John Bailey: Mortimer and Whitehouse ride again...

Which is why I am delighted to confirm that series five returns on BBC2 this Friday, at 9pm and weekly thereafter.

I’m only a small cog in the wheel that makes Gone Fishing, in my view, one of the three best TV fishing programs of all time.

It is not as lovely to look at as Passion For Angling, but Hugh Miles took four years to film those six episodes whist 30 minutes of Bob and Paul has to be shot in four days or less.

Out Of Town with Jack Hargreaves is right up there, but you have to be 70 at least to remember any of it, even dimly. There’s no point in putting the three in order, but it’s safe to say that all of them did huge things for our sport by making it accessible, aspirational and inspirational.

It saddens me that Paul and Bob don’t always realise the impact Gone Fishing is having, but because I work in and around fishing, I certainly do. Its influence is fundamental to the growth in angling’s popularity that we have witnessed these last few years. Perhaps it’s not too far a stretch to say Paul and Bob are saving the sport to a noticeable degree.

Posh river or canal, they're all the same to Bob and Paul (Image: John Bailey)

So what’s so good about Gone Fishing in my view? First up, word of the moment, diversity. Specialisation in angling began to creep in around the 1970s and Paul and Bob are having none of it. Game. Coarse. Sea. Salmonid. Cyprinid. Fly. Bait. Lure. The Tay, the Tyne, the Test or some old canal, they are all the same to the boys - fish live there and that is what counts. Big or small, posh or not, all fish are equal in Gone Fishing and that is how it was once and should be again.

I like the way the two actually fish, light, mobile and having fun. Their fish care is genuine. Bob’s phrase “and away” is spoken from the heart and getting Paul to hold a fish for the camera is often a task beyond us all. Above all, the content is honest. There’s no cheating and Gone Fishing is like a fishing life, you fail mostly, you succeed sometimes.

The emphasis on what goes on around the actual angling is a vital element of the program and rightly so. Friendship is a cornerstone and most of us fish with mates, partners, parents or children and rarely alone. Surroundings are core because fishing is a seamless way to get back to nature with all the spiritual succour that brings. Sheer enjoyment permeates every second of screen time (mostly) and so it should.

The boys might get frustrated or tired or cold or wet, but they are there because they’d rather be nowhere else and that shines through. I do believe those viewers who complain there’s not enough right-on fishing rather miss the point. Nor let’s overlook the absolute fact that Paul and Bob are riotously funny. Even after all these years I often feel my shoulders shake and see the crew with tears coursing down their cheeks.

Fans might like to know that the feelgood factor filters right down the entire Gone Fishing team, talent, crew, production, even me, I hope. Most of us have been together since series one and in part that is because Paul and Bob are as accessible in life as they are on screen and there are deep seams of trust and affection running through the whole production. This might be sounding like hagiography rather than objective analysis, but why not praise something if it deserves it? Believe me, I’m speaking exactly as I find.

What can I say about series five without dropping those dreaded spoilers? There are some seriously big fish caught this time round. To my mind, some of the venues are the most lovely yet, but that’s a toughie looking back perhaps. Ted the Dog has if anything beefed up his role and if you ask me, is getting a bit snooty as a result. If any dog knows his own mind and does his own thing, then Ted is that dog. Bob is without doubt becoming a better angler- I watched him outside filming a few months back and he was trotting a 30-yard run with perfect control, despite a very tricky cross-river breeze. Mind you, he still missed a perch bite that had Paul simmering. But, then, how many perch bites have you and I missed over the years, eh? Thousands I guess, certainly so in my case.

But that’s Gone Fishing for you. Full of the cock-ups that make the triumphs all the more brilliant when they do come our way. Gone Fishing is real Fishing Life and isn’t that in the end why so many of us love it?