The BEST episodes of Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing
Every episode of Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing!
Comedians and lifelong friends Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse share their personal and hilarious life experiences while travelling around the UK fishing for elusive species.
#1 - Chub: Lower Wye, Herefordshire
Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 9/27/2020
The sixth and final episode of the series sees Bob and Paul revisit the river Wye in Herefordshire. Last time they were here they fished the Middle Wye for barbel, but this time they head to the spectacular Lower Wye to fish for chub.
#2 - Salmon: River Tweed, Scotland
Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 8/23/2020
In this first episode, Paul and Bob return to Scotland to fish for salmon once more, this time on the mighty River Tweed. As we remember the agonising last-ditch attempt to catch a salmon on the River Tay in series two, this time around Paul is determined to fulfil his promise to help Bob get his first salmon - a rite of passage for any angler.
#3 - The Grayling: River Ure, Yorkshire Dales
Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired 9/6/2019
For their final quest of the series, Paul and Bob take to the River Ure in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales, in search of grayling. After mulling over their plans for retirement, they meet the surgeon who performed Bob’s life-saving triple heart bypass.
#4 - Legendary Pike
Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 7/25/2018
In this final episode, Paul and Bob decide to try and catch a legendary pike, which is perhaps not the best idea for two men of a certain age with heart problems. In the cosy cottage where they are staying, they invite a consultant cardiologist for dinner to talk about their medical past and their future, gaining tips on how to live the most healthy life possible. Facing the future, they write a eulogy for each other as the sun sets on their final fishing expedition.
#5 - River Lea, Hertfordshire: Paul's Childhood River
Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 8/30/2020
Paul takes Bob on a trip down memory lane and back to the River Lea in Hertfordshire, where Paul used to come as a teenager with his mates. They'd catch the train from north London to fish this network of rivers and canals that flow from Hertfordshire into the Thames, and just like when Paul was young, they fish for perch.
#6 - Wild Carp in Wales
Season 4 - Episode 5 - Aired 9/26/2021
Paul and Bob travel to Mid Wales, to fish for wild carp in some equally wild and wonderfully picturesque lake locations. They've had success catching both mirror and common carp in previous trips, but trying to net a ‘Welsh wildie’ will require a different approach. Wild carp are the oldest strain of the species we have in the UK, and there are tales from the middle ages of monks tending carp ponds
#7 - Crucian Carp: Sutton Lake, Shropshire
Season 6 - Episode 4 - Aired 9/24/2023
Paul and Bob fish for crucian carp at a sequestered lake in Shropshire. In the hopes of guaranteeing success, they'll be staying lakeside in overnight bivvies.
#8 - The Lake District
Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/12/2021
Paul and Bob are in the Lake District to fish at some of the UK’s best loved beauty spots – Derwentwater and Watendlath Tarn. In a change from the norm, this time Bob has chosen where they go fishing in a poignant trip down memory lane for him - this was where he used to come on camping holidays with his mates, away from parents for the first time.
#9 - Grilse: River Exe, Devon
Season 5 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/9/2022
Bob and Paul start the series by fishing the beautiful river Exe in Devon, looking for Grilse, also known as the ‘summer silver’. After a day of limited success, they enjoy a game of cricket before having a go at some shore fishing at Bossington Beach in Somerset.
#10 - Zander on the River Severn
Season 4 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/3/2021
Paul and Bob are on the River Severn in Worcestershire to fish for zander. It’s a new species for both of them, and they enlist the help of a local guide, Tim Maslen to find the best spots. Paul explains to Bob how he has never even fished for zander before, let alone caught one. After learning a difficult new technique and staying in a converted lightship, they meet up with This Country star Charlie Cooper to talk about his passion for fishing.
#11 - Grayling: River Dee, North Wales
Season 5 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/16/2022
Paul, Bob and trusty terrier Ted travel to north Wales to fish the River Dee for grayling. They try to rediscover their lost youth on this trip, with mixed results.
#12 - Brown Trout: River Test, Hampshire
Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 9/13/2020
Paul and Bob return to the river where they first went fishing together after Bob's heart surgery - the Test in Hampshire. Famous for its gin clear water, the Test is renowned as the home of fly fishing. Paul and Bob are here during the Mayfly hatch - the peak of the trout fishing season.
#13 - Sea Trout in Dorset
Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 7/18/2018
Paul fishes at Christchurch's quintessential Bridge Pool in Dorset, hoping to catch sea trout. Bob arrives late but redeems himself by hooking the first fish of the day. After a glorious morning Paul persuades Bob to charter a boat out to sea in search of sea bass. Bob has a history of sea sickness and is not keen but eventually they venture out to the Needles where Paul makes an incredible catch. The fish is too big for Bob to handle so they head off to a local restaurant to prepare it. Bob performs a small cameo as an irritating waiter.
