"Doing it for for chari-dee...."

I'm not a proper "guide" or a qualified angling coach, in fact I'm just a bulk standard pleasure angler of no particular great ability who after 30 odd years of fishing should be much better than I am, which meant that there was a fair element of risk along with the bravado when at a recent "Auction of Talents" at our church, fund raising to send a couple of our teenagers to Tanzania to work with a party from our Diocese and Tear Fund, I offered a "one to one fishing lesson with the Vicar" as one of the auction "lots". I consoled myself with the fact that, even if the winning bidder didn't catch much, at least they'd have only paid about a fiver ........ little did I know! On the night a bidding war broke out for the "fishing lesson with the vicar", with the eventual winner (a 15 year old lad from the congregation) payng the thick end of twenty quid for the privelege; now I really did feel under pressure, especially as it was to be his first ever fishing session. Blanking wasn't an option, I had to help him to catch, and catch well.

 

I opted to take him to the Estate Lake, arriving at the very civilised hour of 9:30am. I set him up on a 4 metre whip, and showed him how to plumb the depth. With the bait (maggot on a 20) just touching bottom we began feeding a few loose maggots every cast, but initially things were slow. After about half an hour my protoge connected with his first bite, but the fish (almost certainly a crucian) raced into the reeds and adroitly transferred the hook to a reed stem, resulting in a break at the hook link. After 40 minutes, two broken rigs, and no fish things weren't looking too handsome, but then the loose-feeding began to pay off. After half a dozen crucians things got really interesting with a solid, thumping fight resulting in a lovely perch of over a pound gracing the net. Things were looking up.

 

 

 

For the next two hours the action was hectic, with a net of mainly crucians, supplemented by the occasional perch and one solitary roach being amassed, before bites became harder to induce and the lake slowly settled into an early afternoon heat induced stupour. After four hours fishing he'd managed 45 fish (none of which were caught by me), and really got the hang of using the whip, playing fish on elastic, feeding the swim and disgorging the hook. The largest fish of the day was a crucian of about a pound and a half, which nicely supplemented the handsome perch.

 

A sunny day, a willing pupil who out-fished everyone else on the lake on his first ever trip out, and money raised for a good cause. I call that a "result", and a great first and last foray for me into the world of taking someone fishing in a scenario that involves the exchange of money .... I have the utmost respect for professional guides: me, I'd never cope witht he weight of expectation and burden of responsibilty; thank goodness it turned out well- I'll quit while I'm ahead!