A new angler!

I have been promising my 6 year old grandson Riki that I would take him fishing for ages. The summer holidays, although rather long, didn't exactly grace us with suitable weather to take out a little boy on his first trip. I wanted the day to be a memorable one, a day where we could sit and chat, have a picnic and ultimately catch a fish.

Yesterday was the last day of the school holidays, the sun was shining and I had no work on. Perfect!

I thought that the canal was probably my best chance of a fish in a short space of time. I don't think Riki is ready for long days of inactivity yet, waiting for a bite that might never come.

I bought a half pint of maggots, grabbed a float rod and took Riki to a rather lovely spot on the Gloucester - Sharpness canal.

He was very excited, watching me set up the rod and asking a million questions. I opened the maggot box and he recoiled with a shout of "Yuk", "I'm not touching them". I expalined that these red moggots are special fishing maggots and they are quite safe to touch. It wasn't long before he was holding them in his hand and wanting to put them on the hook. I put him in charge of the catapult and he was happy launching maggots into space in a vain attempt at scattering them around the float.
Practice Riki, you will get there in the end!

We hadn't had a bite after half an hour (a very long time when you are 6) no matter how hard we stared at the float and willed it to go under. I told Riki that I knew the best thing to do in these situations and I got out the sandwiches! Sure enough, after a couple of mouthfulls, the float disappeared and we struck into Riki's first fish. A lovely little perch!

I think the smile says it all. We caught some more perch and bream before heading off home, two happy anglers and I listened as he told his mum his first fisherman's tale.
How big was that fish Riki?