Marina Gibson: The angler extraordinaire on salmon fishing, conservation and bagpipes on the Tay

We are back. Thank you all for bearing with us while we get our ducks in a row for another year of the Country Life Podcast. If it’s even possible, it’s going to be better than last year, that we can guarantee.

Our first guest for 2025 is the legendary Marina Gibson, angler extraordinaire, who was more than happy to indulge me in lots of fishing related conversation. She was at Gleneagles, where she had just been sending out the first cast of the salmon season at the hotel, with accompanying bagpipes and whisky pouring to bless the river. Gleneagles has plenty of fishing and fieldsports related activities, which you can look at here.

It’s also, and this goes without saying, an immensely wonderful hotel. Marina has been fishing pretty much since she could walk and spent 30 minutes making me extremely envious about her career. She’s travelled the world, fishing in rivers, lakes and oceans for everything and anything. We talked about her favourite fishing spots, her favourite fish to catch, and some of the absolute monsters of the deep she’s landed.

We also got a bit more serious, talking about the desperate state of some of the UK’s waterways, and what, if anything, can be done to save them. Salmon in particular have been suffering in recent years, and it’s going to take a lot of work to get stock levels rising again.

But fishing isn’t all about catching fish. It’s about taking time away from the world, from emails and Instagram, and working on your own mental health. The benefits are scientifically proven. Did you know that fishing can even be prescribed on the NHS? 

It was a fantastic conversation to start 2025, and sets a very high bar for the rest of the year. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I did recording.

Episode credits

Host: James Fisher

Guest: Marina Gibson

Editor and Producer: Toby Keel

Music: JuliusH via Pixabay

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