The Fishing Coach

On the second week of the summer holidays Lee was still unavailable and I was booked for two sessions with PAYP from Slough with eight pupils each day. I had asked Richard Metcalf (another PAA coach) to come all the way down from Blackpool to help me and I had “sweetened” the request with the promise of a day on the river Kennet inbetween. Richard was on the same PAA course as me at Brooksby back in 1999 and is now training other coaches.We have a reunion every year at the NEC fishing show and he has always wanted to come for a day on the Kennet.

Those of you who have met Richard can guess the fun we had on the two courses this week. The kids from Slough had never met anyone like him. It was great to watch him work his own particular brand of magic with them and I am sure they will remember him for a long time. Twynersh produced the goods as usual and everyone caught fish, including one girl who screamed in terror every time she swung a fish in but she still managed to catch eleven.

On the Wedneday I took Richard down to the Wasing Estate to fish the Brimpton beat. Richard chose to fish the weir pool and caught a mixed bag on the maggot feeder while I trotted a float for the dace and roach. A week before I had been surfing on Ebay and had found a Drennan Super Stick float rod in good condition which I managed to win for £44 including postage. I used this rod in conjunction with my B.J.Lightweight Purist centrepin reel with a one and a half pound hook length (the river was too low and clear for the barbel). What a fantastic rod, why haven’t I had one before now? I must have caught over one hundred dace and roach trotting a small avon float, about the most fun you can have with your clothes on.

Richard really enjoyed his day on the Kennet and I enjoyed his company, it was a pleasure to work with him too. Perhaps I can lure him down again later on in the year for a day on the Itchen.

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I do not consider myself an expert pole angler but over the last year or so I have been learning how to pole fish in order to broaden my skills base and be able to teach others. After my recent successes at Marsh Farm I decided to take my pole there and practice on the tench and crucians. I have a Shimano Technium Competition 1250 and I am told it is a good pole at a reasonable price and as I have no intention of fishing matches, £200 is enough to spend.

On Thursday 21st July I arrived at Marsh Farm and trundled my trolley around the back of Richardson’s Lake to the swim I had fished last time, as I knew it was ideal for the pole. I caught a few small tench and crucians but pulled the hook out of some big fish after playing them for five or more seconds and I went home puzzled and disapointed. I asked several of my friends what I was doing wrong and received many differing answers, none of which seemed to be quite right. I knew it wasn’t the hook as I have every confidence in the Kamasan 611 and had even changed up to a size 14 and the elastic wasn’t too tight as this was the first thing I checked.

I mentioned the problem to Stuart at Davies Angling in Staines who is an excellent pole angler and he asked me what pole I was using. When I told him, he explained exactly what was wrong. The Shimano Technium is supplied with top two sections not top three like many other poles and this means that the elastic on my pole only went through two sections. Stuart demonstrated how with a bigger fish the short elastic soon loses it’s stretch under pressure and stiffens up enough to cause the hook to pull out.

I have ordered three number three sections from Dave Higham at Oham Lakes and I will run all my elastic through three sections and hopefully will have solved that particular problem. That is the wonder of this sport - it is so varied that there is always something new to learn and someone more experienced than you who can help you. That is what the PAA should really be for, not just training coaches.

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Tuesday 21st July saw my first day of coaching of the summer holidays and I had two more full days that week. I had forgotten how hard intensive coaching can be and by the end of the week I was shattered. Lee Blundell was unavailable on the second day but Barry Smith from our curry club stepped in to help. He was a bit worried about not being a good enough angler to coach but his communication and people handling skills (he was an Inspector in the Metropolitan Police before retirement) more than made up for his lack of experience.

The third day was at Frobury Fishery with a group from Connexions at Reading. These lads had a great time and caught lots of small carp and tench. I had the opportunity to meet Tom Woolmer the key worker who I had only spoken to by ‘phone and email.

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