Shorne Country Park and Grove Farm offered the perfect venues for our Fishing for Schools sessions with Thamesview School, Gravesend. Two sessions have taken place to date, led by Fishing for Schools coach David Evans.
David tells us:
Everyone did well and caught fish and showed great patience and concentration when the fishing went quiet, as it did at times. There was a good variety of species caught, mostly rudd and roach, but also a few crucian carp, tench, perch and a mirror carp so they got learn about different fish and how to tell them apart.
After an introduction to the fishery and a health and safety talk, the group learnt how to use a three and four meter whip. They started to understand about floats and shotting patterns, measuring depth, how to attach maggots, feeding a swim correctly, detecting bites, playing, handling and unhooking fish.
Their second session began in the classroom, with a discussion on all the aspects of health and safety around fishing and fish welfare, the countryside code and rod licence. On the practical side they set up a whip for themselves and attached a rig and plumbed the depth.
The students managed to catch a good number of roach, lots of perch and a few gudgeon. They also hooked into a few carp, some of which were played patiently and successfully landed. Some excellent carp up to 14lb were caught using a margin pole on bread, baby sweetcorn and dog biscuits. With guidance they managed to handle the pole and such strong fish very well. Some students were shown how to catch carp on top with a fly rod and a couple had a look at a feeder rod, managing to catch one carp on a boilie with it.
Well done to the students at Thamesview on a fantastic start to their Fishing for Schools journey.
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