We fished at the Hawkhurst Fishery in Kent. Alan and Simon were there in teaching roles, Mat, Luke, and Rob were there to absorb as much information as possible, and I was there to buy breakfast!!
Here is a catch summary:
Luke – a nice Common Carp of around six pounds.
Mat – a Common Carp of 23lb 8 ounces, that smashed his previous best by a full 17lb. The landing of this fish was one of the most dramatic I have ever seen, and I will write a separate piece on this one moment. It certainly deserves it. Here it is:
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=468&p=5493#p5493
Rob – Rob didn't actually land any fish but he did hook in to one of the very big Catfish that populate (and probably terrorise) the lake. As soon as it was hooked this thing took off like an express train, and even though Rob was using stout tackle there was absolutely nothing he could do to stop it. Line poured from the reel as if the clutch didn't exist and I could see it in the air as it ran from Rob's left and tore across to an island some fifty yards to his right. In the end, and perhaps inevitably, the fish snapped the line to leave us all, and Rob in particular, somewhat deflated. The last known report of the Catfish was that it was still going and is now somewhere north of Birmingham!!
Alan – two singles of around 5lb and 8lb, both Commons.
Simon - 10lb 8oz Common, a 18lb Mirror, a 21lb Common and a 23lb 8oz Common. Plus two Catfish - 10lb and 15 lb. A very fine haul, so well done Simon. I should add (and Simon may not thank me for this) that the largest of his fish did a very good job of beating the hell out of him. Not once, but several times and, as I was in attendance trying to “help”, I accidentally (?) cracked Simon over the head with the stiff part of the weigh sling (I think we are still friends). The fish was so energetic and so strong that I briefly forgot about “Fish Care” and turned my attention instead to “Simon Care”!!!!!
Me – errr, nothing!
Please see below for the pictures.
The day began well and everyone was on time. We all took a walk around the lake and discussed water craft in some depth. Once we had loaded our gear in to our respective swims, we enjoyed a rather tasty breakfast on the club house veranda, over which we discussed bank-side etiquette.
Simon and Alan then took the guys through the whys and wherefores of rig tying and safe methods of fishing. Fish care was emphasised again and again. Later, we all had a lesson on using a marker rod, fishing from the clip, and spodding. Happily, some fish were caught so we had the opportunity to see safe handling methods at first hand. We even had the pleasure of a brief visit from Rig-Shy, and it was great to see him.
I won't go on about the teaching, but suffice to say that lesson after lesson was dealt out as various issues or questions arose. By the close of play all the guys (even me) were tying quality rigs and using very safe but effective methods. Some tackle boxes were topped up with items from the tackle shop, and we even had a couple of cold beers under the mighty heat of a noon-time sun.
So all that is left for me now is to say a huge thank you to Alan and Simon for being first class teachers, and an equally huge thanks to Rob, Luke, and Mat for being such pleasant fellows and keen, open-minded pupils.
I very much feel that everyone got a great deal from our first Learning Day, and I look forward to staging many, many more in future.
Thanks again to everyone
S
As some of you know, I like putting numbers to things. But I thought the little exercise below could put the value of this Learning Day in to some kind of perspective.
Let us say that the average age of Mat, Luke and Rob is 25.
Let us say that they will enjoy another forty years of angling.
Let us say that each will go fishing twice per month.
And lastly, let us say that each will catch on average two fish per session.
We are left with this calculation:
3 people x 480 fishing sessions x 2 fish = 2880 fish caught safely, treated properly and lovingly returned unharmed.
I feel rather proud of that!
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Luke's Fish
Mat's TWENTY (23b 8 ounces)
Simon's Mirror
Simon's Double
Simon's 23lb 8 ounce Common
The same fish beating Simon up
With me waiting to clonk Simon over the head with the weigh sling - Sorry Si' 
) again soon.