It's A Family Affair

With a decline in the number of young anglers coming to their junior courses, GAIA instructors Colin Turner and Tony Richards changed their approach, targeting families, with their courses fully subscribed for 2017.

For many years, the Hampshire branch of the Salmon & Trout Association, now Salmon & Trout Conservation UK, organised still water trout fishing tuition days in Hampshire for children during the school holidays, and separate days for novice adults. At one time we had waiting lists for the junior courses but over the last few years it has become more difficult to obtain sufficient numbers of children to justify running junior-only courses.

We have now started to run the courses as family and adult days with provision for unaccompanied juniors (10 to 16). One of the great advantages of our sport is that the family can all take part at the same time, unlike many other pastimes. If our modern life pattern keeps parents and children apart for longer than previously, then running family days so that parents and children are not separated at weekends may be a way forward in encouraging children into the sport we love. Certainly, running family days has seen an increase in the number of children we now teach. Recruiting an adequate number of attendees for the days is done through advertising at local country shows, via the branch’s website, and through the extensive e-mail list of previous learners.

We have a tremendous group of more than 20 instructors at varying levels, who all give their time free of charge. This means that we can normally achieve a ratio of at least one instructor to two pupils, courses being limited to a total of 12 participants. Some of our instructors are fully qualified and members of the Game Angling Instructors Association (GAIA), while others are just beginning their qualifications, having taken their Angling Trust Level 1.