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Junior Fish in on the
River Teme |
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Junior Fish in on the
River Teme |
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Welcome to the Barbel Society Junior section.
Do you enjoy fishing rivers and trying to catch Barbel in particular?
If the answer is yes, and you are under 18 years of age, then why not join the Barbel Society junior section?
Why? Well for less than the price of one visit to the cinema a year you get:
· two superb Barbel Fisher magazines packed full of interesting articles, and if you feel adventurous, you can have a go at writing your own piece for the magazine
· four informative newsletters, with our own junior section that often includes competitions with great prizes.
· access to a fantastic members only forum, where you can ask questions and read tips about fishing.
· the chance to attend FREE junior fishing days on great Barbel rivers, where you can receive instruction from some of the countries top Barbel anglers.
· you also get the chance to attend regular regional meetings and FREE entry into the Barbel Society annual conference, where no junior walks away empty handed.
· The junior section also allows you to meet and become friends with other juniors interested in fishing for Barbel.
Barbel Society membership runs June 16th - June 15th. To join, then print off the membership form, fill it in and then send it, along with a cheque or postal order for £8.00 annual membership fee made payable to 'The Barbel Society’ to the membership secretary; Dave and Marilyn Brown, 1 Larchwood ,Castlegate, Scotforth, Lancaster, LA1 4QG.
Please include your date of birth.
Junior Membership Application Form
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Juniors - Tips of the month - JULY
- (13/07/2007) |
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Juniors - Tips of the month - JUNE
- (12/06/2007) |
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Juniors - Tips of the month - MAY
- (29/05/2007) |
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Juniors - Tips of the month - MARCH
- (12/03/2007) |
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Christmas - Will Golightly
- (22/12/2006) |
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Days Out With The Juniors
- (27/07/2006) |
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Until I sat down to type this piece I didn’t realise what a daunting task it would be to try and put into words the stories of the Society’s days out. I could either ramble on for page after page repeating the same things, or end up with an itemised list of who did what, where and when. Hopefully, and with a bit of editing from Mr Pope, I’ve ended up with an article that falls between the two.
Firstly let me explain about how all the days come about. We as a junior panel start the New Year with a meeting to sort out how many days we can do, the dates, and which venues to use, what equipment we need, and where we can improve as a group. I then attend a Barbel Society committee meeting to run the details past the main committee and gain any input or ideas and funding we may require. This is followed by the task of ringing around, securing waters, ascertaining access and whether we can find the space to park the cars and erect the marquees. Volunteers to man the office, first aid etc have to be contacted; our sponsors, www.baitsonline.co.uk and Drennan International are made aware of the dates and numbers expected. The tutors are given a list of the dates they are required, and finally a list of all those attending on the days is sent to the relevant police forces for the areas we are using for checking. Only people who are invited and have been checked will get the coveted security badge allowing access on the day. This just leaves me to mention the absolute hero of the junior days, Ged Lineham our professional photographer. He spends weekends away with us and never gets the chance to fish, and he covers more miles than anyone during the day running back and forth photographing everything from barbel and chub to people who just want a keepsake of the day, a truly athletic hero.
The 2004 campaign.
As always we started on the River Dove courtesy of Burslem Isaac Walton A.S and their secretary Neil Degg. Fourteen keen young barbelers and assorted tutors assembled on the car park at the end of July. Although the previous week had seen torrential rain, once again when our day came around we had glorious sunshine and a clear sky. Once the juniors had been assigned a tutor and descended on the river it wasn’t long before the radios crackled into life telling of the first barbel hooked and landed. Trefor West, Chris Ponsford and Mark Rodgers had elected to fish the upper section and it was this trio, amidst mounting self-pressure and competitiveness, whose juniors were first away to a great start. With the river carrying a bit of colour, fish spotting on the lower section was proving to be difficult but as the morning progressed more and more fish were landed. Barbel, chub and some lovely brown trout were coming out at regular intervals, all lovingly returned safe and sound. As the day wore on so the colour dropped out of the water allowing us to show the kids, and parents, the wonderful sight of barbel feeding in no more than two foot of water. We spent most of the afternoon drawing feeding fish into the shallows under our feet and explaining how to separate the chub and how to target, by careful feeding and thought, the biggest barbel in the shoal. Lessons they could take back and put into practice on their own waters. All too soon though the day came to an end, and after a few thank yous and the presentation of prizes, everyone made their way home. Some of us who hadn’t fished during the day stayed on to fish into dark, but after the Pons spotted a big cat (that’s for another story) we decided discretion was the better part of valour and even we called it a day.
Congratulations must go to the following juniors having landed their first ever barbel on the Dove day, Phil O’Neill and Chris O’Neill.
August on the River Teme
After being approached by a young lady at the conference (careful the wife might read this) who asked if we could do anything for a group of students she teaches (honest) we were left with a problem, where to take them for their first fishing expedition. This is where being in The Barbel Society pays huge dividends. It couldn’t have been more than a couple of hours later when I was approached by Dave Mason and Duncan Normanton who’d heard of our plight and offered us the use of their private fishery on the Teme. That is how we ended up on one of the most beautiful fisheries I’ve ever seen.
Once again the days leading up to our day had seen thunderstorms and torrential rain, but as ever the dawn came and with it a blue sky and warm sunshine. Eight very eager, if slightly tired, young people from Wiltshire arrived on the bank on time thanks to the efforts of their school coordinator, teacher, surrogate mum, bus driver and B.S member Marianne Farrow. After a drink and a bacon buttie provided by the Society, it was down to business. Dave Mason and some of the tutors spent an hour going through the what’s, whys and wherefores of barbel fishing to give them all a basic understanding of the day ahead. The funniest bit was when Dave ran off across the field pretending to be a hooked fish while a surprised young lad played him from a chair in the middle of the field.
