Team UKMA Profile

Dee Mason

Well I suppose I’d have to say predator fishing has been in my blood ‘man and boy’ for some thirty odd years now, but like most normal people it wasn’t just a hobby with me, it always was and still is a passion infact much more than a passion at times . I was born and raised in Northern Ireland, and was lucky enough as a boy and young man to have some of Irelands most productive rivers, lakes and Loughs either on my door step or at least a short bus or train journey away. Predator fishing has a lot to-do with confidence and fortunately I was lucky enough to be skilled and drilled by probably the best pike anglers on the emerald isle from the young age of five years old, in those early days I learnt by watching and listening to the old boys, not necessarily the big names you hear everyone talk about nowadays. No these were the old school fishermen, who had developed their skills through hard graft, researching, working their way through hundreds of potential swims, sometimes finding success and many times not. But these were the men from whom I aspired to learn the art of predator fishing and give thanks to this very day. Over the years I have tried most styles and disciplines of predator fishing worldwide, and don’t mind saying I have tightened a fair few lines in most of them. However in the main my passions always drew me toward hunting for the big predators, in Ireland. I’ve always loved my pike and whilst in Spain of course the monster cats. Not to brag, but over the years, I’ve had more than my fair share of high twenties and also chinned numerous thirty plus ladies up to 39lb 10ozs. As for my monster cats there’s been no shortage of ton plus cats, up to 198 lb of pure river monster caught the predator way by boat. I also enjoy my Zander fishing in the winter months and have had some nice catches up to 22lb.

What am I doing now (living the dream) to be honest, well mainly guiding the summer months in wilds of the Catalonian mountains, the infamous river Ebro, where I have no doubt at some point in the near future either I or more likely one of my returning customers (or the disciples as we know them) will bust that two hundred barrier right out of the water again from the boat using predator tactics. During the winter months its back to the land I love to stalk for my first love ‘the big Irish pike’. Again a large majority of the winter is guiding customers toward their dreams, with plenty of big doubles and twenty plus pike, and the hope of another few thirty plus monsters along the way! When I’m not guiding, well what else, back to the drawing board. Studying maps visiting new locations, fishing trying and testing tackle also both new and old methods to find more of what I love those ‘big predators’. Because there is no doubt whilst nowadays I primarily guide and try to teach others in the hope that they will improve their own predator skills, it is only with every new recce, every new method and the occasional days blanking that I to continue to hone my skills, to bring on those tight lines