I have been very busy coaching this summer both with Connexions and a local school and I am now doing some coaching with a group from Forum youth club in Hounslow.
Most of the latter are more experienced anglers and provide a different challenge. Some of their questions really make me think - if you ask for questions as any teacher must do, then you must answer them to the best of your ability and never fob them off with a half answer. The more your students know about the subject the deeper their questions are liable to be.
I find myself in a very fortunate position of being able to share with so many young people, a moment in their life they will always remember and I always try to capture this moment in a photograph. They are experiencing their first contact with an environment so totally different to ours and about which we know so little. I explain that we know more about what goes on, on the surface of the moon than we know about the daily struggle for existence beneath the surface of water,and seven tenths of our planet is covered by water. I try and foster the sense of wonderment that can be seen on most of these first fish photos and mould in into a respect for the environment that all true anglers share.
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