With approaching 40 years of angling experience under my belt, perhaps I'm becoming a little more circumspect in my dotage. As, for some reason, I have found a good deal of my free time lately not being spent water-side, but in working with other anglers (and non-anglers, too) on 'auxilliary' projects, all of which are connected to my love of fishing, and stem from a need to perhaps give something back to the sport that has given me so much enjoyment over the years.

It all began with a casual chat at chance meeting with a fellow angler as we happened to be tackling up at the same access point to a local water. My colleague is very active and passionate about protecting the salmonid environments of local rivers and their spawning tributaries, to extent that he spends much more of his time working on this than actually fishing. Madness, you might claim! But many anglers might benefit from a gentle reminder that the fishing they enjoy is strongly supported not only by the usual government agencies, but by a growing band of (dare I say it?) 'do-gooders'! I know, I know, it's a dirty word, but when you look closer at the activities they undertake, you soon realise that the work they carry out quietly on our waterways, really do benefit the angler immensely.

Then some months later I encountered a group that actively promote fishing of all disciplines to youngsters and adults who show an interest in taking up the sport. Now when I was a boy I was lucky enough to live in walking distance of a well regarded coarse stillwater packed with specimen carp, and in those days, a few monster pike too. And I was also in walking distance of a quietly productive salmon and trout beat of a mid-Wales tributary of the Wye. So I was able to learn my craft without depending on an adult to drive me out to fishing spots, and I could gradually learn to love being bank-side and landing a few tiddlers! These days, of course, many youngsters are dependent on a parent or relative being an angler and introducing them to fishing, but how do kids get started if their families aren't already fishermen? And even if you're an adult interested in finding out about fishing, unless you have a pal who does, again, it's not necessarily that easy.

So I gradually came to realise that for all of us anglers today it's kind of important to help the next generation start to enjoy fishing too, because only by people continuing to particpate will we ensure our sport thrives for all our enjoyments. And added to that, of course, we need our fishing venues to thrive too. The pressure on our waterways from so many environmental impacts cannot be understated, so I for one applaud the 'do-gooders' in this case because I'm one of them now!

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