A weekend with the Juniors

What an enjoyable weekend. Two days of watching lots of junior anglers, with their parents and coaches having a great time out in the fresh air writes Daiwa Consultant Brian Skoyles. Saturday was a day on the beach as a guest of the Commercial Sea Angling Club, organisers of the “Daiwa Beach Open”.

This is a great two-day event with the juniors on the Saturday, and the main open event on the Sunday. I attended the junior event and was, as in previous years, amazed at the skill levels shown by many of the juniors. Sunday, instead of going back to the beach for the senior event, I attended the second in a series of “Junior Pike Academies” organised by Hull and District Angling Association.

From a fishing perspective the two events couldn’t have been more different. Saturday, for once the conditions were perfect, and after meeting up at 7:30 am for the draw everyone headed for the beach. I was told by Paul Jefferson, one of the club’s organisers, that the sea state was ideal for the juniors and that the prospects were good and so it proved. The cod didn’t show but there were plenty of flatfish, whiting and rockling to keep the competition exciting as the clock ticked to the final whistle. (There will be a full report of the junior and senior events later, so I won’t give the results here).

Sunday and possibly the weather was not so ideal for pike fishing with a clear blue sky and a bright November sun but a cold easterly wind. That didn’t deter for a second the youngsters that were either stood around waiting for one of the alarms to sound or trying their hand at a bit of lure fishing. The best fish of the day was a lovely double figure pike caught on a small dead bait. As always as the alarm sounded there was the rush to grab the rod and to see what was happening. I did put out a couple of dead bait rods myself, but the only runs I had were from stray lures that from time to time appeared from swims nearby, but somehow that’s all part of a junior event.

What is most memorable for me, about both events is how important the organisers, coaches, parents and relatives are. I think they all deserve a bit thank you. It was great to see so many juniors enjoying themselves, but it was equally great to see the interaction between the adults and the juniors. Top job everyone!

Brian Skoyles (November 2018)