- Joined
- Apr 23, 2002
- Messages
- 2,446
Hi gang, Unfortunately I was unsuccessful in qualifying for the England disabled team this year. The team was made up of five guys who had fished previously; so I could take consolation that no body new had made the team.
What can I say about Malc, he gave up his time, his sleep, and his sanity and I will be forever in his debt, I would like to publicly thank him very much. He is one of the most generous, and kind hearted a person I have had the pleasure to come across. (Sorry Malc but it had to be said) I would also like to thank those of you who offered their support, and a thank-you to Dai for giving his support on the day.
The day had left me questioning my own ability, wondering how I had ever won a match in my life. Most matches are won by how, and when you feed your swim, It's not something you can learn from a book, it takes practice, to read how and when to feed your swim. We were told to put 10 jaffa sized balls of ground bait, at 10mtrs, Knowing that it would spook all the fish in your swim, and to fish holding the pole with a strong side wind, making bait presentation very difficult, we were literally having to lean into the wind, trying to hit bits off fish not big enough to mark your bait, and the fish I did contact with were small rudd, and a small skimmer in the last hour session. The second hour was to be fished on the waggler line; the manager told me that they would be looking to see us fish at 25-30yds. So 10grms, 15grms floats were practiced on, I had even clipped up my line at 30yds, to show I was capable at fishing and ground baiting at that distance, those of you that fished at Drayton, will know! that is only a baby chuck as 50-60yds is needed, but on the day 30 yds would have seen me fishing on the adjacent platforms, and a 3AA waggler would have been adequate, I knew this had killed my chances of qualifying, well that and not catching fish. I was very disgusted that we were only allowed 55minutes to get ready, poor old Malc was pulling his hair out trying to get the 17ltrs of ground bait ready, the kilo of joker separated, put up three waggler rods, and help me get my tackle ready. He was blaming him-self for the ground bait not being ready, those that had fished before, had there ground bait already mixed prior to coming to the trials. We thought that how and why we were mixing the ground bait, would have been of interest but apparently not, might as well have had a bag of brown crumb.
I will never have a trial again whilst it is run by the NFA.
I would like to wish the lads that qualified the best of luck for the championships, they are all very good anglers, and deserve to be in the team. A lot of people will not appreciate, that for them to fish for their country, by the time of the championships, they will have had to shell-out nearly a thousand pounds of their own money; on petrol, bait, new essential gear, peg fees (yes peg fees) we were charged by the NFA 5.00 peg fee to fish the trials I was absolutely disgusted, that word again, I think it summed up the day.
Back to normal next week will be joining the lads of the Rugby disabled at peatling parva.
Thank-you all again!
What can I say about Malc, he gave up his time, his sleep, and his sanity and I will be forever in his debt, I would like to publicly thank him very much. He is one of the most generous, and kind hearted a person I have had the pleasure to come across. (Sorry Malc but it had to be said) I would also like to thank those of you who offered their support, and a thank-you to Dai for giving his support on the day.
The day had left me questioning my own ability, wondering how I had ever won a match in my life. Most matches are won by how, and when you feed your swim, It's not something you can learn from a book, it takes practice, to read how and when to feed your swim. We were told to put 10 jaffa sized balls of ground bait, at 10mtrs, Knowing that it would spook all the fish in your swim, and to fish holding the pole with a strong side wind, making bait presentation very difficult, we were literally having to lean into the wind, trying to hit bits off fish not big enough to mark your bait, and the fish I did contact with were small rudd, and a small skimmer in the last hour session. The second hour was to be fished on the waggler line; the manager told me that they would be looking to see us fish at 25-30yds. So 10grms, 15grms floats were practiced on, I had even clipped up my line at 30yds, to show I was capable at fishing and ground baiting at that distance, those of you that fished at Drayton, will know! that is only a baby chuck as 50-60yds is needed, but on the day 30 yds would have seen me fishing on the adjacent platforms, and a 3AA waggler would have been adequate, I knew this had killed my chances of qualifying, well that and not catching fish. I was very disgusted that we were only allowed 55minutes to get ready, poor old Malc was pulling his hair out trying to get the 17ltrs of ground bait ready, the kilo of joker separated, put up three waggler rods, and help me get my tackle ready. He was blaming him-self for the ground bait not being ready, those that had fished before, had there ground bait already mixed prior to coming to the trials. We thought that how and why we were mixing the ground bait, would have been of interest but apparently not, might as well have had a bag of brown crumb.
I will never have a trial again whilst it is run by the NFA.
I would like to wish the lads that qualified the best of luck for the championships, they are all very good anglers, and deserve to be in the team. A lot of people will not appreciate, that for them to fish for their country, by the time of the championships, they will have had to shell-out nearly a thousand pounds of their own money; on petrol, bait, new essential gear, peg fees (yes peg fees) we were charged by the NFA 5.00 peg fee to fish the trials I was absolutely disgusted, that word again, I think it summed up the day.
Back to normal next week will be joining the lads of the Rugby disabled at peatling parva.
Thank-you all again!
