Monsters of River & Rock: My Life as Iron Maiden’’s Compulsive Angler

Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith got hooked on fishing as a child growing up in East London, plundering ponds and bomb craters on the Hackney Marshes for newts and sticklebacks, and catching perch from the Grand Union Canal while on outings with his father.

And then things began to get more exotic.

The young angling enthusiast grew up to become lead guitarist in one of the most successful rock bands in history, and started traveling the world playing to millions of fans. But once a fisherman, always a fisherman. The gear went with him; the fish got bigger; the adventures more extreme.

Welcome to the world of Adrian Smith, as he clocks in to his day job furthering the geographical boundaries of hard rock, and clocks out to explore far-flung rivers, seas, waterways, lakes, and pools on his fearless quest for fishing nirvana. His first sturgeon was a whopping 100-pounder from Canada’s swirling Fraser River that nearly wiped him out mid-Maiden tour. And how about the close shave with a large shark off the Virgin Islands while wading waist-deep for bonefish? Not to mention an enviable list of specimen coarse fish from the UK. It’s a lifetime adventure in fishing.

ADRIAN SMITH was born in Hackney, East London. He joined Iron Maiden at the end of 1980. Adrian is the band member who has collaborated on the most side projects outside of Iron Maiden, as well as writing and recording a series of solo albums in the early 1990s before rejoining the band. Iron Maiden has sold over 90 million albums and continues to tour the world playing to millions of fans. Onstage, Adrian uses Jackson and Gibson guitars. Offstage, he is an avid tennis player, however his primary hobby is fishing. He takes his rod and gear out on tour with him wherever he goes.