Police Anglers Take on Newent Youngsters

On Saturday 7th March 2009 the Gloucestershire Police Angling Team took on a team of young anglers from Newent Angling Club and the Young Anglers Project.

Despite a valiant effort from the Newent team it was a case of  experience over youth with the Police winning with a weight of 125lb 14oz. Newent recorded a very respectable  85lb 11oz.

Our thanks go to all those taking part and to Newent Angling Club for the generous use of their facilities.

Gloucestershire Police Team

Phil English              39lb 10ozs

Tania Shuttleworth   28lb 11ozs

Adi Innes                 24lb 0ozs

Andy Price               4lb 8ozs

Dwane Shuttleworth  8lb 11ozs

Nige Shuttleworth     5lb 15ozs

Gordy Pearce           2lb 15ozs

Brian Howard           1lb 8ozs

TOTAL:                   125lb 14ozs

Newent Juniors

David Newman  25lb 14ozs

Geoff Urch        17lb 10ozs

Joe Parker        11lb 12ozs

Rob Davis        8lb 2ozs

Robert South    7lb 5ozs

Rhys Williams   7lb 2ozs

Matt Davis        4lb 4ozs

Jack Davis        3lb 10ozs

TOTAL:            85lb 11ozs

Dan Hurley        1lb 0ozs

Mark Hunt        15ozs

Liam Parker        7ozs

Lucy Draper        4ozs

Connor Sysum     4ozs

Julian Klee           2ozs

Elliott Haines        Nil

Mike Reynolds     Nil

14/03/2009

YAP recently gave a second presentation at the series of workshops held by the EA At this event at Bewdley on Saturday 14 March 2009. Anglers also had an opportunity to check out giant examples of the new credit-card sized rod licences that are being introduced by the Environment Agency for 2009/10.

The free fisheries workshop was one of three to be held along the River Severn over the past few weeks.

Twenty five people attended the all day Bewdley workshop. All of them were anglers or represented fisheries interests. They were there to hear the latest about what is happening in a number of angling-related organisations, including the Environment Agency, and to find out about projects along the river.

A number of speakers gave presentations on:

* Access / Disability Discrimination Act (DDA)

* Severn River Trust

* Get Hooked on Fishing (GHOF), Young Anglers’ Project (YAP) and Coaching Events

* Funding Opportunities

There was also an opportunity to ask questions and talk to the local Fisheries Team, and to discuss enforcement issues with the Environmental Crime Team.  We were also able to gather project ideas from local anglers, and now have some interesting potential projects for improving angling facilities in the West Midlands.

Sam Chapman said after the event “It was very useful to spend time talking to anglers about their ideas and improving relationships with our customers.”

YAP Coach Tries To Learn A New Skill

Finding himself only a few miles away from the home of Level 3 coaches and course tutors for the recent Level 1 coaching course Jo and Phil Hyde. New coach and YAP trustee Kevin Timney gave them a ring and arranged a visit.

Jo and Phil live at Paignton in  Devon and are experienced sea anglers. Jo coaches the England Youth Sea Angling Team and Phil is an experienced custom rod builder.

A fascinating hour or so was spent looking at rod building, discussing rings, blanks, ring spacing and carbon fibre. Phil also has a collection of hundreds of rods many built by himself and beautifully  finished. As well as modern carbon fibre he has some fine examples of glass fibre and split cane rods.

After a quick cup of tea it was down to the beach to have a go at casting. Despite a very strong crosswind Phil made it look very easy using an off the ground casting method and sending the 5oz lead sailing to the horizon as straight as a die. He was of course using a rod made by himself and a modern multiplier  reel. His technique was smooth and  non hurried and showed that a properly balanced setup can achieve large distances with little effort.

Kevin had never cast with a multiplier before so Phil gave him a shorter rod and a 'foolproof' reel with a sophisticated system designed to prevent overruns. After a few successful 10 yard casts to get the feel of the set up it was time for the real thing. First cast not too bad but needed to cast higher in the air and use a 'throwing javelin' action rather than 'bowling a cricket ball' action. Second cast no real improvement. Third attempt , well lets just say that this 'foolproof' reel had not met this particular pupil. Luckily the overrun was not too bad and soon sorted out by Phil. Definitely room for improvement and a need for practice, but there is no doubt that in the right hands a modern multiplier will outcast a fixed spool reel and with the benefit of no line twist.

With the northerly wind picking up, it was time to pack up and go back for another cup of tea.

Many thanks to Phil for the time and hospitality he gave to give a novice sea angler a very enjoyable and educational  few hours at the seaside.