Today was our first, WSF meetup, and also first competition.....
(Sorry if this is too many images for those on slow connections)
The family (Me, Mrs Swaffs, Ryan, Ben) all came down, the missus wasn't fishing, and was on assisting duty.
I had been fortunate enough to win the auction to have Jason White as our guide for the day, and several phone calls with himself, Shane Pullen, and Geordie Si in the lead up to the day had put us in a very confident mood. Jason couldn't have done more to prepare us, several discussions around what we might do, and he was making rigs up in advance (even though I had some purchased), he made it clear this was a day for us, particularly Ryan.
Ryan has Cerebral Palsy, so has restricted movement in the right side of his body, basically he pretty much fishes one armed. He had got fairly proficient with a float in the summer, but fishing on the bottom is a new challenge, and something I am not very experienced with. Jason (and Shane) really stepped up, and I'm sure they fancied the challenge of getting Ryan to enjoy his fishing as much as they do. (little did they know how much he loves this new found sport already)
I had ordered my bait as recommended from Kingfisher Tackle, several weeks in advance, and confirmed yesterday all was good. On meeting Jason and his pals at Kingfisher this morning at 08:30, they had ran out of sprats (1kg of which I had pre-ordered!), I wasn't amused but wasn't going to let it spoil our day..
Never mind... I had a mackerel in the bag, and Jason had enough bait that he was more than happy to share.
Shane called Ryan over, and presented him with two DVD's, Dungeness Magic Cod, and Summer Magic. Both signed by Shane and Jason. This already made Ryan's day.
Shane then explained how Ryan will be coming out on another fishing trip later in the year as part of a magazine feature.
Now Ryan's mind was blowing, and he hasn't event got a hook wet yet.
With fresh and frozen lug, we set off to the Pilot sign in. After which Jason headed of promptly to get a spot for us all, whilst we took a little longer to get there as Ryan need to take his time, particullarly on uneven ground.
We parked up next to the lighthouse as instructed, and walked the surprisingly easy walk through the mist to the spot..
![Image]()
because of the great wooden walkway, Ryan, Ben and Becce wasted no time in heading off towards the sea..
![Image]()
We quickly set up in the gap next to Jason, and not a moment too soon, as the beach was packed in both directions, and it was only 9:30!
![Image]()
Now we had some time to kill before the start, J sat down with Ryan and us all, and we had a good old chat about all types of fishing/locations/techniques/Ryan's abilities etc.
![Image]()
J had pre-made some rigs for Ryan and was talking him though hook sizes, and why... Baiting techniques, and why etc.. Ryan (and I) were sucking all thsi experience up like sponges.
![Image]()
as the 11:00 start time approached, we all were getting excited, and started joking about who would catch first.. Jason ensured Ryan was settled, whilst I sorted out Ben and myself. Jason then put a bait out for himself, a bit further than we could cast in case that's where the fish were (any excuse).
![Image]()
We didn't have long to wait before Ryan was in! fantastic!
Ryan eagerly wound in, struggling with the weight of his Xmas present: Shakespeare Salt MX and matching reel. plus a 4oz weight..... and a fish!
![Image]()
first cast, 10 minutes in..
![Image]()
Dab... 24 cm
Awesome!
The morning continued like this, plenty of bites, several whiting, and many 20-24cm Dabs, but nothing bigger than the magic 25....
![Image]()
We tried not tipping the worms with fish, to keep the Whiting at bay, which did help.
It was my youngest Ben, who finally broke the bar, with a 25 (and a half) cm Dab about an hour before high tide...
![Image]()
Now things were picking up, and we were all getting bites, and shortly after that I managed a three-some with the middle one at 27cm
![Image]()
I learned the benefit of having a spare rig set-up, because it took me a good 25 minutes to get those fish un-hooked I really should have put a new rig on and got back amongst the action first.
A the tide turned, so did the action, with very little bites coming, Jason took some time to experiment with Ryan, some one handed casting..
![Image]()
That was about all the action for the day, and we returned to the weigh in
![Image]()
Whilst I had my camera, I captured this image of one of the WDC guys (please make yourself known if your on WSF) who had a massive surprise when a (pb) 4.5lb Bass grabbed his bait and started heading up the beach!
![Image]()
We stayed for very nice fish and chips, and also the raffle. Whilst we didn't win from our wide selection of raffle ticket's, there was a great atmosphere and some serious money raised. We were proud to be a part of it. I called upon the RNLI last year after a Kayak incident, without them it could have been a very different outcome!
As we were packing up, one of Jason's pals (sorry I forgot your name) came over and donated his raffle prize to Ryans fishing future. It was a spinning reel and he loves it.
I would like to thank Geordi Si and the whole team for arranging this great family event, Jason White for giving up his day, especially after he had done so well in a comp the day before, and was then heading off tonight to work! Shane Pullen, thank you as well, and everyone that helped Ryan for the day.