#14 - Rudd on the Norfolk Broads
Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired 9/19/2021
It’s the start of the coarse fishing season, and to celebrate Paul and Bob are in the Norfolk Broads to fish in some of East Anglia’s most historic and celebrated waterways. They’re here to try for rudd - but who knows what other species they might catch in these rivers, which are rich in flora and fauna? As is the way with a trip to the Broads, Paul and Bob do away with the car and instead get around by boat. It’s the quintessential Broads experience, although Paul does wonder whether he should have been captain instead of Bob...
#15 - The Perch: Upper Tamar Lake, Devon and Cornwall
Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 8/23/2019
Paul and Bob fish for the predatory perch in the Upper Tamar Lakes on the Cornwall and Devon border. The following day, they embark on another fishing adventure, this time on the open sea.
#16 - Chub: River Irfon, Mid Wales
Season 6 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/3/2023
Paul, Bob and terrier Ted travel to Wales to fish in the remote and stunning landscape of the River Irfon and the Upper Wye. It’s also Ted’s birthday, but how will they celebrate?
#17 - Roach on the Wensum
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 7/11/2018
Paul and Bob fish the beautiful river Wensum in search of the equally beautifully roach. Struggling up and down the riverbanks, they realise how age is starting to take its toll on their physicality. But Bob has a plan to help Paul recapture his youth. They stay overnight in a disused train station and visit the local pub with Paul showing off his new look, courtesy of Bob. They decide to challenge each other to a fishing competition where the winner gets a very special culinary treat, and be warned, their dinner table conversation is not for the faint hearted.
#18 - Sea Trout in the Hebrides
Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired 8/29/2021
Paul and Bob visit their most dazzling and extraordinary destination to date, the island of North Uist in the Outer Hebrides. Completely unlike anywhere they have fished before, this small, remote but beautiful island has an intricate network of tidal pools and sea lochs, making it near enough equal parts land and water and therefore the perfect place to fish for sea trout.
#19 - The Pike: Lough Erne, Northern Ireland
Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 8/30/2019
The pair fly to Enniskillen, where they take to the waters of Loch Erne in their quest to land the mighty pike, which eluded them in series one. Plus, Paul demonstrates how to perform life-saving CPR.
#20 - Rainbow Trout: Derbyshire Wye
Season 6 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/8/2023
Bob and Paul return to the Derbyshire Wye and its neighbour the Derwent, this time with Ted, to revisit the place they first fished together.
#21 - Pike: Broadland, Norfolk
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/6/2020
Paul and Bob visit Norfolk to go lake fishing for monster pike.
#22 - Wild Brown Trout: River Usk, South Wales
Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 8/2/2019
Paul and Bob travel to the picturesque River Usk in Wales, where Paul’s father first taught him to fish as a young child. Their quarry is the wild brown trout. They discuss their respective childhoods and reflect on their own family lives. In their cosy cottage accommodation in the heart of the countryside they compare school photographs and Paul serenades Bob with his guitar.
#23 - Salmon: River Tay, Scotland
Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 8/16/2019
Bob has harboured a childhood dream to catch a salmon so they set off for the River Tay in Scotland full of hope and excitement for this special trip. A ghillie guides them up the intimidating river in a boat and they fish using various methods to catch the elusive fish. They discuss luck and fate and the part it has played in their lives. They stay in the heart of the highlands, Bob cooks Paul a traditional Scottish breakfast and they set off for a swift round of golf before resuming their fishing. As the sun sets they reflect on their dreams – did they come true on this trip?
#24 - Barbel on the Wye
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 6/27/2018
Paul and Bob fish for the mighty barbel in Hay-on-Wye. Passing a graveyard, they muse about the future and chat to a local vicar about death, and their own funerals. To lighten the mood back in their wooden fishing cabin, Bob promises Paul a very special treat if they are successful in their angling efforts.
#25 - Bream at Burghley House
Season 4 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/5/2021
Paul and Bob accept a special invitation to fish the estate lake at Burghley House, which sits on the border of Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire. Built in the 16th century by William Cecil, Elizabeth I’s lord high chancellor, Burghley House is home to some of the most majestic landscapes Paul and Bob have ever found themselves in. With a spectacular lake and stunning gardens, all designed by the iconic Capability Brown, Paul and Bob hope they can do the place justice - and net a decent catch.