Latest news with #GoneFishing
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Bass Pro's 10th Annual Gone Fishing event
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Johnny Morris and Bass Pro are donating more than 40,000 fishing rods and reels to not-for-profit partners helping connect kids to the outdoors. The 10th annual Gone Fishing event will include gear donations, non-profit partnerships, and free in-store fishing and casting activities at Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's locations June 6-8 and June 13-15. Kids can experience in-store catch-and-release ponds and get a free digital photo download to celebrate their achievement. There will also be free knot-tying kits available while supplies last. The event runs 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. on June 6 and June 13; 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. on June 7-8 and June 14-15. 'Some of my most happy experiences in life have been spent fishing and enjoying the great outdoors with family, friends and loved ones,' said Johnny Morris. 'Gone Fishing is a perfect opportunity to share those experiences and help future generations discover the joys of fishing, while inspiring families to get out and enjoy all that nature has to offer.' Nearly 500,000 rods and reels have been donated across North America since the inception of the program. Gone Fishing kicks off Thursday, June 5, with special donation presentations across the U.S. Bass Pro Shops is also offering up an opportunity to show off your child's best catches with the Kids' Braggin' Board. You can submit photos of your child with their catch for a chance to be featured on their website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Daily Mail
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Paul Whitehouse insists his and Bob Mortimer's BBC fishing series was a 'success' because it was based on 'real life' - after they both underwent life-changing heart surgery
Comedy legend Paul Whitehouse has insisted his and Bob Mortimer 's BBC series Gone Fishing was a 'success' because it was based purely on 'real life' situations. The series saw the double act embark on many fishing trips together around the UK as they opened up about their respective life-changing heart surgeries. Last One Laughing star Bob, 65, underwent bypass surgery in 2015 when his heart was stopped for 32 minutes after discovering that 95 per cent of his arteries were blocked. Meanwhile, Paul, 67, had part of his colon removed nearly two decades ago and also had three stents put in his heart after an operation. Speaking on Dr Oscar Duke's new health podcast Beside Manners, Paul spoke of the pair's friendship and hardship they've suffered over the years. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. Paul said he first discovered the idea of turning their surgeries into entertainment when he and Bob went on a fishing trip and 'had a daft laugh' together. He said: 'We started going out a few more times and it was one day in particular, I think it was a really beautiful day in May, and the river was idyllic and the flies were hatching, and the reed warblers were warbling. 'We just made each other laugh. Had a daft laugh as Bob would say, and I thought, oh this might be a good idea for a program. 'Anyway, it worked with the BBC and they let us do a little trial and they seemed to go for it and the reason it's been successful is exactly as I outlined there because it came 100% out of real life.' Last summer, Bob was left unable to walk for half of the newest series of his show Gone Fishing after he contracted shingles. Bob suffered wasted muscles after a six-month bout of the virus and had to be taken by wheelchair to several of the locations. Describing the toll Bob's surgery had on him, Paul said: 'I don't want to speak for Bob, but obviously it was difficult. 'The family were very supportive but he found that road to recovery very slow physically and I think mentally as well.' Speaking on Dr Oscar Duke's new health podcast Beside Manners, Paul spoke of the pair's friendship and hardship they've suffered over the years During an appearance on Kathy Burke 's Where There's A Will, There's A Wake podcast, Bob explained that he no longer feared death. The TV personality explained: 'I don't feel scared about death, I just feel so frustrated and sad to think I won't see how stories end.' Bob added: 'My children's story. My wife's. The football. All the stories going on in the world that you're going to miss the end of.' Speaking about his experience, he said: 'I did see the light at the end of the tunnel. I experienced going towards the light and feeling happier than I have ever felt, ever. 'It was quite extraordinary, and then I woke up a day later and I was OK. I thought, "This is great. I no longer fear death and everything."' Bob secretly married his wife Lisa Matthews just half an hour before undergoing heart surgery. The comic arranged to wed his long-term partner on the day of his operation after being warned he was 'incredibly ill'.
