Former Hong Kong police officer writes guide to best fishing spots
Mike Sharp teamed up with fellow fishing enthusiast John Peters to create the definitive guide for fishing in the territory’s shores, reservoirs and surrounding waters
For ex-senior Hong Kong police officer turned fishing aficionado Mike Sharp, angling has a lot to offer. But there’s one thing that’s not exactly ideal about the local experience: the smell.
“The area stinks, the smell comes off the water ... it’s a muddy smell of rotting vegetables,” says the English-born author a new book about fishing in the SAR.
Fishing is popular among locals, who have learnt to stake out freshwater spots along the deep man-made rivers in the New Territories, which are populated by large amounts of fish.
Escaped carp from fish farms that entered the SARs drainage system in floods in the 90s make the waterways prime angling spots, despite their rather unappealing odour.
But expats who may not be aware of what, where or how to fish in Hong Kong owing to a dearth of English language material on the subject, might be missing out.
This is why Sharp teamed up with fellow fishing enthusiast John Peters, to create the definitive guide for fishing in the territory’s shores, reservoirs and surrounding waters.
Sharp first got into fishing as a young boy after watching a nature programme on television, resolving to try his luck with a cheap rod in streams in lush Berkshire.
“I was not sure what I was doing,” he recalls. “I just used a lot of determination and read a lot of books – it was months before I caught my first fish,” he said.
After months waiting at pools of water, by tree stumps under which trout would hide, during the mayfly season when fish drop their guard, Sharp made his first catch – a one pound trout – and was hooked to the sport.
“It was the greatest feeling I ever had,” he said. A fast-paced and stressful career in the army, followed by a move to the Hong Kong police force meant Sharp’s childhood passion would be set aside for some time, only to be resurrected in 2003 as a police inspector and family man living in Sai Kung.
For Sharp, fishing became a way to escape the stresses that came with his professional life, and offered respite from some of the emotional challenges of policing in the serious crime unit.
“I enjoy the mental process you go through when you’re fishing: it’s the hunt,” he says. “You have to plan, to question your tactics, and adapt your methods – and you have to prove yourself,” he said. “It can be very challenging, but because you are totally absorbed, it releases the stress.”
Sharp soon found an accomplice in John Peters, an esteemed match fisherman with experience angling across the world, to help create the guide: Fishing in Hong Kong: A How-To Guide to Making the Most of the Territory’s Shores, Reservoirs and Surrounding Waters.
