Many years ago as a small boy, I remember going fishing for the first time with my father; just a short session on the River Lea in North London not far from where we were living. I recall the anticipation as we baited the hook with maggots and then as we waited for the float to bob down. The excitement I felt when the float went, and I landed my first fish, a small Perch – more by luck than judgement. It was a very special moment for me and for my father. Years later, I took my two daughters, Kerry and Katie fishing at Brighton Marina and remember the excitement they felt when we caught their first fish. Again, a very special moment and memory.
My son Alex who is just over three years old has been showing an interest in fish I bring home, often asking where it comes from and how I got it. He likes to handle fish and examine and generally poke them in the way that kids of his age do. Recently he was mightily impressed with the small dead fry that was stuck to my shoe. He was even more impressed when I told him that it had been ‘sicked up’ by a Mackerel that I’d previously caught and was in the process of gutting and cleaning.
I thought it time to take him along and show him how it was done. I hoped that if were to catch a fish himself, it would continue to hold his interest and maybe he would ‘get the bug’ like me.
Anyway, yesterday was a lovely Summer day, warm, not windy and ideal for an afternoon at the beach. To get Alex his first fish, it was obvious that mackerel would be the target as they they are easy and a virtual certainty. Anna and I packed up the beach stuff and headed off to Seaford. As we walked on to the beach, it was evident that a lot of our local population were also enjoying the afternoon sun. After a bit of walking, we found a decent spot to settle down.
While Alex enjoyed his usual hobby of trying to move Seaford’s shingle back into the sea – one pebble at a time, I set up a spinning outfit. Anna got herself comfortable in her beach chair and got the camera ready to record any action.
I cast out a few times with a small Dexter Wedge lure and got Alex to hold the rod and wind in. Although it needed me to help hold the rod, Alex was determined to do it himself, pushing my guiding hand away. I had to resort to standing behind him and steadying the rod without him knowing. Independent little toad!
A few casts later and I hooked into a mackerel. I brought it towards the waters edge whereupon I handed the rod to Alex and got him winding. The look of sheer delight when he first saw the fish and realised it was on the end of his line was something that will stay in my memory. His first fish and he was ecstatic with shouts of triumph.
We brought the fish ashore where I thought he was going to try and show it everyone on the beach. The beast was captured not only on line but also on camera for posterity. After much holding, prodding and further examination, the fish was dispatched and put in the cooler bag to take home. I’m pretty sure that if it had been up to him, Alex would have been happy to carry it around with him for the rest of the day.
It will take a bit longer before he can cast his own line and do all the other things that go along with angling. In the meantime he has experienced that feeling of achievement that I and many, many others have felt on catching our first fish.
Bet you can’t guess what he wants to do this afternoon… and tomorrow… and the next day. Guess who’s going to be eating a lot of mackerel over the next few weeks (or even months maybe). At my age though, the Omega3 oils and the often referred to “fatty acids” will come in handy in the middle age battle of the bulge and war on Cholesterol and other nastiness.
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Last night, I had an ‘old bait in the freezer clear out’ session, so decided to stay local and headed over to Seaford beach to use up some old squid strips and Slipper Limpet that had been in the freezer for way too long.
