NFW – FISHINGmagic Junior Teach-in

Of all the days in the year to pick for the FISHINGmagic Junior Teach-In it had to be the one when it rained. For much of the winter, spring and summer we have endured drought conditions, but you can bet that on the day when we wanted good conditions, the weather would turn rotten to spite us. And boy did it!

Despite that, Wednesday the 24th of August saw lots of people coming from all over the country, some from as a far as Plymouth and Hythe in Kent, to converge on two little ponds in Hitcham near Burnham. We finally had 19 youngsters booked in, two of which didn’t make it, but they were replaced by three that didn’t book in advance, so we had our number anyway.

The day started okay when everyone checked into the car park with Graham handing out the FISHINGmagic caps and T-shirts and then we handed out the whips and the goody bags. Whips, for those still not in the know, are short 4-metre poles where the line is tied to the end instead of onto elastic. Inside the goody-bags were an assortment of items, an Improve Your Coarse Fishing magazine, a handbook on fishing, a ready-tied rig to use with the whip, pellets and baits from those lovely people at Dynamite. More line, hooks and floats from Drennan International, some floats, a disgorger and some more pellets from Mike Hutt at Maidenhead Bait and Tackle in Cookham. A towel from Biffa Waste Services and a tin of sweetcorn from me.

It rained, and rained…..

We’d just got through handing that lot out when it started to spit with rain. Mick Rowan (head bailiff with Intertype Angling Society, our hosts) suggested we all get down on the lakes so that umbrellas could be set up ready for the deluge that was promised. We weren’t disappointed in that department for the heavens opened and it poured!

Graham did his best at getting some nice shots of the early fish to be caught and other helpers, the nice people from Intertype and Steve Rowland, our only NFA coach, tried helping some with fixing the rigs and showing them how to use the whips. Getting untangled from bushes seemed to be the biggest task and retying hooks and rigs for the young ones. Other than the rain, everything seemed to be going like clockwork, it was just a matter of the fish obliging us with their company.

……And then it rained some more

By lunchtime, everyone was soaking, or pretty near so, and the hotel provided us with our barbeque in the dining room. Again, this was another dampener (pardon the pun) since it would have been nice to have the barby in the gardens, but the ribs were tasty, the burgers nice and the sausage was ….. I didn’t get one! (I didn’t nick it, honest – Graham). Frank Guttfield came to the lunch, dipped his hand in his pocket and bought Graham, Connor and myself a drink (much to Graham’s relief – hahah!).

And still the rain came down. So we got the prizes from the cars and Graham must have emptied his shed for this. I had a few donated and Frank kindly put in three copies of his book ‘The Big Fish Scene’, which he personally signed for the winners. We held a raffle and each youngster drawn from the hat could choose from a vast array of prizes – a carp rod, 4 reels, a rucksack, net bags, unhooking mat, pouches, and so on. Stu and Stephen Heard kindly donated some along with the ‘mystery’ Fishingmagic member donor, known only to Graham and myself.

There was something for everyone and no youngster was left out. At the end there were one or two oddments and Graham allocated them before opening his separate stash of lines and Kryston Melt-ex PVA bags. It was as if Santa Claus had just come in and opened his sack! The youngsters were hovered around like wasps around a jam pot. Everyone got second helpings, I’m sure, and Graham nearly got crushed in the rush!

And it kept on raining

Viewing the weather and the fact that many were now cold and tired, some decided to slip away straight afterwards, a shame, but quite understandable in the circumstances. Others, the battle-hardy amongst us, carried on regardless. Although I must confess, the thought of a cosy armchair, warm cup of coffee and feet up ready for a snooze seemed very appealing to me.

Those that were on the square lake joined us in the now empty positions on the round lake, which was at least a little more protected from the wind. Some more bait, the Dynamite Frenzied Hemp was shared out (not enough to go around one per youngster earlier) by casting it generally in the fishing areas. Steve Spiller had brought some prepared gelatine pellets from Avon Angling Centre in Bristol and they seemed to be working for his kids in the morning so some of us gave them a try in the afternoon.

Our Connor had a small carp of around a pound on them and later struck into something that really fought well. It turned out to be his new PB tench of around 4 lbs, proving that the fish are there in those lakes. Had the weather been nicer then I’m sure more youngsters would have caught and would have tried harder since it’s easier to encourage people in fine weather.

Eventually, everyone thanked us for our efforts and drifted off, nice to know it was appreciated. I packed up our gear and Connor and I were the last to leave at just gone 5pm when, coincidentally, IT STOPPED RAINING!

Well, that’s it! All over – except I understand there was a huddled conversation between the Intertype lads, Roy and Mick and Graham offering us the facility for the same thing next year. My source also tells me that Graham accepted immediately saying, “I’m sure Jeff would like to do it again.” Ah well, at least I have 12 months to think about this one!

Thanks and kind appreciations go to: Dynamite Baits, the Heards (and Bruce the black dog), Drennan International, National Fishing Week, Dr Alan Butterworth of the Environment Agency (who provided the whips and Dinsmores rigs), Mike Hutt of Maidenhead Bait and Tackle, Frank Guttfield (a famous angling name who deserves to be remembered more), our very kind and generous hosts – Intertype Angling Society who control the waters and paid for much of the barbeque, and Magicalia, without whose FISHINGmagic website, we would never have all come together.

But most of all, thanks to you members and the youngsters who braved the worst of elements to make it all worthwhile.

Next year? Hmmmmmm!

I’ve taken a lot from fishing. It’s given me a great interest in writing and photography, a job, and most important of all, a lifetime’s pleasure. It is always absolutely marvellous to be able to put something back, especially where youngsters are concerned, for they are the future of angling.

I’ve been involved with lots of fishing events with juniors, including several with not so well off Irish kids in the form of junior fishing matches that were set up as a memorial to my late son. This FM Junior Teach-in last week reminded me of those and enhanced the pleasure of seeing the juniors enjoying themselves and learning, not so much the how-to with tackle and technique but, much more important, how great a pleasure fishing can be.

That’s what National Fishing Week is all about, introducing someone to angling who has never fished before. We certainly did that last week, as well as perhaps renewing the interest of those who had tried it before.

Jeff has thanked everyone for all their help and I’d like to endorse that in spades. But the one person he hasn’t thanked, as you would expect, is himself. I’d just like to say a massive thank you to him. He worked tirelessly and organised the event in the most efficient way imaginable, even to ordering crispy bacon and brown sauce for me at my digs!

THANKS JEFF, YOU WERE BRILLIANT!