Lack of Youngsters in the sport? - Talk Angling fishing chat and tackle advice

Oneabung · 17th June 2008, 04:01 PM

Went to lindholme last weekend, there were at least 200 anglers there and still I felt like a youngster (at 36!)

Is it a case all over the country or are you guys seeing a decent amount of young anglers at your venues?

Neilio · 17th June 2008, 04:32 PM

Sadly only unsupervised youngsters at the commercials I visit.
They change swims every 10 mins when they dont catch.
You try and tell them to stay put and wait but they do not listen.
And when 1 hooks something they all run round with there rods and chuck in there thinking this is the only swim with fish in !!
Sometimes you cant help but sort out their badly shot rigs and re-tie that hook thats never going to stay on even if they do manage to hook one.
I feel sorry for them as they want to fish but end up getting disappointed due to the lack of action. They finish the day with a bad experience towards fishing and thats where the interest dies off.
We need more fisheries to do junior days with perhaps the club or waters own venue regulars to do the teaching, not many kids get proper coaching so this would be second best.
Commercials should recognize this as the youth are their future income.
Enough said.

richie · 17th June 2008, 04:46 PM

How old simon !

Oneabung · 17th June 2008, 04:58 PM

Richie, better check your profile out.... you appear to be 93 years old apparently, wonder how that happened!

JJGallagher · 17th June 2008, 05:27 PM

I'm 16 and have been fishing properly about 4 years and those people who run around give young anglers a bad name, the main problem is the lack of youth matchs and when there is a junior match the dads fish the match and people turn a blind eye. something has to done

andy taylor · 17th June 2008, 07:38 PM

bay malton do a lot for youngsters they have coaching and a lot of matches on the border complex

richie · 17th June 2008, 07:39 PM

Nice one simon , its not what you know , its who you know

richie · 17th June 2008, 07:48 PM

In answer to the original post , on the venues i fish its devoid of young uns . Maybe its because we fish the canals around Ur neck of the woods simon throughout the summer and the rivers in winter . the fish ain't as easy to catch as on the carp waters but hey , as Ive said before , it isn't all about what you catch

sunburntarms · 18th June 2008, 07:13 AM

I fished with 4 young lads on sat, if you read my blogg, and I told them plenty of times to fish in one area.

I told one lad off as I was having a 'break' while my heart rate calmed down after landing the 4 3/4 lb'r he jumped straight into my swim I let it go but I did mention it to him a little later.

Told him it was my swim, I fishing it before you came and I had baited it up and I knew what was going on, I said next time he did that I wouldnt be so leniant with him,

Also the lad who (if you read my blogg) was on his own and turned up just after I did, not only did I have trouble at gettng my whip back, his rod and reel were what you expect of a young lads, a bit battered to say the least. So I had to tell him to give it me back and also he was switching his swim every two minutes also and this was a lad who was experienced in fishing yet still was going from one swim to another, and in the end I had to tell him to make up his mind where he was fishing.

In the end I just gave up, I was tired and packed up.

But the best part of the day was when I re-rigged up two of the lads rods and reels and wiht their first chucks back into the pond they both caught fish, good uns too. They saw and felt what I was telling them in using wagglers and the depth of the pond.

Also I tried to instill them that you need to fish in one area and stick with it, moving around the pond every two minutes will mean you catch less fish, I then showed them that it was possible to fish any part side of the pond you were in as it is not very big. I showed them that even with my 6m whip i was reaching the other side, and not only was I reaching any part of the pond that I was also able to catch from any part of the pond. so there was plenty of fish so you have to stick with one area and just fish it.

I think one lad took this on, showing him that if you consistently hit the same point you are attracting fish, esp if you chuck in a few freebies, also if you chuck in freebies it can occupy the smaller fish while your bait could attract the bigger fish, well that is the theroy anyway.

The ruling where I fish is under 11 have to be accompanied by an adult, but that means you get groups of lads like I saw on sat.

All they need is a bit of tutoring, a bit help, I know the very basics in fishing and I am learning thro websites like this, tv and magazines and such like, but if they can grasp the basics then they will be 'hooked' (pardon the pun) to the sport for good.

!!5 Ways Lakes !! · 18th June 2008, 07:43 AM

At 5 Ways we don't allow anyone under 14 to fish alone we insist on a adult being present,the reasoning behind this is that anglers and me do not want to spend the day baby sitting. We still get parents dropping kids at the gate and leaving, when the kids arrive at the bank they are told the rules and asked to phone their parents,most of the time the answer is they have gone out or shopping for the day and I don't know their phone number. These have been as young as 7 years old. I openly encorage parents to bring their kids but ask them to stay on site have a cuppa or go for a walk. We hold matches every year for Cubs and Scouts.