ROB HUGHES Perch from a paddleboard
“A little bit of effort, and another three anglers have been born...”
AN EX-FORCES mate of mine from school who is a bit of an action man asked me to go paddleboarding with him the other day. I’ve not been before, but there’s always a few people doing it on my local river and I’ve fancied it for a while. The chance to recce the stretch we were visiting was one not to be missed, but there was a condition attached: I’d take a couple of rods, and he had to have a go at fishing too.
The Take a Friend Fishing initiative has been extended this year, so it was an ideal opportunity to introduce someone else to the sport. He already loves the environment, so fishing would be an added bonus.
We met up and, as has been the case all summer long, there were loads of other people enjoying the river. Navigating through the Aldi Armada of inflatable flamingos and lilos, I was pleasantly surprised to see fish all around the area. I soon got the hang of the board and began to really enjoy it. In fact, we ended up paddling for four miles. After spotting a few likely-looking areas, I suggested the rods came out.
Not wanting to run the risk of sinking my decent kit in a paddle board catastrophe, I’d packed two cheap rods that we use for holiday dropshotting. Long story short, we caught loads of small perch and missed a couple of chub. Andy loved this twist to paddle boarding, and his kids loved it too. So much so that he’s now bought some kit and has even been out on his own. A little bit of effort and another three anglers have been born… and that’s a win in my eyes.