The Great Irish Fishing Adventure is a blend of the old and the new - it’s where classical public service story telling (Inform Educate Entertain), meets the very latest in camera and editing technologies to present fishing as it’s never been shown on television before. This is also where factual entertainment meets educational television. The series begins at one of Ireland’s great fishing hotels, the Bay View Hotel in Ballycotton, which welcomed the pioneers of sea angling to Ireland in Victorian times. The opening scene could have been written by Jules Verne, as Lucy Hunt, like Phileas Fogg before her, is deep in a discussion that will eventually lead to her accepting a great challenge. Lucy won’t be circumnavigating the late Victorian world in 80 days or fewer, but she will be circumnavigating Ireland several times to as many species of fish that live in the surrounding seas and ocean as possible..

With the terms of the challenged settled, Lucy’s challenge begins. Armed with old maritime maps and charts, even older fishing books and a mountain of tackle our presenter sets off on her journey.

The journey itself forms an integral part of the series. This is where Lucy is alone with her thoughts and it’s where the treasure trove of archive footage discovered in the research for this series will be utilised on screen. In this section of each episode Lucy will impart her knowledge and feelings about the forthcoming part of the challenge. This is very anecdotal and will delve into the shared history of fishing in Ireland. She’ll talk about the fish, their characteristics, the type of angling involved and its social history - all beautifully illustrated by newly restored film archive catalogued later in this document.

And so the fishing begins. Every spot is established with specially commissioned aerial photography that will provide a whole new perspective on Ireland’s coastline. In each episode there’s a point of contact, the boat owner/operator and spinal interviewee who knows the location, knows the fish and knows the history. Each of these embarkation points will have a range of underwater cameras to capture the fish in their natural habitat. Indeed, this footage alone will build into a comprehensive educational resource of moving images of Irish fish in their natural habitats.

Above the water the visual approach is equally innovative. Everything will be shot on two camera - one static to cover the fishermen - one constantly recording at 240 frames per second. The use of such frame speeds will allow us to film the sport in super slo-mo for the first time. Every rotation of a fly, every pull of a line, every emergence from the water will be captured in extraordinary detail. At this juncture, there is further scope to incorporate the film archive as Lucy and her interviewee wait for the big one.

The catch, identification and return form a natural climax to each episode. At this juncture in each episode the educational dimension is specifically about the biology of the species in question. After the fish is returned Lucy retires to the local fishing hostelry with her trusted maps and charts. Tomorrow there’s a boat leaving Valentia Island, there’s no time to lose…