Daily Mail
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Bob Mortimer reveals the hilarious reason why he 'can't go outside' in light-hearted social media post - after admitting he 'no longer fears death' following triple heart bypass surgery
Bob Mortimer put his physical brand of comedy to good use on Wednesday while promoting the imminent launch of his new book. The comedian, best known for his TV work with comedy partner Vic Reeves, is currently preparing for the paperback release of The Hotel Avocado, his second novel, on May 22. And he played the forthcoming publication for potential laughs while filming another of his characteristically light-hearted Instagram posts on Wednesday evening. Filming from home, Mortimer, 65 - holding a copy of his new book in one hand - pretended he'd been forced to call emergency services after getting his foot trapped beneath a large container of detergent. Angling his mobile phone to reveal a slippered foot beneath the plastic container, he told followers: 'I was going to go outside to give you some information, but sadly I've got myself trapped beneath a big bottle of screenwash. 'I've phoned up the emergency services. I asked for fire people to come and help, but they've suggested the lifeboat people, on account of it being a liquid, so I'll just do my announcement here.' Mortimer went on to encourage followers to pre-order his latest novel - which follows 2022 debut The Satsuma Complex - ahead of its paperback publication in May. The book was originally published in hardcover last year. The Last One Laughing star underwent bypass surgery in 2015 when his heart was stopped for 32 minutes after discovering that 95 percent of his arteries were blocked. Last summer, he was left unable to walk for half of the newest series of his show Gone Fishing after he contracted shingles. Mortimer suffered muscle wastage after a six-month bout of the virus and had to be taken by wheelchair to several of the locations. During an appearance on Kathy Burke's Where There's A Will, There's A Wake podcast, he explained that he no longer feared death. The TV personality explained: 'I don't feel scared about death, I just feel so frustrated and sad to think I won't see how stories end.' He added: 'My children's story. My wife's. The football. All the stories going on in the world that you're going to miss the end of. 'I did see the light at the end of the tunnel. I experienced going towards the light and feeling happier than I have ever felt, ever. 'It was quite extraordinary, and then I woke up a day later and I was OK. I thought, "This is great. I no longer fear death and everything."' Mortimer secretly married his wife Lisa Matthews just half an hour before undergoing heart surgery. The comic arranged to wed his long-term partner on the day of his operation after being warned he was 'incredibly ill'. Speaking at a press conference the following year, he recalled: 'I found out I needed heart surgery on the Thursday, so I made a will on the Friday. 'Found out I couldn't get married to Lisa because you have to give 21 days notice. 'But my consultant said I was incredibly ill, so the registrar in London - I don't live in London - gave me permission to get married on the Monday.'
RNZ News
30-04-2025
- RNZ News
Stephen Stone acquitted after 25 years in jail for murder of Deane Fuller-Sandys
Stephen Stone. Photo: Supplied Listen to Gone Fishing , RNZ and Stuff's podcast about the case here . A man who spent 25 years in prison for the murder of Auckland tyre-fitter Deane Fuller-Sandys has been acquitted. Stephen Stone was imprisoned in 1999 for that murder, as well as the rape and murder of Leah Stephens. In October last year his convictions were quashed by the Court of Appeal , alongside those of Gail Maney, Colin Maney and Mark Henriksen, and a retrial was ordered. On Wednesday, Crown prosecutor Alysha McClintock told the High Court at Auckland the Crown would not be pursuing charges against Stone in a retrial. McClintock said a criminal trial could only proceed if there was sufficient evidence to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt. She said there was no longer sufficient evidence to support Stone being retried. McClintock said three of the key witnesses were no longer available, and additional ESR testing had not produced any results of significance. Justice Brewer acquitted Stone on all charges. Stone stood with clenched fists in the dock as Justice Brewer announced the decision. Private investigator Tim McKinnel, who has worked on a number of wrongful conviction cases, said the decision had been a "long time coming". "He appeared today and the Crown stood up and offered no evidence against him, which, we'd had some advance notice was going to occur," he told RNZ's Midday Report . Mark Henriksen, Gail Maney and Colin Maney were also convicted on various charges relating to the case, but had their convictions quashed at the same time as Stone . "This case, in my view, is a disgraceful miscarriage of justice," McKinnel said. "We have four people who were wrongfully convicted for murder and rape involving two supposed victims, and the case, I think, can be best described in my view as a corrupt investigation, and the fact that it's taken this long to remedy is a tragedy. "What's also a tragedy, we think, is that the families of Leah Stephens and Deane Fuller-Sandys haven't been told the truth over the last few decades. And I think that there's still some work to do to make sure that the truth emerges." McKinnel said Stone's head was "spinning". Private Investigator