KEY POINTS:
The original blockbuster fishing video Snapper Secrets, along with the rest of the highly acclaimed series, has just been released on DVD.
First released in the early 1990s, Snapper Secrets was immensely popular and, together with the other titles in the range, sold an astonishing 70,000 copies.
The video, which showed a variety of new techniques for catching our most popular table fish, was largely responsible for changing the way many people went fishing.
Although Snapper Secrets has been off the market for some six years, it has not been forgotten.
Its producer and presenter, Geoff Thomas, says he has regularly fielded calls for the popular videos to be released on DVD.
"Many people tell me they believe it is still the best fishing video ever made," he says.
While there have been a lot of developments in snapper fishing since Snapper Secrets was first released, much of the advice in the original video still applies.
Thomas is a skilled presenter who continues to host fishing and outdoors' shows on TV and a radio.
He and his expert guests discuss the best techniques for catching snapper then show them in action, making the lessons easy to absorb.
The video also features some of the best fishing action ever filmed, with snapper up to 30 pounds being caught from the rocks.
There are eight titles in the series, all presented under the banner of The Original Geoff Thomas Classic DVD Collection.
They include Kingfish Secrets, More Snapper Secrets, Seafood Secrets, Surfcasting Secrets, Snapper Secrets 2, Trout Secrets and Shooting Secrets.
All feature Thomas' trademark easy banter and offer easily understandable, practical advice and a high level of production, especially given the limitations of the time.
There is also a free sample of Thomas' new Fishing Soft Baits DVD.
The individual DVDs and the boxed set will appeal to those who bought the original and watched it so much it wore out.
It will also appeal to those who no longer have video players on which to watch it and the whole new generation of keen fishermen and women who have not yet seen it.
The Outdoor Collection has a RRP of $79.95 and is available at leading DVD outlets or from www.geoffthomas.co.nz.
Reviewed by Marine editor, Mike Rose.
