The Junior Match went ahead as planned, even though my breath was firmly held in the hope of some better weather than we had been experiencing lately. Although the wind had dropped, the rain was till around. But it didn't stop the Middle Lake at Revels looking very pretty as the picture above shows. Shortly after pegging the lake out, I did have to politely ask a Carp angler from Dead Tree Lake to remove himself from the Middle lake because it was reserved for a Junior Match. He did so, but that wasn't the last we would hear from him.
The draw was done and everyone headed off to their swims for the day. As we were setting the abuse started from the aforementioned object from Dead Tree Lake. After calming a couple of parents down, I went to sort out the situation for myself.
I am not going to waste space on this blog on vermin like this, but I will say that, as Junior Secretary of Dorchester & District Angling Society, hell will freeze over before I let MY Juniors get exposed to this kind of behaviour. The situation was firmly dealt with and Jason was informed about the incident.
The pegging went as follows.
Jack
Max
Ollie
Noah
Joseph
Jake
The match started well for everyone except Jack, who struggled to find any bites to begin with, but you should never count him out and he started to winkle out some fish on the pole.
Max was always going to be up against it compared to the others because of the lack of a feeder line, with the island margin being so shallow. But his use of the pole was impressive even if the fish didn't necessarily agree by showing up in his peg.
Oliver continues to impress with his feeder work and persistence in tougher conditions. He caught the only Carp of the day in the last two minutes of the match. Noah is showing improvements of his own, with his casting and patience are coming along nicely. As is Joseph who, despite finding the branches of the same tree from almost impossible angles, fished well from start to finish.
Jake is responding to his coaching and I don't think there are many with his fizz for fishing, and you can't buy that anywhere or at any price...
The results are:
1st Oliver Smith - 6lb 7ozs
2nd Jake Taylor - 2lb 1oz
3rd Jack Copp - 2lb 1oz
You'd be blind if you hadn't noticed the tie for second place and this where part one of the real story of the day lies. With new medals, all engraved for 1st, 2nd & 3rd, I faced a dilemma about how to decide who gets what. But, the angler of the day for me by far was Jack Copp who, even before being asked, offered to take 3rd place voluntarily, gifting Jake his first ever reward in fishing. As his coach, I felt immense pride in Jacks act of unselfishness and I'm sure I speak for us all when I offer my thanks to Jack and congratulations to Jake.
Part two of the story came when almost everyone else had gone home. A chap, who had been fishing on the main lake on peg 22 (very close to the Middle Lake) sought me out to tell me that, he had been worried when he saw all the kids at the lake, wondering just how much peace he was going to get on his days fishing. But he said, and I quote.
"I have never seen such a well behaved group of children when I have been out fishing before. I was ready for shouting, screaming and running around. But I didn't hear a thing! It was like they were not even there."
Coaching our Juniors is very rewarding. But when you get days like today, it is not a job anymore, voluntary or otherwise. It is an absolute privilege and an honour. These six young people have made their coach very proud today.
Well done all.
Big thank you as always to all parents and fellow coaches. Special thanks to Jason Fricker and all at Revels for making us so welcome.
Graham Howard,
DDAS Junior Secretary.
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