Tim McKinnel Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly "A real mixture of emotions for Stephen, primarily anger. He's had his life taken from him. He has been incarcerated and institutionalised for nearly three decades, and his life and his family's life has been tipped upside down for crimes that he had nothing to do with. "Gail was in court today to support Stephen, and for her, today was an important day because effectively a continuing prosecution of Stephen suggested that the Crown thought these events may well have occurred, and so she was eager to make sure that the case was put to bed once and for all. "So it's a good day for her and Colin and Mark as well." McKinnel said money would never make up for what the foursome went through, and there was a "fairly rigorous process to go through" to prove their innocence on the balance of probabilities - the benchmark for receiving compensation. "We think there needs to be an inquiry… I think the public and the Stephens and Fuller-Sandys family deserve to understand what went wrong here. The case is so old, so complex and so troubling that we think an inquiry needs to occur." The first thing Stone had planned after being freed was getting some food, McKinnel said, before visiting his mother's grave. "His mother died in 1989 when these supposed events occurred, and so he wants to go and see her and spend some time with her." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
NZ Herald
29-04-2025
- NZ Herald
Deane Fuller-Sandys case: Crown announces it won't pursue ‘Gone Fishing' double murder retrial for Stephen Stone
'I have concluded there is no longer sufficient evidence available to the Crown,' she said, pointing out that three of the four major witnesses in the case are no longer available. 'Important context to the trial ... would not be available.' Stone, now much older, wore a white t-shirt and mumbled, seemingly annoyed, as the prosecutor read aloud the prepared statement. 'Thank God,' he said as Justice Brewer confirmed that he now has the equivalent of an acquittal. 'So you are now free to leave the dock,' Brewer said. Stone didn't wait around as other cases were called. He left the courtroom immediately. 'F*** off!' he yelled at reporters who surrounded him as he left the courthouse a short time later. The death of tyre fitter Deane Fuller-Sandys - a 21-year-old initially presumed to have drowned while fishing along Auckland's west coast in 1989 - was already considered a cold case when jurors in the High Court at Auckland found Stone guilty of murder in 1999. It was at the time dubbed the 'Gone Fishing' case by the media. Stone was found guilty at the same trial of having raped and murdered witness Leah Stephens five days after the first killing. The bouncer and Black Power gang member was later ordered to serve two concurrent life sentences for the murder convictions and 10 years' imprisonment for the rape charge. Co-defendant Gail Maney, twice found guilty of Fuller-Sandys' murder, was fully acquitted as a result of last year's Court of Appeal decision after prosecutors acknowledged a miscarriage of justice had occurred. But Stone was granted only a retrial for reasons that were at the time suppressed. Mark Henriksen and Colin Maney - Gail Maney's brother - were acquitted by the same appellate panel of being accessories to Fuller-Sandys' murder. Prosecutors had alleged during the previous trials that Gail Maney ordered Stone to kill Fuller-Sandys because he had stolen drugs, money and leather goods from her. After Fuller-Sandys stopped by the flat on his way to a fishing trip, it was alleged, he was confronted and shot in the garage in front of numerous witnesses. Prosecutors said the gun was passed around and others were encouraged to shoot him. Fuller-Sandys' body was then buried at Woodhill Forest before his car was dumped at the fishing spot in Whatipu, they alleged. It was alleged Stone then targeted Stephens because she was present at the first killing and he feared she would talk. Her body wouldn't be discovered until three years later, buried near the Muriwai Golf Club. In the decision released last year, the Court of Appeal noted that two of the four witnesses who said they were present during the first shooting have since recanted. It was also noted that a detective had incorrectly told the court during previous trials that no witnesses had been shown statements by any other witness. That contributed to a miscarriage of justice along with the detective's failure to disclose his communications with a lawyer representing one of the witnesses. The detective, Mark Franklin, would later be sentenced to nine months' imprisonment for selling cannabis after quitting the force and moving to Rarotonga. Gail Maney has repeatedly insisted over the years that she never met Fuller-Sandys and that she didn't meet Stone until after Fuller-Sandys vanished. She told NZME in October that she was relieved her conviction had finally been quashed but was confused as to why a retrial was ordered for Stone. 'Basically none of this happened, we're all innocent people and to me, it doesn't make any sense,' she explained. 'He doesn't deserve to be there [in jail] any more than me.' Prosecutors had initially indicated they would announce in December whether they intended to retry Stone or drop the charges. Time was needed, in part, to explore the possibility of further DNA testing. But extensions were sought ahead of the December hearing and again in March. The DNA testing did not return any substantial findings, the Crown acknowledged today.
