On Sunday I was coaching again at Twynersh. When I arrived at 8am nearly every swim was taken and the bank side was pock marked with bivvies. The fishery must have had the population of a small village overnight! I managed to get one of my favourite swims on lake seven and set up the tackle ready for my students.

A couple of months ago I had been contacted seperately by two mothers who wanted me to teach their sons and I suggested that as it would be a few years before they could let the boys go fishing on their own, it might be a good idea to learn to fish with them. One of the mothers was the sister-in-law of my fly fishing student.

We started with a talk about fish and fishing and I explained a little about the natural history of the fish and the ethics of angling. We then did a little casting exercise but the boys were keen to start fishing so I set them up with five metre whips and pole floats and explained the basics of striking and landing fish.

One of the mums, Angela, was the first to catch a fish.

Angela and her first fish

She was a little worried about the pain she thought she might be causing the fish but I was able to put her mind at rest and explained that as fish are a very primative species they do not feel pain.

The sun was now very bright and bites became hard to come by, Angela caught the next fish also but gave it to her son Ruddi for the photo.

Ruudi with his mum\'s perch

Bites dried up altogether and in desperation I took Steffan along the bank to a corner where water flows from one lake to another through a pipe. This area is always full of fry and the perch prey on them. By feeding maggots into the stream of running water I was able to tempt several perch out from the roots of the overhanging bushes, one of them was over a pound and could be seen in the clear water taking the drifting maggots. This sight renewed the interest of Steffan and Ruudi who was becomming bored and had joined us. (This never fails, boredom is an angling coaches worst enemy.)

Steffan and his perch

I was able to help Steffan catch his first fish from this swim, a little perch but he will always remember it. We spent a long time in this pursuit but the water was so clear and the sun so bright that the fish became very wary but no more fish were caught.

The lesson was drawing to and end when we returned to the previous swims where the mothers had continued to fish and Evaleen caught the fish of the day.

Evaleen and her big bream
Evaleen with a Bronze or Common Bream about 3lb 8ozs.

This fish made their day (mine too!) and it was time to pack up. The fishing had been hard with very few bites (most unlike Twynersh) but we all enjoyed ourselves which is really what this is all about.

Group shot with the bream
Ruudi, Evaleen, Steffan (with bream) and Angela.

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