Warwickshire Avon - Gobemouche and Gormandism

Sam's interest in fishing can waver at times but then he has other interests like most kids his age. 6 years in to his fishing he is still on a steep learning curve and when he got hold of a freebie whip from Angling Direct with a pot of soft pellets and a pole float he was eager to try it out. 

The soft pellets I somehow left in the bait stash "stupid daddy" however we had a pint of maggots and this pedestrian area of the Warwickshire Avon has maggot munchers in numbers. 

For this short evening session we would be joined by Nic from Avon Angling Uk and his youngest daughter Jasmine for some simple no frills fishing. The colour can vary considerably here and oddly it was coloured up one side and gin clear the other.

Some haphazard maggot throwing got the fish feeding and it didn't take long for Sam to get the first bite. A succession of tiny fish to start with, bleak and small rudd who were almost taking it off the surface but Sam's idea to deepen it up to get to the bigger fish worked a treat. 

What kid fishing doesn't like to see the dip of the float and here because the water is static almost its an impatient float anglers dream. 

He got use to the whip pretty quickly but then there isn't much you can get wrong is there. I thought I made a hash of unwinding the pole float at first but the veritable birds nest unravelled itself  thankfully quite easily. 

Casting was a pain for a little fella as he had to stand up every time but then when seated a flick of the wrist was almost as accurate, so that method was used almost exclusively.

Some decent rod benders succumbed to the red maggots with perch, rudd and a hybrid offering some fighting spirit.  The hybrid especially with Sam having to follow it down the river.

I never got a look in however when the bites are coming thick and fast its nice to see Sam enjoying himself so much. 

I've been tasked to take some friends of ours kids for a fishing session in November time and certainly for beginners a whip is a great way to catch fish. You can see why the method can often be match winners on rivers as fish to hand certainly increase the bait in water time. The 2 hours went quick, this was a fun session and Sam thanked me for taking him when I was tucking him in to bed.