It Took Me Two Years to Catch My First Fish...

I started fishing when I was only 8 years old.

My father had regaled me with 'stories' of catching trout using string and a bent pin. So, filled with enthusiasm my two brothers and I set off for the local canal near Macclesfield equipped with bent pin tied to a length of string and a stick. Much to our surprise, we caught absolutely nothing!

Soon after our fruitless introduction to fishing, my father came home from a business trip with a kids fishing pack and off we went again, this time filled with a certainty of catches that would feed the whole family.

Aside from a teabag, it was TWO years until I caught an actual fish. This was a long time to wait and most kids would have given up.

My two brothers showed very little interest after the first few trips yielded nothing at all. It was also, my mother says, that I was evading chores by making myself 'unavailable' rather than a sincere interest in catching fish.

I had a short, solid fibreglass two-piece rod with a very basic fixed-spool reel and line that was probably about 10lb strain. Not the most delicate or set-ups, but I knew no better. My school holidays were spent, more often than not, on the banks of the Macclesfield Canal. My technique left much to be desired. I was less than quiet and probably scared more fish away than I possibly attracted.

One day when I was about ten years old, I arrived at the canal. I stood atop the Clarke Lane Bridge and watched an elderly gent fishing from the tow-path. In just a few minutes he caught a small roach. That was it, I rushed down and plonked my gear next to him. Rather than telling me to be quiet or go away, he helped me.

First, after viewing my crude set-up, he removed about 50 yards of my poor quality and over-strength line and replaced this with a spool of what was about 4lb mono. He slid a porcupine quill float on and followed this with some shot. Lastly he added a hook-to-nylon trace with a hook that was tiny compared to the 'boat anchor' I'd been using. He set my depth to about as deep as I could handle with such a short rod, threw in a small ball of ground-bait and about a dozen maggots and instructed me to cast into the same place.

He taught me, amongst many other things that day, to not over-feed the fish and to loose feed maggots 3 or 4 at a time every few minutes or so.

In about ten minutes my float bobbed and slipped away. Encouraged by the gent, I lifted my rod and wound in. I caught my first fish, a roach of about 4 or 5 inches. I was thrilled and simply couldn't believe it.

In the space of a couple of hours, I caught several more, placing each into the nice old gent's keepnet. I wanted to take them home with me but he said no and said that we must let them go. With no camera, I was unable to convince my parents that I'd actually caught and I'm sure they believed it to be just a 'big fish story'.

I didn't see the old gent again but I began to catch on most trips and slowly refined my methods. More species followed and it wasn't long before I'd caught perch, rudd and I think gudgeon.

Today, I pass my knowledge along. I get pleasure out of helping others to catch and will spend time assisting when I can. It's much easier today with the internet, TV programs, a host of printed magazines and books for newbies to learn. Also, commercial fisheries make it very easy to catch from their well stocked waters and fishing platforms.