• Ben Hervey-Murray

  Written by Nick 1 Comment
  Last Updated: June 22, 2010

  Ben Hervey-Murray has been kind enough to join Reels on Wheels as its newest patron.

  Ben is also known as The Hairy Angler….

  Below is Ben’s profile.

  

  My name is Ben and I’m a journalist and experienced angler from the United Kingdom.

  I’ve written for a number of newspapers and magazines including Angling Times, Angler’s Mail, The Guardian, Daily Express, Reykjavik Grapevine, South London Press, Cambridge News, Brighton Argus and various other publications in the UK and Iceland about everything from music and politics to fishing and football.

  However, my passion lies in catching interesting predatory fish wherever I happen to be in the world and in this blog I shall recount some of my triumphs and (inevitable) failures plus I’ll post pieces I’ve written for the angling press. I appreciate any feedback, comments, advice or links.

  I’ve fished in many places around England plus Iceland, Faroe Islands, Norway, Thailand, France, Tenerife and Dubai for everything from marlin and sailfish in a tropical paradise to arctic trout through a hole in the ice in minus 20 degrees centigrade.

  Many years ago, I was captain of my regional National Youth Championship team and a successful competition fisherman but I realised that this wasn’t really fishing as it was meant to be, so I regressed back to only angling for wild, predatory fish in unusual places. I’ve not looked back since and I’ve seen and experienced some incredible places.

  I’ve also been fortunate enough to land some really special fish too, including Chub up to 6lb 3oz, Carp up to 20lb 4oz (stalked from a tiny river backwater off the surface), Zander up to 12lb 7oz, Pike up to 24lb 8oz (from the River Cam in Cambridge on 8lb line), Crucian Carp of almost 3lb, Perch up to 2lb 5oz and many other fantastic fish.

  I also take great pleasure in catching new species of fish in previously-unknown-to-me places. Fishing a Thai jungle river for catfish, landing a huge cuttlefish on livebait off Ko Phang Yang, barracuda fishing off Dubai, jigging for haddock in the Faroe Islands and tiddler-snatching from a pier in Monaco are amongst the highlights.

  My ethos, whilst not wishing to be a Luddite, is very much rooted in the more traditional forms of the sport and you will never ever see me at a commercial carp pond or muddy-hole-in-ground fishery. I use modern tackle but I’m not slavish and I firmly believe that a wild fish which required significant effort to catch on balanced gear is worth many dozens of much larger fish caught from a lake stocked heavily in the angler’s favour.

  My aims for the next few months are: more big pike and zander, a good-sized shark, a lump of a cod from the Suffolk coast, a muskie and a catfish.

  Tight lines,

  Ben

  http://thehairyangler.wordpress.com/

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1 Comment

1. #1 Rosie says:
   September 5th, 2010 at 9:24 pm

   Hi Ben!
   Welcome aboard the Reels on Wheels bandwagon… Looking forward to meeting you in the future. =D