It’s not often that I travel to a junior event with low enthusiasm, but with the low attendances that we have had lately, I’m at a low ebb. This was TODBER MANOR for crying out loud! One of the best fisheries in the country right now and, in my mind, it would be the one venue that everyone would want to come to especially with a special price on the day tickets (Thank you
John).
With only four juniors coming it was touch and go as to where we would be able to fish at such a busy venue. But, as it turned out, it was an advantage in the end. The little Firs Lake that only has six pegs, has a line of trees on the south bank which would offer very welcome shade to those that came. Todber being Todber, there was a pleasant easterly breeze that helped cool us down too. Step out into the sun however and you were exposed to the thirty-three-degree heat that everyone else was suffering! (Kudos to the match men on Ash Lake for sitting it out in the full sun).
But I have always vowed to give it everything, even if only one junior turned up, and that is what I did.
I set up one flag at the shop end of the lake so people would know where we are and then my own gear for the demonstrations. It was shallow fishing day today, my favourite of all the fishings. The demos give me chance to find any holes in the knowledge of the shrimps and we found a few which we can work on.
All set up and Mr Bass arrived to help out today. He was shortly followed by Annamama who clearly needs bigger flags as she drove straight passed me sat there fishing. They got almost to Ash Lake and Hillview Lake before she finally spotted me and then screamed across the lake asking where she should park? I told her the large, flat, concreted area where all the cars were was a good place to start…
At almost the same time, Josiah and Sexy Dad arrived and swims were chosen. Jo plonked himself in a sensible shady spot, but Annamama want sun, and she would get it too! Of course, the fact that they didn’t have an umbrella would have been a problem if it wasn’t for SUPER COACH! Yes, the red pants were on the outside of the waterproofs again as I swooped down and offered them mine. (I wasn’t wearing waterproofs, I’m not completely insane!) Jon’s mind was blown by the technology of zips sewn into my brolly that allow the passage of a pole through them. A cool feature that I have never yet used because I usually have the brolly over the top of me or, better still, avoid rain completely!
The mass influx of two juniors slowed to a halt and I reached for my phone to check for messages. Sure enough I had two apologies from Faith’s entourage and the Orams saying that they were running late. Rather than do the Demo’s twice, I would wait and got the fishing underway.
Aquaboy won doughnut of the day by falling flat on his back on his fishing equipment when he was setting up. (No rods wear harmed during this exercise). Even more amusingly, although the sun was to the south, the wind was in the north. This turned all tilted umbrellas into parachutes. Ollie is a fidget bottom and was AWOL from his seat box. The box was obviously feeling the heat and wanted to have a lie down. The wind took pity on the seat box and assisted it into the prone position by using the umbrella as a sail. The now reclined seat box vomited all of Ollie pellets onto the ground and I’m sure it felt better afterwards. Better up than in…I didn't get a picture of the 'resting seat box'. Anna and I just kind of watched it go over in slow motion... Instead I have added a picture of Anna 'Just holding the rod'... Looks like fishing to me...
All this silliness was watched by Josiah and James in amusement. Jo suffers from a skin condition and is undergoing treatment for it. I was a little concerned for the lad’s health in this hot sunshine but, a little vitamin D does help his skin. Probably not in the great gobs of it that were being hurled at us from the heavens though. James had it covered with a gallon of factor fifty and a paint roller. We did get a picture of Jo who had now been turned into a somewhat ghostly looking figure. Think of a battered cod fillet just before it is dropped into the oil…
Because of the bright sunshine and Jo's now brilliant white skin, the photo was subject to a little sun glare, but I did manage to use photo shop to edit the picture. See before and after pictures below…
After Photo shop...
