RESULTS ROUND UP Big wins across the UK
AS THE British summer gets into full swing, I can’t help smiling at complaints that the banks are too busy because, much as a minority of curmudgeons might resent the fact that others fish, the rest of us should celebrate.
The only slight caution is that not all these new anglers will stay the course. Some will enjoy it while the weather is sweet, but soon revert to other distractions. Others, whether down to sheer inexperience or buying an especially dreadful starter kit, won’t get that taste of success needed to keep them going. Because as much as it’s great just to be outdoors, every new angler needs the thrill of catching to make it a more regular thing.
This is where a friendly helping hand is key, because without a coach, father or other mentor, it’s hard for any of us to grow from novice to regular. I just worry these days that families become so messy and lives so busy that these characters can go missing.
Could you be this very mentor figure for someone else, though? Before you imagine it to be a chore, I can only say how hugely enjoyable it can be!
Nor do you need to be a master angler – my dad was and is the most casual angler – but this never stopped him passing on his love of fishing and wildlife.
Since then, I’ve taught many people to fish, but my friend Adam Aplin is perhaps my greatest achievement as an understudy! From seeing him catch his first fish at the age of about 12, it was pure chance that we met again, years later. That cheeky little kid had become a rather tall and uncompromising nightclub bouncer, but his eyes still lit up when I mentioned fishing.
Since then, he’s joined me on trips to learn everything from pole angling to fly fishing, expanding his skills to become quite an all-rounder. Inevitably, there have been tangles and slow days, but also terrific highs and real breakthrough moments. And not just for the student but the teacher!
It brings a different pleasure entirely to angling when someone else’s success becomes as important, if not more so, than your own. One day in particular, last year, stands out a mile, when he beat me by a country mile on a local canal. From accurate loosefeeding to safely netting each fish, Adam was teaching me a lesson, catching a stack of plump rudd and a tench. It was a glorious feeling to be comprehensively outfished by my apprentice!
Nor is this the end of the story, because if you can help a fellow angler, the ripples tend to spread further.
The local tackle shop certainly has another regular, while Adam now takes his daughters and other friends fishing. And so the cycle continues.
“Without a coach or other mentor, it’s hard for any of us to grow”