UKMA: Can you explain briefly how you got into angling?

Dee Mason (DM): I got hooked when I was approx 5 years of age. It came about because my older brother was heading to his scout camp for a week and alas I was too young to go with them. So by way of compromise my father promised me a fishing rod and reel to soften the blow. It wasn’t long before I felt the thrill of my first line tightening and from that day onwards I lived breathed and slept fishing!!!!

UKMA: How did you start in the angling trade?

DM: From a very young age and at every opportunity, I visited my uncle’s fishing tackle shop in Belfast and indulged myself in his fascinating
stories of guiding on Irelands famous salmon beats. There were lots great stories of battle royal’s between the hunters and their prey.
However the one story that always somehow stuck out in my mind was of them complaining how about spending the day getting plagued by these fish called pike and they had six in the one day with the smallest being twenty six lb on their famous flying c spinners and alas only one
salmon, with the look of amazement/shock on their face I said that one day I was going to guide anglers to catch those monster pike. From that
day onwards I never looked back and determinedly developed my predator fishing skills.

UKMA: What made you decide to start your own business within the angling industry?

DM: I tried a lot of other guides (obviously not them all) but the majority I did try just didn’t come up to scratch, some had little or no real time experience in predator angling/handling, others simply had no customer relation skills and of course there were more than a few fly by nights who were just there for the quick buck and had no regard for customers or fish welfare. As a consequence of these lesser experiences I realised that I had to start my own company, and I was positive that my customers would never be treated this way ,I would never settle for second best, so why should my clients?

Thankfully my old friend Bill came back into play assisting me in acquiring some land, helping me sort out the appropriate legalities, licences etc... From there on it was full steam ahead hunting monster cats in Spain during the summer.  Whilst travelling back to the emerald isle in the winter to chase the big girls in pike heaven, with an abundance of special waters and swims that I have researched and developed for my customers pleasure and learning. Of course when required these locations could also be married up with typical first rate accommodation so customers could enjoy friendly atmosphere, craic and maybe a few well deserved drinks to top off that special days fishing. I now know for sure that setting up my own predator fishing company was the best decision I have ever made, I can truly say that regular customer feedback gives me a personal satisfaction and pride in my work. With both new and regularly returning customers fulfilling their dreams, busting old PB’s right out of the water and many more times than not getting that monster fish of a life time ‘the one that didn’t get away’.

UKMA: How long has the company been running?

DM: Five years plus, though I must stress before I even thought of guiding clients I had to be 100% sure I could give them the best predator fishing possible wherever I was in the world. I already knew the pike fishing in Ireland like the back of my hand and with 30 years experience in this area it would be a breeze by boat and by bank fishing. I also indulged myself in 10 years of homework on the mighty Ebro River in Spain, from the lower stretches of Amposta all the way up to Meqa, including bank fishing and boat fishing. Whilst I admit that I enjoyed every minute of my research, development and travels, meeting new friends along the way. I also have to say that it was years of serious learning and on occasion heartbreakingly hard work. But I’m there now, my dream realised, Monster Tours is the real deal, it does what  it says on the tin ‘delivers monsters’. As an added bonus at Monster Tours we now only do boat fishing for the big Ebro cats, which believe me as any new customer soon realises, it repeatedly proves to be a much more significant accomplishment catching and eventually boating big predators using these tactics.

UKMA: How do you see the future with regards to company expansion over the forthcoming years?

DM: It would be a major understatement to simply say I get excited when I look to the future’ Monster Tours is my future. I am currently living the dream, yes I am a great believer that there’s always room for improvement and expansion for any successful company. To that end I continue to research and develop new tactics, new swims and waters and new ways to give my clients continued satisfaction.   I also believe any worthy predator angler will also know a hell of a lot about their predators/prey and other species of fish at the locations they target, as an aside we at monster tours have also been targeting specimen carp and big zander in the recent years. I have also recently brought on board an extremely experienced carp angler and will be potentially expanding to running carp tours from summer 2012, with zander tours kicking off from the beginning of winter 2012 on the mighty Ebro River.

As for the pike fishing in Ireland well that’s always been my baby and it goes without saying that it’s always improving and developing. Only a fool would sit back on their laurels, so I don’t think I shall ever give up my passion for the research and development of new waters and techniques to enhance my already successful customer service.  I will continue to enjoy guiding clients myself for the foreseeable future, or until my two great kids take over the ropes and retire the old man.

For further information on Monster Tours, please click the image below.