to another world, a place of peace and relaxation, of sparkling rivers and mist shrouded pools. And in this increasingly manic world, we sure do need the time and space that fishing gives us.
Some of the best days of my life have been spent just “being there”, out on the banks of some beautiful river or lake and during this past four years I’ve been particularly lucky because an awful lot of my time has been lived “out there”, creating a series of eight one hour films which attempt to celebrate angling and Britain’s freshwater world.
The series is called “Catching the Impossible”, a journey through angling, with specimen hunting at the heart of each film. Our story teller is that wonderful voice from “A Passion for Angling”, Bernard Cribbins, the difference being that this time he gets to fish, and with success and humour too.
Joining him is that ace angler Martin Bowler who I call the “Tiger Woods of angling” because when it comes to catching fish he gets so many “holes in one”. I set our seventeen targets for the films so high that I described them as “impossible” but Martin and Bernard, along with a galaxy of eccentric friends caught almost all of them.
Notable among them were: 15lb 7oz barbel, 4lb 4oz crucian carp, 44lb 4oz common carp – on a float! a 5lb 4oz perch, a 32lb 6oz pike and from our local River Stour, Terry Lampard caught a 7lb 4oz chub and a 3lb 5oz roach, not just “impossible” but incredible!
One of the aspects of filming that I enjoyed most was our successful attempts to film underwater fish behaviour of all the major species. It was so exciting that I almost preferred filming fish to catching them, but not quite!
The DVD of Programmes 1-3 of the series and the lovely
book we wrote about our adventures is now on sale,
so that should solve your Christmas present problems!
To order the book and the DVD of progs 1-3 visit www.calmproductions.com.
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Newsletter from Hugh and Sue Miles .............. 9 September 2008 
These are exciting times for Sue and I here at Chillbrook Croft as our “Catching the Impossible” is nearing completion and the release of the first three films and the book is imminent.
This celebration of angling and Britain’s freshwater world started its planning and research stage about four and a half years ago. Martin Bowler and I started production on July 22nd 2007, when we filmed our first “impossible”, the catching of a giant barbel of 15lbs 7ozs from the Great Ouse.
Since then we’ve been joined by Bernard Cribbins and a galaxy of good friends and enjoyed a wonderful journey through angling. In part, this eight programme series is a portrait of modern specimen hunting, along with other elements of course, not least the surprisingly beautiful underwater world of our treasured fish. We know that many people are already filming such favourites as carp and barbel underwater, but we have tried to show the complete variety of our freshwater species and weave their presence into our stories of their capture.
We’ve nearly completed filming now and I have about eight months editing to go to complete the series. As some of you will be aware, we’ve been sounding out the TV channels to assess our chances of a showing next year, and contrary to reports in the press, we do have some interest from various places.
However, as a decision is some way off, Martin, Sue and I have decided to release the first three programmes on DVD this autumn in the hope that you will like what you see and spread the word. We can then use those opinions as ‘ammunition’ in our attempt to get the series onto the TV.
Test showings in such places as the NEC ‘Go Fishing Show’ and the ‘Game Fair’ have been extremely encouraging, so fingers crossed that you think it will make a good Christmas present, if only to ensure we have enough cash in the kitty to pay for the completion of the rest of the series!
Martin and I have given our time free for the past four years and the films have been self-financed. This has been a gesture of gratitude for the enjoyment we have had from angling since our childhood; we hope you think our efforts are worthwhile.
Our aim is to try to promote our sport by showing the benefits angling brings to the environment and society as a whole, so this is our schedule:
- Programmes 1 – 3 - available October 2008
- Programmes 4 – 6 – available Spring 2009
- Programmes 7 – 9 – available Summer 2009
You will notice there is a ninth programme (which isn’t scheduled in the TV series). This will be a ‘Directors Cut’ with a bit of behind the scenes ‘making of’ and several of the sequences we couldn’t use in the main shows….along with ‘cock-ups’ etc. It should be fun.
The book of the series by Martin and I is a full account of our adventures and will also be available in October/November 2008. Full details can be found elsewhere on this website.
Best of luck in your fishing, and enjoy….
With best wishes
Hugh & Sue
Newsletter from Hugh Miles .............. 23 February 2008
I have been a mad keen angler all my life, and ever since I caught a large roach when still a small boy, big redfins have been my favourite quarry. However, I love all forms of angling and it’s given me so much enjoyment that like “A Passion for Angling”, [ which I made for the BBC with Chris Yates and Bob James ], this new series of films will try to repay this debt of gratitude by benefiting angling as a whole, by showing fishing in a good light, and encouraging more into the sport. Martin and I are well aware that we could achieve this best if we manage to get a showing on television and there is considerable interest from several channels. We’ll keep you posted.
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Being a wildlife film-maker I’m constantly in search of new stories, and I was aware that not much has ever been shown on television of freshwater fish and their natural behaviour, underwater and truly wild. There has always been an enthusiastic audience for British wildlife so what better than to show them something they’d never seen. We’re beginning to get to grips with this new challenge and the results are fascinating, in fact I almost enjoy filming fish as much as catching them - but not quite !
Apart from the underwater world and the beauty of the other freshwater wildlife around Britain, we are also keen that our series will be a portrait of modern specimen hunting, so we have filmed virtually all the species and used pretty much every technique available. We’ve also been privileged to guest appearances from many of the sport’s best loved characters, such as [in no particular order of importance ! ] Chris Yates, Des Taylor, Bob Church, Frank Warwick, Terry Lampard and Tim Norman, Pete Reading, John Wilson and several young ladies !
As for the story itself, I devised a challenge for Martin and our friends who will fish with us. It struck me as potentially entertaining if our anglers had target weights for each species and we set these so high that they would carry the ‘Impossible’ tag.......and if they found them too easy, then I’d just raise the target .....just to keep them interested of course ! We feel sure that anglers will find this combination of seriously big fish and underwater action inspiring and judging by the reactions from those who have seen some of the sequences, non anglers are amazed at the size of the monsters that we’ve caught.
Thanks to the skill and determination of Martin and friends, and the generous help of so many landowners and fisheries, the results are pretty stunning. As has been pointed out, the film’s PB list is the equal of most anglers catches for a whole lifetime, yet we’ve only been filming for three and a half years. Barbel of fifteen pounds, a forty-four pound common stalked with a float, several ten pound tench, a crucian just five ounces short of the record, a three pound river roach, a thirty two pound pike and a river record perch of five pounds four ounces - and that’s just some of the catches.
However, as they say, “there’s more to fishing than catching fish”, and to ensure the whole epic journey doesn’t become too serious, Bernard Cribbins will be suitably jovial about the process of tracking down monsters. Bernard did a lovely job narrating “A Passion for Angling”, the difference this time being that he gets to fish. He too is a mad keen angler and as if to confirm his years of experience, he’s shown Martin a thing or two and never blanked, even with salmon on the Royalty.
Martin and I have committed four and a half years of our lives trying to make the series of eight one hour films a bit special. I’m filming and editing day and night, it will cost me half a million quid, and if I don’t run out of money and time then we hope to have it complete by the winter of 2008.
We’re writing a full account of our adventures, and the book will be available in October ....and we might release the first four films on DVD then too, but I’m not sure they’ll be finished in time. Anyway, we’ll update you on progress at this site when time allows. This frosty scene was taken when filming grayling fishing just last week. |
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