Once everyone had paired up and gone off to their chosen areas it was time to put the kettle on back at base camp. We hadn’t even made the brew before the first shout came across the radio. At the very end swim young Tyrone Powell, ably tutored by Dave Whalley, had landed his first ever barbel. Arriving in double quick time we found the fish resting in the net and a visibly shaking Dave and Tyrone grinning from ear to ear. Setting up the unhooking mat, Duncan, who’d driven from down from Oldham for the morning, readied the cameras. It wasn’t until we lifted the fish onto the mat that it became apparent why they were both shaking. Before us lay an enormous barbel. A flick of the forceps had the hook out, photos were quickly taken and the fish was back in the net resting in the water. A few minutes passed while we set up the sling and scales and allowed the mighty fish to recover before it was weighed and returned safely to fight another day, and at 10.4 it wasn’t a bad way to start your barbel career. Hearty handshakes and congratulations were cut short as the next radio message came through, and off we went again. Out of the lads present, six caught barbel, some even caught three or four, but top rod on the day was Simon Asbury’s student who caught four plus a load of chub. Everyone had a fantastic time in wonderful surroundings and we finished the day off with a BBQ in the evening sun, a truly memorable day out. BIG BIG thanks to the tutors, Dave and Duncan, Ian Paul, and the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust for the presentation packs, www.baitsonline.co.uk for supplying the bait used and Kingdown Community School, for trusting us with a very special group of kids.
September on the River Severn at Beauchamp Court
What should have been the jewel in the junior calendar proved to be the hardest days fishing I’ve witnessed for a long time. After months of planning and running around sorting out logistical problems, car parking and sheep in fields, and I must thank Steve Hitch for his help on those last two points, it came down to fishing for a bite on the day and any bite would have done.
The previous day had seen many of us down on the water clearing swims to make casting easier, safer access, erecting the marquees etc. We had already posted letters through the houses adjacent to the fishery a month before explaining what would be happening but we still made a courtesy call on the Friday afternoon to iron out any last minute concerns. Brian from the big house kindly offered us his garden so we had somewhere flat to put the marquees, and the other residents all wished us well for the next day.
The day dawned to a blue sky (once again it never rains on junior days) and a low river, not ideal conditions for Beauchamp. With twenty-two juniors present the day got off to a flier when within a couple of minutes of casting out Mathew Ragdale landed a good sized chub. It would be nice to report that after this start everyone caught loads, but unfortunately besides Alex Timney and Dave Brown losing a barbel in a near side snag no one could even muster a bite. Despite the efforts of some of the best Severn anglers around the fish just weren’t playing, and the day ended with a grand total of just three chub. This is when being a tutor is hard work. How many can, no matter how good an angler, keep a relative stranger (junior) interested and occupied for seven hours and leave them with a feeling of having had not a good, but a great day out? This is the value of the men and women we have as tutors. Every time I passed Sean Archer he was explaining different rigs or different ways with baits, Trefor was cracking jokes to Tom Haggett and the Pons was being the Pons and keeping his junior and a large audience entertained with his tales of the riverbank. Every one of the tutors was a star and deserved to catch a fish, but it was not to be. Even the lads on the committee came down after a long meeting to try to turn things around but to no avail.
Back at the marquee we all assembled for the team photos and the presentations of bait from www.baitsonline.co.uk and goodie bags from Peter Drennan at Drennan International. President Fred made a touching speech and everyone left with the feeling of a great day out even if the fish didn’t want to play.
October and we’re on the River Kennet at Lower Benyons
Our first trip to this Mecca of Barbel fishing saw juniors and tutors from all over the country making the long journey south. The benefit of using the same group of tutors for all our junior days became very apparent on this one, as they all knew how the days work and we were soon on the river and underway. A cold easterly breeze wasn’t helping matters but it wasn’t long before Tom Haggett bagged the first barbel of the day. Fishing the weirpool, under the guidance of venue regular Paul Hales, Tom’s fish at just over 6lbs came midway through the morning much to the delight of his younger brother Jack. With rod tops continually signalling the presence of fish in every ones swims positive pulls were never the less hard to come by, and it was Tom who caught the next fish a lovely conditioned lower seven. By afternoon every one was anticipating fish to be landed as the wind died down. Jack Haggett, ably assisted by surfer dude Dick Dowing was next into action with a hard fighting 5 pounder, closely followed by Alex Folwell with a monster chub from the weirpool. Then Jack was in again with another fine fish, making life interesting between the two brothers, especially as dad Ian was happily blanking in a swim between the two of them. Not to be outdone though elder brother Tom then served the coup de grass when he banked his third and final fish of the day.
With an hour to go Lee Turley, fishing with guru Graham Elliott, landed his first ever barbel. The smile on his face said everything about why it’s such good fun putting these days on and explains why he couldn’t stop shaking for twenty minutes afterwards. With the wind picking up again, it was soon time to call it a day and head back to the car park. New friendships had been cemented, handshakes all around, presentations and then home.
I hope through these ramblings that I’ve managed to give you an insight into the Barbel Society Junior section, its workings and why we do it. The days out are strictly controlled, as they have to be to ensure the safety and well-being of all who attend. But they are great fun to organise and run. I could have mentioned The Barbel Society Camping Club, the Chipmunk experience, Pons’s Big Cat adventure and many other stories but feel they are best left to another article, after I’ve checked with the Societies lawyers!
Most of all though the days are about new friendships, fun and learning. |
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