ROBSON GREEN IS BACK WITH HIS NEW SERIES OF ROBSON’S ULTIMATE CATCH
Actor, fisherman, pop star, Robson Green’s done it all.
He tells Native Monster why, after 30 years in showbiz, he deserves a pat on the back
As careers go, Robson Green has had a blinder. As an actor, he’s notched up 30 years in the business.
He’s topped the charts with fellow Soldier Soldier actor Jerome Flynn, made a household name for himself in Casualty, and still graces our screens in shows like Grantchester.
And as if that’s not enough, he’s also got arguably the best job in the business; travelling to the furthest reaches of the globe to fish in some of the most remote waters.
The amateur angler has been on the hunt for all kinds of weird and wonderful fish in the seven years since his first series of Extreme Fishing.
Now returning to Quest in his new series Robson’s Ultimate Catch, the 50-year-old spends quite a bit of time in tropical climes in the blazing sun.
Sounds like a breeze, right ?
Wrong.
“Last year was my most adventurous year yet, and it was the toughest too. Contrary to what you might think, it’s not at all a constant holiday.
Viewers only see an hour of a huge journey, they don’t see behind the scenes.
“It’s called the Ultimate Catch, but it’s really an ultimate quest. We travel to the ends of the earth – pushing a canoe upstream or spending days travelling – and I really mean travelling.
“In the opening episode, we go to a place in Bolivia that no westerner had ever been before. We travelled extensively, with very little sleep. When we arrived we slept on a riverbank for eight days.
“People say that I must be the luckiest actor in the world, but I’m not. I’m a very hard-working actor, and I’m a very lucky angler !”
But the long-haul journeys, exhausting treks and grapples with some of the most powerful aquatic creatures on Earth has really paid off.
Not only does it make for captivating telly, but Robson is the envy of anglers all over.
“I come across very few people that ever get the catches I’ve made. I’ve been fishing all my life, but I don’t get bored. I can’t get bored – I’m very lucky and it’s a privilege to do things that even most professional explorers haven’t done, let alone accomplished anglers.
“A lady once asked me if I’d ever seen a whale shark. I’ve seen 17 ! To see one in a lifetime is awesome!”
And Robson means awesome in the very original sense of the word.
“Awesome is a very overused term. I was in a coffee shop yesterday and someone said that the coffee was awesome. Coffee isn’t awesome, Isaac Newton is awesome, and whale sharks are awesome !”
If we might say so, Robson’s job is pretty awesome.
It’s taken him in search of sharks, crabs, rays and more in almost 100 countries, seeing some awe-inspiring sights and breathtaking horizons.
“When we’re planning a series, the team ask where I’d like to go. They work really hard to send me to the best places at the best time for the best fishing. You have to make sure the run is right, so they’ll say ‘this is the time – the bite is on’.
The weather is an angler’s worst enemy, so it can sometimes be a washout. But if you hit the right spot, it’s perfect. "
“I have three passports I travel with because of all of my visas ! I’ve been to 93 countries, and every country in South America except for Paraguay.
“There are still so many places I’d love to go, such as the Galapagos Islands, the Bahamas and still loads of parts of Europe. There are great places to fish in Spain, Norway and Denmark. I’d also like to revisit places I’ve already been to.”
The new series of Robson’s Ultimate Catch started a couple of weeks ago, with the actor first travelling to Bolivia on the quest for the golden dorado.
“Being in Bolivia reminded me why I love fishing so much. It just feels utterly normal – everything around me was alive.
“I’m sitting here in an office and there’s a telephone and a computer. But being there, among the wildlife and the people of the Tsimané tribe, was just astonishing.
“We saw jaguars, tapirs and incredible bird life and I met some extraordinary people on the journey.”
The most recent episode saw Robson in Hawaii on the search for shape-shifting octopi and the elusive sea comet.
Elsewhere in the series, the actor and the team face thunderstorms, droughts, high winds and flash floods in the quest for the Ultimate Catch.
From fishing for huge predators in the mid Atlantic to hunting from a canoe in a mysterious deep jungle river, he learns local techniques from indigenous fishermen and local legends to net his prize.
A million light years away from life on an acting set.
“As actors, we work in a very insecure industry. Fishing is not escaping that or from life, it’s just a greater adventure.
“Actors spend a lot of time pretending to be other people, so when I work with actors now they envy my job. I go to places that they can only imagine, or that they can’t possibly imagine.”
Robson’s fishing journey started when he was just a small boy, fishing in his native Northumberland.
“I started fishing when I was seven. You have to find something that you love to make you happy. My dad’s brother took me fishing as my dad was down the mine and slept in the day to provide for his two daughters and two sons. His brother was a jockey and a hairdresser! And he taught me everything that I know.
“I loved the whole thing, the excitement of getting up, the idyllic surroundings. I saw things I’d never seen before, right there in the north east. I saw a barn owl, a red squirrel, an otter.
We caught a four-pound brown trout and ate it. It was great. I think maybe I secretly just want to remind myself of that time every time I go fishing.”
And every fishing journey is different. From the lowly brown trout to some of the most powerful killers of the ocean, Robson has had to hone his angling skills to keep his head above water – quite literally.
“You do have to be really careful. When I was in Bolivia I hooked a golden dorado, and because I’m not an expert, I thought ‘wow, this thing is going to really embarrass me’, and it did. I felt I might be out of my depth.
“On another occasion I was in Hawaii where I caught a three-hundred-pound bigeye tuna that almost pulled me in with it.
Some of my critics might be happy about that actually. But I know my abilities and I know my limits; if I felt I was in danger I know when to stop.”
But it’s not complex angling skills that Robson had to practice to get his Ultimate Catch. If there’s one thing he’s learned from the indigenous fishermen he’s spent time on the water with, it’s that the simple methods can often be the best.
“This series I’ve travelled further and pushed harder than ever before. The method with which I caught the golden dorado was pure, basic and simple – and I caught it with the first cast.
I was in the wilderness in the true sense. You have to fend for yourself, so me and the whole crew work out. You need athletic abilities, so we take the right people who know their stuff.”
Last year, Robson spent nine and a half months out of the country working.
At 50, he feels he’s at the peak of his career. We asked how he was feeling now he’d reached his half-century.
“Thanks for reminding me,” he said. “I feel really great – I’ve been in this business for 30 years so I’ve got to give myself a pat on the back for that. And you know what they say, everything gets better with age. Well, except a banana !”
As well as taking to the water in his fishing quest, a new series of ITV detective drama series Grantchester has been commissioned, in which Robson plays grumpy Detective Inspector Geordie Keating.
It’s been 20 years this year since Robson & Jerome’s self-titled pop album hit the charts, with the single Unchained Melody staying fast in the number one spot for seven weeks.
And it’s not only Robson that has been enjoying success.
Jerome Flynn has been making waves across the world with his role as Bronn in HBO’s Game of Thrones.
But the old friends still talk, and plan to catch up soon. Fishing, however, won’t be on the agenda.
“I spoke to Jerome just last week, as he was filming Game of Thrones in Ireland. We’re going to meet up soon as he’ll be in the area.
“I don’t think I’ll take him fishing though. I don’t think Romy is much of a fisherman, he’s more of a ‘swimming with dolphins kind of guy’ !”
Native Monster, 20 Feb. 2015