John Wilson's Life in Angling interview 

A big part of my childhood just died. RIP John.

Genuinely gutted John as died. Was looking forward to maybe some new programs on his return to the UK. Rest well Mr Wilson and tight lines.

Not ashamed to say this actually brought a tear to my eye. I never met John so can't comment on him personally but I've read his books and watched his programmes for over thirty years and he has and will continue to inspire me to GO FISHING 🎣 Thanks John you're sorely missed ♥ 🐟🦈

Rest in peace by that river Bank John you were an inspiration to millions of us. Thankyou 🎣 x

This gentleman is sadly missed. Used to love watching him on TV in the 90s.

None of these modern day fishing 'celebrities' that sit in their bivvys for hours on end are fit to lace this mans boots. Legend.

Grew up with this man, watching the vhs vids, learned me to also watch wildlife and plants on the water's edge, a true legend!!

Great guy. I grew up watching his videos over and over. Still have every epiosde on VHS. Thanks John.

R.I.P MR John Wilson a total inspiration and probably the best angler in the UK never ever forgotten

as teenagers we were always in his tackle shop.( John's tackle den) in bridewell alley,norwich

The first to get me interested in fishing was old Jack Hargreaves, the man that gave me the appetite for fishing was John Wilson. These two men were my inspiration throughout my childhood and 20's. Both now sadly gone, but never, ever, forgotten. R.I.P to two great men.

John Wilson is a absolute legend

I remember when I was a little boy my father would come home from night shift in carbon mine. Before he went sleep, it was Go Fishing time! Poor quality VHS tape, inacurate translation.... I was watching and sitting on the couch with a match rod tip and pretending to be John Wilson. He was my fishing godfather. He inspired and still inspires me. Rest in peace.

9:23 and I can tell you now John they will. My kids will grow up on the same great John Wilson programs I did, thats for sure

What a great man, watching his many tv programmes and reading his books has allowed me to have excellent experiences in my own fishing, which I am now trying to pass on to my 3 sons.

that is one of a few men in fishing i have respect for, he is a wealth of knowledge and should be employed the government to oversee anglings future is assured for all types of angler to enjoy.

Lots of love for this man

Legend! Did anyone else notice the "Illustrated Karma Sutra" amongst that collection of books!? LOL!!

What a man.H|e showed just how much fun you can have out on the river,and that its not just about catching fish,its about 'being there' thanks JW

I own all of the rods you bring out as far as I no best angler there is you are my legend

The free line section, I've caught so many fish doing this . When no one else has. First used with a worm after shy trout in a small stream as a kid.

What a legend !

John hasn't died, hes just gone fishing 🎣

09:12 A Specimen Fishing Year (Red Cover) I read this book as a child from the local library and i would dearly love to have a copy now.

Great interview

Great man who could catch fish in the bath rip john you will be greatly missed hope you're trotting in heaven catch that 3lb roach God bless

Legend of a man!

Reading some of the comments asking "what predators in our waters?"makes me think they cannot be anglers or even have any knowledge of the British countryside,the make up and balance of our waterways has been dramatically affected by huge numbers of cormorants,mink,otters etc and not just on fish either if you cannot see how a river system would be affected by the reintroduction of otters you must be blind

John's done it all .true legend

A real gent and a true angler in every sense of the word. And still the predator situation has not been dealt with. I echo the late great mr.Wilson’s sentiments about the devastating impact they ( predators) have and indeed already have had on particularly the river systems throughout Britain

At the end when he talks about venues being fenced in,is he talking about foreigners taking fish to eat??I thinkso because its becoming a huge problem in many places.John wilson is probably the biggest star in fishing in this country,i can remember taping all his go fishing shows on sunday nights,channel4,the guy's really is a legend.

i can remember one episode where he's piking from a boat,he holds it up for the camera and it jumps away from him and lands on his rod and snaps it,think he says"well that just takes the biscuit"haha,must be about 20 years ago now.

Large roach, massive shoals of roach, large perch, large eels, just are nothing like they were many years ago. I used to catch eels all of the time and now they are very hard to find! Even boot laces.

roach will never come back in his life time? i went down to the good ode river idle last week and had roach to 1 and a half pound never seen a fish so stunning.

Good Stuff!!!!

I would have thought he would have done more TV work. I was 20 when go fishing started.

Legend

..gone fishing was best programe an de telly when i was younger....

what tackle shop did he own?

For fuck sake.ive only just learnt the john wilson has died.i used to love watching go fishing on a sunday.i learnt a lot of things about fishing from john.god bless you john.

my fav wilson moment? has to be when he caught a chub using a black slug tied to a willow branch ..classic!

Rip john

he's clearly talking about otters, crayfish, cormorants etc - but dont let that get in the way of your prejudices and sweeping generalisations! google 'thepredationactiongroup'

Absolutely agree that the internet has changed fishing some for better some for worse like he said at one point you could buy blanks I did it myself to make a nice spinning rod and I was well well impressed but now it probably would be more expensive to buy the bits and build your own as a pose to buying practically the same thing for half the price, on the bright side if you look you can find some excellent deals if you stay away from geek or wish, I got conned by them with their magic photographs making things look literally bigger and better ie hooks £2.99 for 100 , 10 different sizes which I thought was a size 1/0 then 2/0 sea fishing hooks was the title and when they arrived I thought even the biggest of them would be good for mullet but the rest were proper course fishing sizes, and that's one of the better deals I got 😀

he means the rivers he used to catch roach in have been decimated by predators, mink, cormorants, otters and Eastern Europeans.

@rorymills96 one near me in sussex mate cant rember the name as it was a long time ago

may be lee wilson john wilson son should do a tv fishing programe rest in peace john

icon. did I hear right, no roach left??

What does he mean roach will never come back? Also what are the predators he talks of ruining the fish population? Otters?

Mr Wilson is right. I remember watching his shows as a child and his passion for our landscape and wildlife shines through in every one. Natural England and the Environment Agency do some things right, but when it comes to preserving our waterways and fish stocks they are making a complete balls of it. A lot of people fishing nowadays have never had the chance to fish anything except over-stocked and heavily pressured commercial venues. It's a real shame, but it doesn't have to be that way. Our natural waterways and wild fish are being slowly destroyed by toothless quangos that are controlled by liberal, left-wing townspeople who have no first-hand experience of what we are losing as a result of their mis-guided policies. As anglers, we understan this better than anyone, and we have to stand up and make our voices heard. We need action on predators (including otters) poaching and water abstraction. We also need an Environment Agency that actually prosecutes people to the full extent of the law instead of letting them off with a slapped wrist after the damage has already been done. I would urge all anglers to support local angling clubs and the Angling Trust - we are stonger together. Rant over! ;-)

Indeed.... Steps need to be taken NOW to stop our Rivers, Lakes and Ponds being pillaged by certain members of our communities.

Hahahaha I didn't know John used to be a hairdresser!!! lol wtf?!

i am not sure what he meant by "predators"? -where i live , the local river has been netted illegally by resident eastern europeans who have taken many big hen Pike,Carp and roach, as they will eat anything

Spot on... The Gov will do naff all to stop or impose stronger penalties on the Carp muching twats that is truly devastating the fish and wildlife :-(. and as for the Environment Agency, despite their heavily underfunded efforts are powerless.

Should have stayed put in the UK John.😢

Don't miss this guy at all he was a half wit. A watched the show but I never liked Mr Wilson I'm afraid