Hello
Bill Hohepa is probably most recognised for his fishing columns, videos, DVDs and Television. However from 2010 he started his change in career direction and started producing TV shows about all thing vintage and classic, Trucks, cars, earthmoving machinery, farm machinery and the list goes on. Much of his TV work is available to watch on YouTube, just search Youtube under the name Bill Hohepa, or The Billy Ho Show
Bill says:
Seems a lifetime ago since I got into fishing, and after 40 odd years I decided it was time for a complete change. There was only so many way's to catch fish and I think I'd pretty much explained them all. Besides there were plenty of younger people making TV shows about fishing at the time, and I figured I'd contributed my share. As it turns out, it seems as a reward for all those years of fishing and in particular, running kids fishing camps (1979 - 2009) in 2014 I was awarded an MNZM for services to Recreational Fishing...What a big day that was. Jerry Mateparae was the Governor General then, and he awarded it.
In 2010 with the help of Toll NZ, we started a TV series we called Talking Trucks. I'd search for old trucks around the country and talk to the people who owned them. We did 10 series of 40 episodes each over the next 5 years.
In 2016 we began a new series we called Low Gear, where we could now include other old vehicles like cars, earthmoving machery, cars, motorcycles, and pretty much anything with wheels really and built earlier than 1973.
In 2021 the pendemic came, and things slowed a bit. So we began the Billy Ho Show which again included all things vintage and classic. In terms of our little TV crew, it's jusy my wife Linda and me. Linda is a professional photographer and she does the camera work. I edit the shows. Face TV screens them up on SKY channel 83. Once they've been screened on TV they go then up onto my YouTube page under 'The Billy Ho Show'. I have a lot of bucket list things left to do, but one bucket list highlight for me was to go to Canada and film the 'Fat Trucks'. Fat trucks are the enormous Pacific trucks that haul impossible loads of logs. I never thought I'd ever get to see one, let along ride in one...Absolutely Awesome!!!!