On Thursday I picked up two lads in the 10-11 years age group from Slough, along with their teacher. I have worked with pupils from this school before and have long been an admirer of the great work the staff do.
Twynersh was the obvious choice of venue and we managed to get my favourite swim on the match lake. We started with the usual casting exercise which the boys found quite chalenging being absolute beginners but they both did very well and were soon fishing properly. I set them up with five metre whips without elastic so that they could really feel the fish I knew they would catch.
One lad was first of the mark with a little perch and while I was getting the camera ready he caught another. Not a massive brace of perch but one he will remember for the rest of his life as they were his first fish.
His fellow pupil soon caught his first but was unsure about holding it for the photo so was assisted by his teacher. Both boys caught more than a dozen fish each and were soon putting their own maggots on the hook and while the first lad was able to unhook most of his fish, the other could not quite bring himself to do so.
Nevertheless the day ended with a small victory for the second lad who began to get over his fear of fish and was able to touch one of the bigger perch he caught, spines and all. I am looking forward to working with these two again and anticipate further achievements for both.
I went straight from Slough to the Warren beat on the Wasing Estate and fished a few hours into dark in the hope of a barbel but without sucess. As is often the case, I met some interesting and pleasant fellow anglers which is one of the reasons I rejoin this syndicate every year.
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