This years Hooked Live was held once again in Citywest, where anglers had the chance to pick up not only some new tackle, but also some fishing tips and casting lessons from the list of well-known anglers. If you asked the right person nicely there was also the opportunity to try out different rods on the lake!

Ian Gordon gave a talk on Salmon fishing on the some of the well-known and well-managed Scottish rivers including the Dee and the Spey. It was interesting to hear about the work of the NASF (North Atlantic Salmon Fund), who are key in brokering deals such as the buying-out of commercial nets in Greenland and the Faroes each year, in an effort to restore stocks of wild Atlantic salmon to their historic abundance. The waters off these coasts are known feeding grounds for not only salmon returning to UK waters, but also ‘Irish’ salmon, so we should appreciate the efforts of the NASF.

Jim Hendrick from Probassfisher (centre), with Dan Smith (left) and Ken Garry (right).
Jim brought anglers through nine steps to better bass fishing in his short presentation, highlighting some things to consider to optimise chances of catching.

Brian Healy had some superb bass and sea-trout flies on display. Brian ties flies to cater for all predatory fish from pike to bone-fish.

The guys behind this campaign kept up their great work by raising awareness of the threats salmon farms pose. They are a collective voice for all of us concerned anglers whether we are informed of – or are ignorant to – the threats of these farms. There was great empathy shown by supporters of NSFAS again at Hooked Live with well-known anglers such as Paul Young, Ian Gordon and Stevie Munn all showing their support.

Dr. Ed Fahy was also talking to anglers about bass fishing and his latest book, ‘Overkill! : The euphoric rush to industrialise Ireland’s sea fisheries and its unravelling sequel’. Information on this book can be found on amazon by clicking the picture above