Henry Gilbey - The World of Fishing

All this information is now on the Fishing Tackle pages of this website. If you really want to know about the fishing gear I use and recommend, please take a bit of time to look around these pages. There is loads of information there, and also on my blog. Please rest assured that I am not about to recommend fishing products that I either don't like or don't know anything about.

The Photo Essays page is an ever-growing resource on where to go fishing around this awesome world of ours. Near and far, you'll find a load of information there.

Because I love the different ways you can fish for them, and it means I can keep mobile and not stare at two rods in a tripod for hours on end. If you don't believe me, check out the bass fishing photos on the Fishing Pictures page. Need I say more ?

Yes, the shore fishing really can be that good, and you can find out loads on where to go, who to fish with, what to fish with, and all the other information you might need in the Europe section of the Photo Essays page. I only talk about and recommend people and places I actually know about and have been to myself.

I am frequently asked about fishing spots and how to go about catching fish from them, and if time was not of the essence then I would love to be able to help out as much as I could. But I simply can't do this, and I am hoping you will understand why. I would highly recommend that for any kind of fishing related questions in the UK that you either look in the good fishing magazines like Sea Angler or Trout Fisherman, or else go to a really good fishing forum like the one on the excellent WorldSeaFishing.com website.

I know of nowhere better than over in Ireland, and specifically the south and south east coasts – not forgetting the stunning south west and west coastlines when they are firing. But the south east of this magical country is generally devoid of anglers and can produce some truly outstanding bass fishing when the conditions are right. I am sure there are better places out there, but I am not aware of them so far.

The Channel Islands offer an insane amount of fantastic bass water for boat anglers. Lots of the fishermen over there adopt the more French way of bass fishing with smaller, faster boat and modern lure fishing gear. Every island is different and I like them all for various different reasons.

Dream on !! If I told you, I would have to kill you…….ok, so Ireland is my favourite place to go bass fishing, and the south east of that magnificent country is the best place to go shore fishing for bass that I am aware of.

If I always said yes to this question then I would have no time for myself, my work, or my family. Thanks for understanding. And anyway, fishing with me could drive anybody insane !!

Yes, I work in fishing all the time, and I love virtually all of it. But it is never close to being what it might seem. There are plenty of different ways to get into this world, but the advice I always try to give people is to stay humble and recognise that are always a load of people who can fish better than you and me. Working in fishing though is rarely about being the best fisherman. Think about the different skills you might be able to bring to the marketplace and then push like hell. If you get upset at hearing the word "no", then you might want to think again. And if you think that working in fishing is all about going fishing all the time, forget it !! If only……

When I know the answer to this, you will find out on my blog. I love the process of being on location and actually making the television programmes, but I am not really into all the politics, meetings and other bit of assorted stuff that comes with working in TV (and bear in mind that our stuff is low budget and is hardly watched by millions of people !!). I am proud of what I have done so far though, but I can't see much point in me continuing to make the same sort of shows over and over again.

I have gone over completely to shooting with Nikon camera gear. As my job evolves, I find myself needing to do more and more with my gear, and I have gone for the Nikon D3. It has all the megapixels I want, and it is lightening fast, but what really blows me away are the look and the lack of noise in the photos that it can produce, plus the insanely fast and "trustable" autofocusing. I am a self-taught photographer, and I will always use whatever tools I can to give me an advantage - anything to give me an edge has to be considered. The ability to shoot virtually noise free high ISO images is making my life so much easier and efficient, and the quality of these shots is mad. The world suddenly seems very different..........

We would love the light to be awesome all the time, but it ain't !! I need to be able to produce the best images I can in whatever conditions are thrown at me. I can't shoot any kind of casting if I can't get a high enough shutter speed to stop the rod and/or the line, and sometimes I need to really push the ISO up. The cleaner and sharper the end images, the better my stuff looks for my clients. It's a win win situation. Too many people obsess with trying to get as many megapixels as they can, but they are completely missing the point - it's the quality of the pixels rather than the number that is important. I would far rather have 12 million awesome pixels that allow for a degree of very easy interpolation if needs be, rather than a load more pixels crammed into a tiny sensor that then produce images that literally break down as you pump the ISO up. These Nikon D3 cameras have completely and utterly changed my digital outlook, and I do not say that lightly.

