Angling: Teach-ins for juniors proving the real deal

By Steve Fearnley
Published 10th Mar 2020, 06:00 BST
South Yorkshire-based angler Kev Holvey, left, with tutors Al Gerrard and Neil Johnson showing the kind of catches juniors can expect at Goole’s Moorfield Farm.South Yorkshire-based angler Kev Holvey, left, with tutors Al Gerrard and Neil Johnson showing the kind of catches juniors can expect at Goole’s Moorfield Farm.
South Yorkshire-based angler Kev Holvey, left, with tutors Al Gerrard and Neil Johnson showing the kind of catches juniors can expect at Goole’s Moorfield Farm.
It’s great to see some of the best anglers the north has ever produced giving so much back to those just starting out.

South Yorkshire star Kev Holvey and a host of other top names have succeeded where most have failed in getting countless youngsters out on to the water’s edge.

Now well into its third year, the free coaching sessions are seeing children and parents travel from as far away as Wales to fish with, watch and learn from the very best.

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All costs are covered through anglers’ donations, tackle companies and particularly fishery owners like Dean and Maxine Johnson who provide lakes and facilities free of charge at their popular Moorfield Farm complex near Goole.

The teach-ins are free sell-outs so youngsters need to book early to guarantee a place (see match diary). Star names like John Allerton or Andy Stonner are usually available to give advice and tips but, better still, if you haven’t yet got the bug and acquired your own fishing tackle, you’re more than welcome to have a go with theirs.

With just a week remaining of this year’s wash-out of a river season, most match anglers were resigned to thinking that their next competition would be in shorts and tee shirts following the June 16 restart.

Well, no such luck as match organiser Stan Haigh gave the green light for another few days of suffering. Though the three-day festival held on the Ouse and Ure around Aldwark will be a tough affair, everyone I have talked to says they are looking forward to it – in a ‘sad’ kind of way – and anglers from Nottingham to Scotland will be leaving their footprints in over a foot of mud and sludge in an attempt to become this year’s festival champion.