Early in December I was contacted by a chap called Richard Walker who wanted a day’s chub fishing on the river Kennet. At first I thought it was a wind up as anyone over twenty years old will realise that the original Richard Walker was a major influence on many anglers, both coarse and game. I will not try and list his many achievments in angling but just take a look at the books he wrote.

He also penned a weekly column in the Angling Times which I used to read avidly and it was through these that I developed my love of river fishing. As you can imagine I was thrilled to be able to pass on the knowledge gained from the master to his namesake.

Richard wanted to catch some chub with a float using a centrepin reel and we booked a day out for 14th December. This is always a risky business this time of year and on the day we found the river Kennet low and fairly clear. We were booked on the Warren beat of the Wasing Estate and after a brief tour of the river I introduced him to the centrepins we were to use.

Richard had brought his own reel (an Okuma Aventa 1000) but I showed him that it was not free running enough to trot a float. Instead I supplied two Bob James lightweight reels by J W Young, one loaded with 2.5 lb. Bayer and the other with 4lb Fireline. The one with the light line was matched with a Drennan Super Stick float rod and the other with my Harrison GTI match rod. If a customer is paying to be coached by me I prefer to provide him with what I consider to be the best tackle for the job.

Richard was already a capable angler but I was surprised at how quickly he began to master the use of a centrepin and the control of a trotted float. Due to the clarity of the river I decided that maggot was the most likely bait, fished on a small hook whilst feeding hemp and maggot.

The river was not so impressed and a couple of hours steady trotting and careful feeding soon passed. On our third swim, using the Harrison GTI with four pound braid and a three pound hooklength, he hooked his first fish. The fish fought very hard but was soon mastered and netted. It turned out to be smaller than I first thought at 4lb. 5oz. but a nice chub, nonetheless.

Richard and chub

He had also explained his lack of confidence with the maggot feeder and so I demonstrated how to set up a quiver tip rod and block end swimfeeder, once again with a light 3lb. hook length and size 18 hook. I explained the importance of regular and accurate casting and demonstrated how to set up the rig with a short hook length. This resulted in his second chub slightly smaller than the first and he later caught a small roach on the float.

We ended the day by fishing an hour into dark for chub with the maggot feeder set up and Richard hooked a much larger fish, probably a barbel, that took him into a snag and parted the hook length. I enjoyed the day with Richard and hopefuly my input will go some of the way to making him half the angler his namesake was.

Richard is now on the hunt for a free-running centrepin and a long match rod. As part of my regular follow up to customers, I have sent him a number of links to Ebay auctions and other websites and the assurance that he can ring me at any time with questions.

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