Ryan can't wait to meet you guys again. He hopes to be more self sufficient by then, and perhaps the cold won't hit him so hard as well.
Thanks for reading, I hope everyone enjoyed the day as well.
(Sorry if this is too many images for those on slow connections)
The family (Me, Mrs Swaffs, Ryan, Ben) all came down, the missus wasn't fishing, and was on assisting duty.
I had been fortunate enough to win the auction to have Jason White as our guide for the day, and several phone calls with himself, Shane Pullen, and Geordie Si in the lead up to the day had put us in a very confident mood. Jason couldn't have done more to prepare us, several discussions around what we might do, and he was making rigs up in advance (even though I had some purchased), he made it clear this was a day for us, particularly Ryan.
Ryan has Cerebral Palsy, so has restricted movement in the right side of his body, basically he pretty much fishes one armed. He had got fairly proficient with a float in the summer, but fishing on the bottom is a new challenge, and something I am not very experienced with. Jason (and Shane) really stepped up, and I'm sure they fancied the challenge of getting Ryan to enjoy his fishing as much as they do. (little did they know how much he loves this new found sport already)
I had ordered my bait as recommended from Kingfisher Tackle, several weeks in advance, and confirmed yesterday all was good. On meeting Jason and his pals at Kingfisher this morning at 08:30, they had ran out of sprats (1kg of which I had pre-ordered!), I wasn't amused but wasn't going to let it spoil our day..
Never mind... I had a mackerel in the bag, and Jason had enough bait that he was more than happy to share.
Shane called Ryan over, and presented him with two DVD's, Dungeness Magic Cod, and Summer Magic. Both signed by Shane and Jason. This already made Ryan's day.
Shane then explained how Ryan will be coming out on another fishing trip later in the year as part of a magazine feature.
Now Ryan's mind was blowing, and he hasn't event got a hook wet yet.
With fresh and frozen lug, we set off to the Pilot sign in. After which Jason headed of promptly to get a spot for us all, whilst we took a little longer to get there as Ryan need to take his time, particullarly on uneven ground.
We parked up next to the lighthouse as instructed, and walked the surprisingly easy walk through the mist to the spot..
because of the great wooden walkway, Ryan, Ben and Becce wasted no time in heading off towards the sea..
We quickly set up in the gap next to Jason, and not a moment too soon, as the beach was packed in both directions, and it was only 9:30!
Now we had some time to kill before the start, J sat down with Ryan and us all, and we had a good old chat about all types of fishing/locations/techniques/Ryan's abilities etc.
J had pre-made some rigs for Ryan and was talking him though hook sizes, and why... Baiting techniques, and why etc.. Ryan (and I) were sucking all thsi experience up like sponges.
as the 11:00 start time approached, we all were getting excited, and started joking about who would catch first.. Jason ensured Ryan was settled, whilst I sorted out Ben and myself. Jason then put a bait out for himself, a bit further than we could cast in case that's where the fish were (any excuse).
We didn't have long to wait before Ryan was in! fantastic!
Ryan eagerly wound in, struggling with the weight of his Xmas present: Shakespeare Salt MX and matching reel. plus a 4oz weight..... and a fish!
first cast, 10 minutes in..
Dab... 24 cm
Awesome!
The morning continued like this, plenty of bites, several whiting, and many 20-24cm Dabs, but nothing bigger than the magic 25....
We tried not tipping the worms with fish, to keep the Whiting at bay, which did help.
It was my youngest Ben, who finally broke the bar, with a 25 (and a half) cm Dab about an hour before high tide...
Now things were picking up, and we were all getting bites, and shortly after that I managed a three-some with the middle one at 27cm
I learned the benefit of having a spare rig set-up, because it took me a good 25 minutes to get those fish un-hooked I really should have put a new rig on and got back amongst the action first.
A the tide turned, so did the action, with very little bites coming, Jason took some time to experiment with Ryan, some one handed casting..
That was about all the action for the day, and we returned to the weigh in
Whilst I had my camera, I captured this image of one of the WDC guys (please make yourself known if your on WSF) who had a massive surprise when a (pb) 4.5lb Bass grabbed his bait and started heading up the beach!
We stayed for very nice fish and chips, and also the raffle. Whilst we didn't win from our wide selection of raffle ticket's, there was a great atmosphere and some serious money raised. We were proud to be a part of it. I called upon the RNLI last year after a Kayak incident, without them it could have been a very different outcome!
As we were packing up, one of Jason's pals (sorry I forgot your name) came over and donated his raffle prize to Ryans fishing future. It was a spinning reel and he loves it.
I would like to thank Geordi Si and the whole team for arranging this great family event, Jason White for giving up his day, especially after he had done so well in a comp the day before, and was then heading off tonight to work! Shane Pullen, thank you as well, and everyone that helped Ryan for the day.
Ryan can't wait to meet you guys again. He hopes to be more self sufficient by then, and perhaps the cold won't hit him so hard as well.
Thanks for reading, I hope everyone enjoyed the day as well.
