Who would you like to fish with and who is banished to a peat bog?

I see that Silvio is up to his old tricks again – this time with an 18 year old belly dancer!

It does make me laugh when you compare the British reaction of indignation and outrage with the Italian response of male admiration and female resignation. Anyway, while musing on the strange experience it would be to spend some “quality” time with that great Italian icon, I got to thinking in whose company I would most like to spend a day on the river and, conversely who would I most like to see up to their waist in a Sutherland peat bog in winter wearing a T-shirt. Here are my selections…

Those I would love to fish with but probably never will…

Paul Young (Hooked on Fishing)       

knowledgeable, a good and experienced fisherman and seems like an all-round top chap

Gareth Edwards (Rugby Icon)          

comes across as a totally genuine character – see the October issue of Trout & Salmon

Gordon Brown

well-read and he really needs cheering up

Rob Brydon

would be a brilliant laugh in the hut at lunchtime

Kate Middleton

well connected for an invitation onto the Dee           

Those I would love to fish with but certainly never will…

Norman Stone

(legendary ghillie on the Kinchurdy beat of the River Spey)

good friend and best ghillie there ever was

Mr Crabtree               

the storybook character that fuelled my childhood inspiration to fish

Those I would like to see banished to the peat bog…

The heads of all UK banks

for institutionalising fraud, trickery, deceit, incompetence and greed

Robson Green

far too noisy

Simon Cowell

pointless

Harriet Harman

tells more lies than any fisherman I know

Vladimir Putin

downright scary