Newcomers to fishing need our full support...

WE’RE a month into the new season and the number of new faces I’ve been seeing on the banks and in my local tackle shops continues to grow, which is fantastic.

One guy, also called Steve, and his son Jake, who I met on the river last week, really struck a chord.

Like many of these newcomers, dad is a returner angler, while his 10-year-old is discovering our sport for the first time.

Their joy at catching is infectious, but they’ve both quickly grasped that fishing transcends pounds and ounces. Steve reckons they’re both benefiting with their mental health, getting stress-free time away from work and school, and connecting with each other and nature too.

We have fewer opportunities in life to simply stop and stare, but fishing gives you that excuse to be at one with nature throughout its four seasons, and I know that we, as anglers, get much closer to our wildlife than anyone else in sport.

Last time out they spotted their first kingfisher, watched as a pair of swans took their five cygnets for a paddle, and we all chuckled as the youngster ducked down when two red kites flew low overhead.

I was lucky enough to catch a decent bream during that session and was able to safely let them both have a closer look. The reaction was priceless. Neither had caught a bream before and so they quickly made plans to learn about the feeder in readiness for their next trip.

We time-served anglers should embrace these newcomers, help them with their learning, and encourage them to continue on the path to making fishing part of their lifestyle. It worked for us and we didn’t turn out too badly…

“Help me catch more on the waggler!” Steve Ringer gives his expert advice to help readers with their floatfishing