SHORE ANGLER
JOB DONE
On a mission to make sure his son catches the fishing bug, one dad recalls a day neither of them will ever forget
H
aving children inspires you to share the knowledge and skills you have gained during your lifetime. With each of my four children, three girls and a boy, I have endeavoured to ignite a passion for fishing so they can experience the joy this great sport has to offer and give me the chance to pass on my knowledge from 52 years of fishing. This also perpetuates the next generation of sea anglers: an important task for us all during this digital age. Each of the girls expressed a brief interest – possibly just to have Dad’s undivided attention for a few hours and get out of doing their chores – but eventually they moved on to other things. This left Mikey, my youngest, who, in order to nurture a budding interest in fishing, I always try to find something to catch, even if it is an ever-obliging dogfish. However, last year was a washout; every time we planned a session the weather turned foul and the fish went on holiday. Typical!
of some anglers being bitten off by tope when fishing a nearby bass mark. The next day saw me making up a few tope rigs. I opted for a heavy-duty pulley rig as the area is quite rocky and this would cast easily whilst giving me a long rubbing trace once a fish was hooked. Mikey watched eagerly; he was very excited at the prospect of catching a proper shark and, as the evening session approached, his anticipation increased ever higher. Mickey’s first tope was just shy of 30lb
BUCKET LIST
As winter loosens its grip each year, I find myself planning for the warmer months ahead. I make a mental bucket list of things I must do. Many of these, like mullet fishing, are carried forward from previous years as, even with the best intentions, life and work have a habit of getting in the way. This year one item on my ‘to do’ list was to find Mikey some good fishing and hopefully better his biggest fish, which as it stood was a bass of 3lb. With the arrival of the warmer months the holiday season kicks in and my self-employed workload increases considerably. However, I’d made myself a promise so the first session I planned was just to catch some fish and hopefully the flounders in the Mawddach Estuary would play their part. It didn’t go quite as planned, as although I caught a flounder and Mikey proudly caught his first ever silver eel, he’d forgotten his coat which saw us taking 10-minute turns with my jacket to stave off the chilly onshore breeze. The second session was to a local pool where a few small tench kept us entertained, but I still needed something special to spark interest and a lifelong fishing journey for Mikey. Then, by chance, while talking to a fishing buddy, I heard
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SEA ANGLER ISSUE 607
17/02/2022 12:55
