Pages for under 18 anglers
A new start for under 18 Bay Malton anglers
The new Junior Development officer for the Bay Malton Angling
Club is David Smith who works full time for Get Hooked On Fishing.
Through a link between Get Hooked and Border Fisheries you can take
advantage from some of the best angling tuition available to anyone.
You will be able to learn the best
of all aspects of fishing
from tackle to fish handling and care, from watercraft to appreciation
of your surroundings plus much more.
You will have the chance to partake
in angling events,
meeting and learning from the big names in angling. It is an
opportunity that, if you take it, can help you to become the best you
can.
Below you can read about David in
his own words. You can also
read about the objectives of Get Hooked on Fishing. This is just the
start and you will need to return here often to learn about future
events.
David Smith
Probably the most frequent
question I get asked by people is when did I start fishing and why.
Well back in 1965 at the age of 5 I first picked up a fishing rod and
it was due to my mother.
Her father had fished, not for
relaxation but out of necessity. If he were able to catch a pike then
his family would have a good meal on Sunday. He worked as a miner, long
hours and little pay. His was the sole income for the household, and it
had to feed and clothe himself, his wife and 3 children. Meat was an
expensive commodity back in the 1920’s and fish was a readily available
substitute if you could catch it.
Granddad and his youngest
daughter (my Mother) would set off on their bicycles on Sunday morning
and after a 4 mile ride would arrive at the water they fished, a large
reservoir with a good head of pike. As they returned Grandma would be
waiting at the gate, looking out over the common to see if Granddad had
a white pillowcase strapped to his crossbar. If the pillowcase was
there then Grandma new it contained a fish and the family would have a
good meal, for the pillowcase on the crossbar was how granddad carried
his capture home. In this way by accompanying her father my Mother
developed a love of angling, and an understanding of nature, a passion
that would remain with her to this day.
Granddad died before
I was 2 years old, his fishing gear was distributed amongst the older
male members of the family, but Mum had hidden his pike rod on top of
the wardrobe for me, waiting for the time that I could use it. It was a
beautiful 2 piece built cane rod, seven feet long and to a small boy it
weighed a tonne.
Mother eventually took me fishing,
back to
the water she fished earlier with her Dad; we had all the right gear. A
porcupine quill float, a wooden centre pin reel, some worms, a few
hooks and Granddads rod, somehow it was never really mine it would
always be Granddads. That day I caught my first fish ( a perch) and I
was hooked; I cannot remember how many hours I spent on my own after
that, fishing was in my blood and the more I fished the more I wanted
to fish. Through my school and college years fishing was a passion that
fitted around my studies and yes there were times when it was hard to
find the middle ground, it was hard to stay in and revise for my A
Levels when I could have easily taken the day out to wet a line.
My
dad had started to fish with me when I was 6, it was great spending
time with him, what was even better was that dad could not have caught
a fish if his life depended on it, so I always came away having caught
more than him, it all to rapidly became the beginning of the end for
Dad’s fishing. He didn’t mind that I caught more fish than him; in fact
he was pleased to see me doing well, I just feel he spent so much time
in tangles or snags he simply lost interest. I was oblivious to Dad’s
plight at the time as are all young children; we can be so self-centred
in our early years.
I had begun match angling and age
19 I was
selected to fish for the North Staffordshire side in the 1979 National,
the event was a disaster. Of our 12-man team only five managed to catch
fish, I finished 17th in a 52 man section with just over 11oz of fish
from a swim that had more chance of producing bike wheels than good
fish. I was disgusted with the effort put in by some team members and
slowly my match angling began to tail off in favour of days out looking
for predators.
A few years on twinges of guilt
forced
me to take dad fishing, we went to a venue stuffed with carp between 4
and 10 lbs. I provided the gear, modern carbon rods, fixed spool reels
and a sure fire system that had produced over 150lbs of fish on my last
visit. It was great to fish with my dad again, I had decided not to
fish rather I would sit with dad while he bagged up, it would make up
for all the beatings he had endured years earlier. He cast in, straight
into a tree and then into the weeds finally he got it in the water.
Time after time he missed bites, eventually he managed to hook a fish,
it came off. Four hours later most of my tackle was hanging from trees,
embedded in weeds or rolled up in knots of line in my creel, we had
fished our hearts out and Dad had caught two carp both monsters (to
him) around the 6 lb mark, we decided enough was enough and laughingly
agreed it was a good job my dad didn’t have to provide fish for the
table. Sadly we never fished together again as Dad passed away shortly
after.
I think that sitting with Dad
watching him miss bites
and generally get into a mess made me realise that if I could get him
to catch a fish then I could do it for anyone. The seeds of angling
coaching had been planted and now nearly 20 years on I hold a level 2
coaching certificate, and coordinate one of the many Get Hooked on
Fishing schemes. Through my coaching I have been privileged to help
many people catch their first fish. I have seen the delight on their
faces reflect the feeling of achievement, the development of new skills
and the improvement that follows, but most of all I have seen angling
change the course of peoples life.
I have encouraged my
wife
and children to fish and have delighted in their success, watching them
win matches, appear on television and radio, demonstrate angling at
major events and ultimately extended their fishing into coaching,
freely passing on their knowledge to others. Oh and yes Mum is now in
her late 70’s and is still fishing with us, and watching her
grandchildren out do their Dad.
I have met many renowned
anglers and am extremely lucky that I can class many of them as
personal friends. One thing angling offers us all is the opportunity to
become part of a larger family, a family that religion, colour, gender
or disability has no influence over, a family of like minded people who
share a common passion. We become part of a worldwide family.
When
you need a solution to a problem angling uncannily seems to find it. We
can find the solitude to ponder issues as we fish alone or draw
reassurance from the knowledge that somewhere out there will be a
fellow angler who is willing to listen and moreover prepared to help.
Get
Hooked on Fishing is not the panacea for all things, but it will open
the door to a worldwide fishing family. Where you go once through that
door is entirely your own decision.
Dave
