Fishing for Funding – A Chance to Help England’s Young Fly Fishing Stars
In 2002, when I was 13 years old, I became the first young woman to qualify for the England youth flyfishing team for more than thirteen years, and only the second-ever female to win a place in the team. I represented my country for the first time in 2003, and will fish for England again on Loch Conn in Ireland, in July 2004.
In achieving this, I’ve been lucky; my mum and dad (who is also a fly fisherman) have really encouraged and helped me. Flyfishing isn’t an expensive or exclusive sport nowadays, but taking up an England team place involves a lot of travel, with expenses for things like accommodation. Last year the youth flyfishing team lost a commercial sponsor, and recognising that not all the young people in the team may have been as lucky as I have in terms of parental support, I’ve decided to try and raise some money to help keep the youth team afloat. To this end, I’ve set myself a real challenge that will test my fishing skills to the limit. I will shortly be setting off on a unique fund-raising event for which I’m seeking sponsorship – a two-day fly-fishing ‘fishathon’.
The Lisa Isles Fly Fishing Fishathon – 10th &11th April, 2004
Over the Easter weekend (10/11th April), I shall be visiting no fewer than eight trout fisheries in North Lancashire and South Cumbria. My granddad flyfishes too, and he will chauffeur me from fishery to fishery, and my challenge will be to catch a fish at each and every one of the eight fisheries I visit. Starting at 8 am on the Saturday and Sunday mornings, I have to take a number of gambles with my fishing and the travelling time between venues in order to have a good chance of making a catch at each fishery. Once I’ve caught a fish at a specific fishery, I can then move on to the next venue, where I will stay for a maximum of two hours before moving on. I’ve no intention of killing any fish, and anything I do catch will be returned to the water as quickly as possible.
What I’m asking is that you sponsor me for each fishery at which I manage to catch a fish, so if I succeed at catching at all eight fisheries, you may have to stump up eight times the amount you’ve sponsored me for. A challenge of this kind has, to my knowledge, never been done before, so how well I may succeed is an unknown quantity. What I do know is that it will be a hard, but enjoyable experience!
On behalf of the England Youth team, I’d like to thank you for your sponsorship, and hope that I can deliver on the challenge I have set myself. My thanks, too, to the proprietors of the participating fisheries who have kindly allowed me to fish for free over Easter weekend. They are:
Ben Dobson, Stocks Fishery, (Slaidburn), Frank Casson, Barnsfold Waters, (Chipping), Bob Birkin, Wyreside Lakes (Forton), Colin & Ken Newsom, Conder Valley (Ellel), Jan & David Dobson, Bank House Fishery, (Caton). Les Bratby, Tewitfields Fishery (Carnforth), Ken Gill, Wych Elm Fishery (Burton) and Simon Robinson, Farleton View Fishery (Crooklands).
Please email David Stocker, stocker@dallas1.fsnet.co.uk if you would like to sponsor Lisa, who is the granddaughter of one of his fly fishing pals. Email him with your contact details and how much you might sponsor her for per fishery. If she succeeds in full you’ll pay eight times your sponsorship figure.
