A SERIES of events designed to help newcomers to angling start this weekend.
Angling's popularity is booming, brought on in part by people's desire during the coronavirus pandemic to become more engaged with nature activities.
And so Winsford and District Angling Association are introducing free events which are open to all that will assist with fishing safely and effectively.
As part of this project, junior matches will take place in the summer.
The events are being organised and run by Mark Leathwood, who has recently taken up a new role of angling development officer with the association.
He is an experienced predator angler and also a fully qualified and licensed angling coach.
It all starts this Sunday morning when there will be a basic introduction to coarse fishing at Wyvern House Pool in the grounds of the Wyvern House council building in the centre of Winsford, with the possibility of a second session in the afternoon if there is sufficient demand.
"Ideally you will need some basic fishing tackle but we will do our best to provide tackle for anyone that needs to use it on the day," said Mark.
"The focus will be upon how to set up float fishing tackle in order to fish safely and effectively on venues such as small stillwaters."
The same event is also being planned for May 22 and on both dates the sessions will start at 9am and run for three hours. A second session may run from 1pm to 4pm depending on demand.
There are 12 places available for each session and these will need to be booked in advance. More information and details of how to book are available at winsford-anglers.com/angling-development.
A further 10 events are planned between now and October.
These include two sessions at The Ocean Pool on Knight's Grange for carp angling beginners and improvers, a series of five junior matches running throughout the school summer holidays, which will be run in conjunction with Middlewich Joint Anglers.
Later in the year there will be coaching sessions on how to approach river fishing on the River Dane and on lure fishing for pike and perch, and also pike fishing with baits on the River Weaver.
The Association is looking for volunteers to help with the coaching sessions and also for sponsors.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here