All the high end cameras and pixels in the world mean nothing if you don't have decent lenses to stick on the front - the Nikon 24-70mm f2.8G ED AF-S is so sharp I giggled when I first saw images up on my screen and on prints. Seriously, this lens is insanely sharp, and the colours and contrast are off the scale good. My go to, carry anywhere lens. Even shooting at f2.8 is no problem at all, and above about f5.6 you will be grinning like a loon (just like me) !!

A 70-200mm lens is vital for fishing photography in so many situations, and I have got the Nikon 70-200mmG ED-IF AF-S VR. A lens like this is fairly heavy, but I like this when it is coupled with a body like the Nikon D3 - everything feels very balanced, and the VR (Vibration Reduction) really helps with handholding.

I also have the Nikon TC-17E II Teleconverter to attach to this lens to take it up to a 120-340mm for when I need a bit of extra reach - there is meant to be a trade off when using a teleconverter, but this thing looks as sharp to me with or without the teleconverter attached, and the focusing is just as quick. Simply staggering.

I am not going to get very far in my job without a proper macro lens for getting any number of close up shots of fishing gear, flies, etc., and the Nikon 105mm f2.8G AF-S VR Micro is the one I have. To have VR capability on a macro lens is a real help. There are a bunch of controls on the D3 that really makes this camera very easy and intuitive to use for close up work, and the lens is just fantastic. Do I need to tell you how sharp it is ? Mad.

I know how good Nikon glass is already, so as good as the other lenses are, I expect them to be that good (ok, so they are actually better than I thought they would be), but the relatively cheap Nikon 70-300mm f4.5-5.6G AF-S VR lens is just incredible. For this kind of money, there is no way it should be so sharp and contrasty, but I had heard from various sources that this lens was a real steal - ok, so the 70-200 f2.8 is what it is, but this lightweight and compact 70-300mm one is very, very sharp bit of glass, and it focuses lightening fast as well. I can't carry a big 70-200mm f2.8 lens on various jobs, and especially for some locations overseas or where we are walking miles and miles (bass fishing anyone ?), so I have to have a lighter version. Glass like this should be far more expensive when you take into consideration the prices of the other lenses. There are trade-offs with speed (apertures), but I can live with this very easily, especially as I now have no worries at all about pushing the ISO right up.

There has never been any getting away from the fact that Nikon has always had a better flash system than any other camera manufacturer out there - this is the truth, and I have lived with this for some time now. I want and need consistency, and this gives it to me in spades. This Nikon Speedlight SB-900 flashgun is a beauty. It recycles very fast and I know that a lot of the time I can simply trust the flash to do its thing and give me what I need - but when I need to take over, I also know that I am not going to get any surprises that kill the shot. Fishing photography is all about being able to take advantage of a situation very quickly, and the faster and more efficiently you can work, the more good material you can get. When the fishing or light goes off, you have to be able to nail it every time - you can't catch the same fish again or ask the weather to rewind.

My two main camera bags are the outstanding, waterproof LowePro DryZone 200 and DryZone Rover models - I simply could not do my job without these bags. They are regularly put through a living hell all over the world and they have yet to let me down.

I firmly believe that there are no better tripods than the Gitzo models, and the lightweight and mobile, carbon fibre Traveller model especially is the one that goes with me virtually all the time.

I use SanDisk CompactFlash cards in the cameras.

I know of no more useful filter for photographing fishing than a circular polariser, and if anybody out there can show be a better polariser than the Singh Ray LB Warming Polarizer then I would be astounded. Not cheap, but what an amazing bit of glass.

I also use the Cokin Graduated filters a fair amount of the time, bearing in mind of course that fishing often just "happens", and the faster and more efficiently you can shoot, the better your results will be.

I have never had any formal photographic training in my life, indeed I am completely self-taught. Is this a good or a bad thing ? Not sure, but I always read a hell of a lot on the subject, and I continue to speak to as many different photography-connected people as I can. I keep on trying new things in photography all the time, and there is no excuse not to with digital imagery. Some work, some don’t. Some clients pick up on the different stuff you do, and some only want the more “regular” work. Being able to produce work to a consistently high standard whatever the situation is the key, and I pride myself on working the hell out of very single minute I spend with cameras around my neck. I still believe that only a photographer with a true interest in fishing can make the sport look as good as we know it can look. There are a number of fishing related photographers I really admire out there, so take some time to look around and see what is going on.