It’s great to see so many kids on the bank this summer

THE summer holidays are in full swing and the answer to that age-old question of ‘where are all the kids?’ is easy to find right now – they’re going fishing!

Our sport is having a serious resurgence this season and the reports I’m getting back from many tackle shops, day-ticket fisheries, matches, and the waters I fish is that there are a lot of kids on the bank again.

Who cares if they’re only going for a couple of hours at a time, they prefer a bike-friendly rucksack rather than a seatbox, and their rigs leave a lot to be desired? At least they’re out there learning and enjoying fishing.

In a world full of electronic distractions that’s a decent result for our sport, and we need to be encouraging it.

Over the past few weeks I’ve given away so many spare hooks, rigs bits and baits that my own gear is starting to look a bit thin, but it doesn’t matter, it’s going to good causes.

I’ve also spooled up some woefully underfilled reels with fresh, low-diameter line and stood back and marvelled as the youngster was able to cast their newly shotted rig a further than ever – remarkable!

One lad even returned to my swim once he’d packed up and wanted to hand back some crystal wagglers I’d given him a couple of hours previously. I told him to keep them and he said thanks, but he’d just been on his phone and bought some online. Okay, so you can’t tear them away from tech completely, but at least his heart is in the right place, and there’s no doubt he’ll discover a lot more joy from fishing.

Kids on the bank are a very welcome sight, so let’s all make sure we do everything we can to encourage them, just like the last generation who inspired us to go fishing all those years ago.

STEVE FITZPATRICK EDITOR IN CHIEF