Junior Coaching
With my first year back in charge now over, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the Juniors who attended any of the teachings. The improvement you showed in such a short space of time was nothing short of amazing, I’ve been lucky enough to catch up with one or two of you on the bank since attending them, and the feedback I have been given has been very positive. I’m sure 2012 will be just as good if not better.
Here is s a report on how the 2009 events went:
Dave Benton, Junior Organiser
This was really well attended by a good number of Junior Members, all between the age of 4 to 15-years of age. After a quick introductory chat to them, every one was soon fishing with the whips the Society had purchased, and it wasn’t long before lots of smiling faces and shouts of, “I’ve got one!”, rang out along the bank. This kept both me, and my wife Sharon my wife,who helps at the events, on our toes: taking photos and helping them identify the fish they had just caught. During the day a number of different species were caught, including Tench, Roach, Rudd and Crucian and with small Chub and Barbel also making an appearance: plus a couple of our more unusual species turned up in the shape of a Ruffe and a Golden Tench. A brilliant day was had by all.
With the sun shining and a hot day forecast, most of the morning was spent catching Skimmers (small Bream) and Roach on the feeder rods, with the carp rods doing very little. A change was needed. After a good friend Nigel Sharp turned up, we came up with a plan, fishing over depth ‘zig rigs’, taking it in turns to spod mixers out, we soon had the carp in a feeding frenzy. With each of the kids taking it in turns, everyone managed to bank at least a couple of fish, with Jimmy Loten bagging the biggest fish of the day at 13lb 5oz Common Carp and his new personal best: we reluctantly packed up.
Unfortunately, a low turn out for this one, with just a few kids booking in, but that didn’t stop us having a good day. Unfortunately, the river was running very clear, making Barbel fishing hard to say the least, but the Chub were more accommodating with all of us catching some. Once again there was one young lad that stole the show, Jimmy Loten with his first fish of the day, a Chub of 6lb 4oz - I was green with envy !
After a lot of planning the day finally arrived, with it being fully booked almost immediately and a reserve list in operation, everyone managed to make it. So after sorting out each Junior in their swims, each one was allocated an experienced carp angler, some of which are regulars in the monthly magazines. For the next 24-hours, these specialist Carp anglers offered advice and answered any questions about tying rigs and techniques in all things ‘carpy’.
We then gave each Junior a ‘goody bag’ to take home, containing around £100 worth of fishing bait and equipment: bait (including pop-ups), particles and a selection of terminal tackle & baseball caps, all very generously donated by some of the sponsors of the expert carp anglers that were helping.
The afternoon went well with quite a few fish coming out, mainly to zigs and surface baits. At around 4 o’clock, the lads were asked to bring their rods so we could give them a demonstration on fish care, showing them how to treat any wounds or sores the fish may have, how to take the perfect ‘trophy shots’ and how to release their fish safely.
As the evening came, we all had a BBQ, supplied by ‘Mark Turner & Daughters’ butchers at a very reasonable price, so a big thank you to them. With our belly’s bulging we returned to our swims for the night, which passed quickly. With a few more fish coming in the morning, before the leftovers from last night’s BBQ were cooked up giving everyone at least one sausage sandwich, a hectic few hours followed with Carp were being banked from all around the Old Pin.
Most of the fish caught in the session were in the low to mid-double range, everyone having at least a couple of fish.
Within hours of us packing up, I received text messages from most of the lads, saying how much they had enjoyed themselves and asking me to pass on their thanks to everyone.
That just leaves me to do the same a HUGE THANKS to Dynamite Baits, ESP, Heathrow Baits, Gardener Tackle, Hampshire Tackle and all of my mates who I couldn’t have done it without you Nigel Sharp, Jamie Smith, Lewis Read, Duncan (Hampshire Tackle), Benji, Ads, Chris & Ryan Boyda, Ian Russell, Ben Hamilton and last but not least, my wife Sharon & daughter Billie, thank you ! ! ! And to all you Juniors that turned up, thanks again ! ! !
Please don’t hesitate to ring me with any questions relating to the Junior Teach-Ins on 07790 799524.