The unpredictability of any given day’s catch is what gives north-east anglers like Paul Cuthbertson and Brian Reid the passion for their pastime of fishing.
They’ve now decided to put their extensive range of stories by the river into a book: Game Fishing in North-East Scotland.
Covering the River Don, Dee, Deveron and Spey, the book captures Paul and Brian’s tales fishing for salmon, sea trout and brown trout.
They’ve been fishing for more than 100 years combined between them and have included just as many of their own photos, each laden with funny, personable and educational stories.
It’s these personal touches that make the book accessible for all kinds of readers.
Looking back, the pair still fondly recall their first experiences out by the river.
Gone fishing
“Fishing has always been the main thing for me since I’ve been around 10 years old,” says Brian, originally from Kintore.
“I remember my brother taking me down to the River Don and it all just blossomed from there.
“I don’t know why it stuck, but I just developed a passion for it.”
Paul spent his childhood growing up in Edinburgh. However, being in a city didn’t stop him from finding fishing opportunities.
“I have a very similar story to Brian in that there was a little burn 100 yards from my mum’s house growing up,” says Paul.
“It had lovely brown trout in it and I must’ve got a fishing rod aged seven or eight. This little burn became like a second home for me.”
Crossing paths
It wasn’t until Paul relocated to the north-east in 1992 that he and Brian met for the first time.
Spotting out Kintore Angling Club as a way to pursue his pastime and meet other like-minded anglers, Paul remembers a trip to Inverness that quickly cemented their friendship.
“We reflect on the story of how we met in the book,” says Paul.
“I remember we were out fishing and he wasn’t catching anything. So, I suggested trying a different hook, which he did, and he started catching lots of fish.”
Brian replies: “Yep, I was relatively impressed with his capabilities,” setting them both off laughing.
Labour of love
The pair’s book has taken them more than 20 years to put together.
“We’ve added to it, taken bits out and edited it lots over the years, until we eventually decided that we needed to get it sorted,” Paul explains.
It was self-published this summer and the pair have piqued readers’ interests by marketing their work on Facebook fishing groups as well as featuring on BBC Radio Scotland’s Out of Doors show.
For them, putting the book together has been a labour of love. But they strongly believe that their work stands out.
“What you often find in most fishing books is that they’re written by wealthy people fishing for salmon – it’s not guys like me and Brian who’ve grown up in normal families,” says Paul.
“It’s unusual for people like us to produce something like this about this type of fishing, which I think is really healthy.
“It’s all our own words, the pictures are our own and I think this is what has driven me and Brian to put it together.
“There’s nothing else like our book.”
Accessible
Another facet to the book that they feel makes it stand out is its storytelling, which in turn opens it up to anglers and non-anglers alike.
“This book doesn’t talk about how to fish or what to catch,” says Paul.
“It reflects on both Brian and I’s stories from the river bank, which do end up being quite educational.
“For instance, that little burn that I fished when I was young, it’s now so badly polluted that there’s no fish left in it. So there’s elements of heartache there as well.
“Even for people who haven’t fished before, it’s an interesting story that’s definitely accessible.”
Sequel potential
Brian and Paul’s passion for angling leaps off from the pages of their book.
It’s the same during our chat as they drift off on tangents with various fond memories all still vividly in their heads.
With the amount of fishing done between them, they say that there’s no shortage of content available for them to produce a sequel.
“I’ve got a diary going right back to 1978 with every time I’ve been fishing,” says Brian.
“Every day that I’ve fished on the Don since ‘78, water heights, the time I went down, what fish I saw, it’s all there.
“It’s a great memory jog to go through, and is something to maybe exploit in the future.
“We’re just a couple of ordinary guys who have had extraordinary experiences in the river. Ones that we’ll never forget.”
Game Fishing in North-East Scotland by Paul Cuthbertson and Brian Reid is available to buy online at www.cuthytales.co.uk
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