The Fishing Coach

Last weekend I went to Londonderry with the PAA as guests of the Loughs Agency on their two day Angling Fair. The idea was to show them our style of coaching as they are in the process of establishing their own coaching network. Unfortunately there was no water available on the site so all the physical activities such as casting had to be done on grass and various other activities were carried out in a marquee. Derek North had asked me to teach basic fly casting ( a subject I was a little rusty in). Waggler and feeder casting were also covered outside.

Coaching a young fly fisherman

Coaching waggler casting

Coaching feeder casting

Inside the tent tables had been arranged around the walls and pike, pole, carp and general coarse fishing as well as sea fishing and fly tying, demonstrations were given.

Teaching how to tie sea fishing rigs

Pole fishing instruction

Fly tying instruction

Flytying student

Carp rig clinic

Youngsters being shown insects and crustaceans

The Loughs Agency complex in Londonderry is very impressive and we were all very jealous of their facilities, especially the displays under a domed roof concerning the salmon, its life style and environment. We were made very welcome by everyone we met and apparently our contribution was well received by the public who seemed to flock to the site despite the showers. The Broomhill hotel we stayed in was very comfortable, the food excellent and the service superb. The picture below shows what they had to put up with but it gives no indication of the weird senses of humour that the hotel staff will probably tell their grandchildren about.

The team

The only letdown in the whole experience was the travelling. I left home at 3.15 a.m. on Friday morning and drove to Pershore near Worcester with Lee Blundell. Here we met Derek North who had organised the whole thing. With several other coaches we piled into a mini bus and a van and drove to near Preston where we picked up some more coaches. Then on to Scotland where near Lockerbie we picked up two more of the team and on to Stranraer for the ferry. A very fast crossing on the Seacat took us to Belfast with only the drive right across Ulster to Londonderry to complete.

We set up the stands for the next day at the Loughs Agency and finally reached the hotel at 9.30pm where they offered us a full dinner menu without batting an eye. After two days of coaching we were worried about the return journey, as the weather forecast was full of gale warnings and we were convinced that the ferry would be cancelled. The gales failed to materialise and the return journey went without a hitch… but still took nearly fourteen hours.

Great fun, a great welcome, wonderful people and good company! What more could you want?

If you'd like to leave a comment on this post, here's how.

In the middle of last week Aidan and I returned to the river Thames, the scene of his recent triumphs and found the river flowing a little stronger but still in perfect condition. The method was the same as on his first visit but this time he was equipped with a more powerful rod, the Shimano Specialist that I had used on my last visit. After the usual half a dozen casts with maggots in the feeder and no hook length just to get some feed into the swim I fitted the same short, five and a half pound hook length and baited the size fourteen hook with three maggots.

I cast the feeder into the usual spot and we sat back and waited. Nothing happened for about an hour, despite about six recasts with the feeder refilled and I began to wonder if the fish had become wary of the short hook length. I then lengthened the hook length to four feet to place the baited hook well away from the feeder in what the fish may well consider to be a safer area, the next cast resulted in a sharp pull on the tip and the usual drop back bite.

Aidan lifted the rod and bullied the fish away from the far bank roots as I had shown him. The fish weighed four pounds ten ounces.

The next fish was a monster at six pounds five ounces and took all of Aidan’s newly learned skills to keep it out of the many snags on the far bank. This is a huge fish for a fifteen year old lad and only an ounce below my best chub.

The last fish of the day was five pound fourteen ounces, making his two day total of chub up to six, four of which were over five pounds.

I don’t think he yet realises how lucky he has been!

If you'd like to leave a comment on this post, here's how.