About me...
Erik van den Berg
Hi there. My name is Erik van den Berg and I created Fishing Wild Places to share my pasion for Fly Fishing and Photography. I live in Brabant, a Southern province of The Netherlands and I am born in 1964. (So you can figure out yourself how old I am.)
All my photographs are copyrighted so please do not use or reproduce them in anyway or form without my permission. If you would like to use or buy one, please contact me at: erik@fishingwildplaces.com
Career
I started my professional carreer working for Ari T Hart, the well known reel designer from Holland. After that, I started my own wholesale company “Exclusive Fly Fishing Equipment” buying fly fishing tackle in the US and Japan and distributing it througout Europe. For years I drove about 75.000 km per year visiting all the major fly fishing shops in Europe. Of course I did not forget to include some fly fishing while doing that. Without the amazing support of my (English) wife Emma I would not have been able to do so. While I was “on the road” she looked after our business, our son and dog Lily and everything else which needed to be done. O, and in the meantime she was learning my native language Dutch and trying to figure out the Dutch culture. Super woman.
After about 9 years I sold my company and started a new career in IT. (That is when I got my hobby back and created Fishing Wild Places)
Currently I am Account Manager at ProPlanet. ProPlanet is a leading IT company in the field of data solutions and 3D technology and has specialized knowledge of search processes in combination with design and sales processes.
Fly Fishing
I have been a keen fly fisherman for -over- 40 years now. My main “local” fishing grounds are in West Germany where I fish a bunch of small trout rivers in the regions Eifel and “Das Bergischses Land“.
If I have the opportunity I will travel to Denmark to chase saltwater Seatrout or the East coast of Canada to try my luck on Atlantic Salmon. I’ve been lucky enough to have fished stunning rivers like The Miramichi, Restigouche, Cains, Gander, Grey River, Margaree and Pinware. That’s what I regard “Fishing Wild Places”. My gratitude goes out to my Canadian friends Jim & Linda Gourlay. Without them I would never have been able to visit those splendid wild places.
My preferred fly rods are made of Bamboo (splitcane) build by my Dutch friend Peter den Hollander. For many years I fished mainly with carbon fibre rods but when I got older I felt there was something missing. My friendship with Swedish reel maker Bo Mohlin thought me to appreciate hand-made fishing tackle. So the only logical thing to do is to change to Bamboo rods. My absolute favourite small stream bamboo rod is a 6,3 ft for a #4 line named “The Flea“.
Recently Peter build a real classic model for me: “The Marvel”, 7,6 ft. for a #4 line. It’s a classic Hardy model. I am very much looking forward to start using it this season.
Talking about Bo Mohlin, I help him a little with selling his stunning fully hand made reels. If you would like to know more about his reels, visit the dedicated page on this website or Bo Mohlin’s own website.
Photography
Through this website I enjoy sharing stories, but mostly photographs of my world wide endeavours trying to catch a Salmon, Trout, Grayling or anything else which accepts a fly. When I was 12 I started with a (East) German Practica Camera and developed my own black & white photographs. My next “step up” was buying 2 Minolta X500 bodies and several lenses which I carried along in a heavy aluminium case which I spray painted in English Racing Green.(The paint was left over from a Donkervoort car my father build.)
When we entered the era of Digital camera’s I started with a Minolta and later moved on to Nikon. My current camera is a Nikon D7000 but if I am honest, 9 out of 10 times I am using the splendid waterproof Olympus TG-4 which hangs on my belt like a pistol. Always ready to “shoot”!