The Orams arrived and got set up. Also lacking an umbrella, Tim dragged his screaming wallet to the shop to buy one. One umbrella and a sobbing wallet later, a shiny new brolly was unfurled behind subsonic, but how to get it to stand up? Tim was fully prepared to stand and hold it in position whilst James fished his little heart out. Time for SUPER COACH again. I cobbled together a makeshift brolly arm and Tim was relieved of his ‘Brolly girl’ roll…
The artful bodger strikes again…
After a sleepless, rubbish night for Faith, they had decided to come along for the tutorial but not to fish. I personally think that Lydia just wanted to gently caress every guru item in the shop, something for which she has been warned about before. Personally, I can’t abide tackle tarts. Gear is gear, right? I mean, you don’t have to turn up to a lake with say ‘Preston Innovations’ printed on everything except your underpants, do you? (FYI, Preston do not do pants yet. But rest assured that I will be getting some when they do).
With a giant crowd of four juniors assembled, I started to drone on about fishing with a pellet waggler. Jon and I had already had a little go for them just before the demo and it was not looking promising. They were there but just did not seem quite ready to go for a pellet wag. I knew I could get them with a pole, but that wasn’t the exercise. Nevertheless, I got on with what I felt was a reasonable demo because no one yawned even once! Eventually, the water turned black with interested Carp, and I managed to snare a mud pig to prove my point. Everyone was sent away with boosted confidence, and I even saw some pellet wagglers being assembled. Nothing makes you feel like you have done your job well than when you see juniors trying out what you feared may have been boring them to death.
Faith had a go at Pellet Wag on my seat box whilst Lydia went off to appease her Guru fixation. Mike was so tired I don’t think he cared! They came back after having spent a full five pounds and Lydia trying to hide orange fingers….
A bit more fishing and it was time for demo two. Shallow fishing with a pole this time. I observed more yawning this time. Maybe it was the heat. Maybe it was later in the session than normal but, on the advice of the two teachers that I know, say ‘stuff ‘em’ and carry on regardless.
I was please for Mike that he felt so relaxed that he could comfortably fall asleep but having to get progressively louder to combat his snoring didn’t do my voice any good later on… I showed them some different rigs and how to hold and use the pole. I also got the chance to demonstrate how to feed whilst using a long pole Another mud pig in the bag and I was pleased with the two demos’ today. They shredded my voice a bit, but it was worth it. Below: A Mud Pig and a Carp....
As always, it was time to pack up and say goodbye before I knew it. The junior sessions go by so fast for me that I swear I am going to meet myself coming in one day. The heat was exhausting, and we all suffered, but I think it was worth it. If had not have had the protective shade from the trees, I may have had to cancel the session on safety grounds. I measured a temp of twenty-two- degrees with my phone in the shade which is more than acceptable.
I’m proud to say that all the fish caught today were treated with full respect. Freshly wetted mats, fast photos, and returned quickly and safely. Well done everyone…
Big thank you Mr Jon Bass for helping me out today. He gave me some ideas for nicknames. But fortunately for him, I forgot what they were! Thank you, Jon…
Thank you and well done to Faith, Josiah, James, Ollie, Anna, James, Tim, Mike, and Lydia for braving the heat and coming to fish with me today.
Final thank you to John Candy and all the staff at Todber Manor. You always make feel so welcome and looked after, thank you.
Our next event is on the 27th of August. The venue is to be finalised owing to the ongoing situation at Harbourbridge which I truly hope sorts itself out quickly. I will contact everyone when a decision is made.
Finally, from me. Please let everyone know about us. I/we work so hard to make DDAS Juniors the best it can be. Low attendance is disheartening for me and will make fisheries consider not allowing us to take up valuable pegs/lakes during their peak season. I am fully aware that there are other things to do other than fishing and I may look at not doing anything next year in August to allow for other things to happen and to concentrate more on family days. We reached the goals I set last year for attendance, but we are way off this year. Please, do your best, get us out there via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, noticeboard, and carrier Pidgeon…
Thank you…
Juniors Sec…
Sorry ladies, he's taken... Apparently, Georgina is open to negotiation... Contact #illsortyourbinsout