All Things Piscatorial

One evening in early January I received a phone call from a lady asking if I would give her eleven year old Nephew Matthew some fishing lessons.
 
After the usual required round of questioning I learned that Mathew had until now been visiting the local River Itchen with his pals and adopted the "chuck it and chance it" routine probably illegally to boot!

Incredibly Matthew could boast many small Grayling from his trips to the Itchen, but now like most budding young anglers, he feels he should branch out and learn more to catch bigger fish.

Karan, Matthew’s Aunt had explained to me that she was his mother’s sister and also her carer, and that Mathew and his thirteen year old sister played a huge part in the care of their severely handicapped mother.

Of course Matthew like most lads needed to be held back somewhat to learn the basic skills of angling, but he is a bright lad and was willing to listen and learn, which makes life so much easier for the Coach.

Firstly I introduced Matthew to the 4m whip and started from scratch, which he found a little frustrating at first but he became more and more fascinated as I explained why we plumb the depth and why we shot he line correctly.

After a while we were counting the seconds calculating the time it takes for the baited hook to fall to the bottom and the precise time to expect a bite.

By now Matthew, Auntie Karan, and myself were all having great fun catching 12oz Roach and Crucian Carp on the whip, Incidentally I had asked Karan in the car park if she had ever tried fishing herself, she replied no, and she "would rather watch paint dry" watch this space for Auntie Karan bagging up on Crucians.

Matthew has moved on from "chucking and chancing" to catch fish by design and we both look forward to our next outing, which will be with a full size rod and waggler and who knows Aunt Karan might exchange her golf clubs for a seat box and whip.

Matthew’s family has kindly allowed Steve Gray to add a couple of photographs to this story and are very grateful to "All Things Piscatorial" for sharing them.

By this Summer, when I think Matthew will be ready, he would very much like to catch a Carp, so if there are any Coaches out there who wouldn’t mind showing a young lad the art of Carp fishing, you would make someone very happy. Matthew said in exchange he will show you how to catch Crucian Carp on our little pond.

Jim Rice.

Dear Steve,
 
Just a quick note to let you know that I booked some fishing lessons for my 11 year old nephew for Christmas and I thought that I would let you know that he has really enjoyed fishing with Jim Rice. 

It was very easy to organise and Jim made it easy for me to get involved as little or as much as I liked.

I'm hoping that Jim will get a group going in the Eastleigh area because Matthew will be the first to book in!!
 
Regards
Karan Sealey

Well done to all concerned in making young Matthew’s dreams come true.

All Things Piscatorial .com salute you all.

Tight Lines

Steve Gray