Matt Hayes Lake Escapes - Carp, Catfish, Barbel And Chubb DVD > Reviews > I now want to fish for Catfish!!!

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
How does it compare to similar films?	Good

Advantages:	Split into 4 episodes and not too much technical langauge .
Disadvantages:	some more or longer episodes would be nice

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

My partner has recently got back into coarse fishing from when he was a kid and so I decided to buy him a fishing DVD for Christmas.
I was a little unsure what to buy and so consulted a "fishing god" I know who has been doing it all his life and he advised that anything by Matt Hayes would be a good choice.
I decided to have a look on ebay and saw this one for a "buy it now" for about £4 and bought it.

Cover:
When the DVD arrived I was a little sceptical about what it was going to be like as it was a simple photograph of Matt on the front and four photographs on the back (....maybe it is just me..coming for an era of bright lights and computer graphics!)

The back cover gives a basic overview of what is included on the DVD: Fishing for Carp and Catfish in France, Barbel and Chub in the UK, Carp in Italy and Catfish in Spain. He also meets up with some other European fishing experts and tried out some new wacky bait along the way.

I was now quite intrigued and so come Christmas was as eager to see it as he was, although I was a little worried how much I would understand as I have only recently started fishing myself.

Episodes:
We put the DVD in and it came straight to the menu, no messing around flicking through adverts or trailers for other DVDs.
In each episode, Matt briefly introduced what he was doing and where he would be fishing and then got straight into it. He started off by going through the kind of rods, tackle and bait he would be using as well as a basic overview of the lake and where to look for the fish, however never lost me with technical babble!
Each episode then showed Matt catching and weighing a number of fish while he briefly discussed each one and then he gently returned the fish.

When in the UK Matt was joined by an experienced European expert and he guided him through the swims and what to look out for when catching barbel and chub in the UK.

Over in Italy he was coached by an Italian who showed him the way in which they do things and the kinds of bait they use themselves. One of the highlights of this was seeing large Carp getting fed whole loaves of bread by the lake's owner and seeing them break them up on the lake surface before eating. Matt also tries out some bait I never thought you would use for fishing with some surprising results.

Over in Spain Matt was joined by a man who arranges Catfish holidays in Spain. It shows a number of catches by Matt and the unusual (or so I thought) way of casting out, whereby a man rows out your bait and hook into the middle of the lake in a small dingy and then drops them over the edge. There were some exciting moments for the viewer (and Matt by the look of it) including his struggle with a 150lb Catfish.

Overall:
I really enjoyed this DVD and would recommend it to anyone....however if you are looking for a DVD which is aimed to mainly teach I would not go for this one...there was a lot of information, however judging on how I am very new to fishing and I understood/knew what he was saying I think you would be disappointed if you where after technical tips.
After each episode Matt went through how to get to each place he had fished in and so made me realise how easy it could be made and fishing abroad is something I would now consider.

Now for the "Tecch/boring" stuff:
Running Time: 92 mins
Presented by: Matt Heyes
Produced on behalf of: Discovery Home and Leisure 2005
others in the series: Pike and Zander, Blue Marlin and Wahoo and Salmon and Trout.

Price:
Ebay: have a number of the DVDs-complete collection around £20 and separate ranging for £2 -£4.
Amazon - complete from £39
Play.com - complete - £31.99, separate - £11.99