By Tristan & Tyler Park 

It seems hard to believe now, but our introduction into lure fishing started by accident this time around 2 years ago. Tyler had seen some old rods at my parents’ house and liked the idea of having a try. I haven’t used the rods since I was a similar age to him, but I was well up for the idea. After some research, the idea of not using bait and not having to cart heavy gear around made lure fishing the most appealing option.

Now kitted out with a modest new set up, we both enjoyed a few nice HRF sessions. The downside was the productive marks are normally the most inaccessible. Meaning outings could be fairly uneventful and with a busy family lifestyle it wasn’t an option to be going out by myself once a week. I wanted to look at better ways that we could share this new found hobby together.

With Tyler’s 6th birthday coming up I thought I would get him his very own LRF rod. This style of fishing seemed to tick all of the boxes. The unintentional bonus was we were starting at the end of August, which helped us to hit the ground running. It didn’t take long for me to get the bug and I soon had a rod on order for myself. I had no idea at the time, but this was the very beginning of an obsession that we’ve been lucky enough to share and develop with each other ever since.

After having such a positive first full year in our LRF journey. Where we had gone from just scratching around for anything that bites during the early days to successfully adding personal targets to our yearly tally. It seemed like perfect timing to get Tyler involved in his first Winter League. Never wanting to put the pressure on to the point that we lost the enjoyment of the process, we both agreed our targets. Tyler’s was to get 10. Mine was to simply improve on last year’s tally of the same figure.

The first couple of sessions were tough, the weather was against us and the harbour was like chocolate. Frustratingly, this was the time that we had expected to pick up the most species, but it had actually turned out to be the most difficult and testing part of the competition. The target of 10 was actually looking a long way away. It was a challenge to keep my spirits up, let alone Tyler’s.

Thankfully, after a few very difficult scratching sessions. Over the next month or so, our luck finally started to improve. We started picking up the reliable gobies and had a family walk along the river to add a minnow each. We then found the resident pollock and blennies and Tyler had a nice long spined sea scorpion bringing his tally to 7.

Our next main session was a memorable one. It was the end of January, it was cold, but the weather had finally been settled. The water was as clear as it had been for a long time. We had only been out for around ten minutes, when I’d managed to sight fish a dragonette. Then to top it off Tyler sighted a bass and managed to watch it take the pink Isome he was tempting it with, a first for him and a species on his most wanted list. At this point we were both on a high, it’s moments like this that make the league for me. I genuinely get more excited for his catches that I do for my own! To finish off an already great session, we both managed a whiting each and Tyler also a pout.

It was looking up! Tyler had hit the target of 10, with plenty of time left. It was at this point that it warranted a change of tactics. Now we were going to have to be targeting specific species by selecting the location and changing tactics to suit. Which is one of the most rewarding parts of LRF to me and another reason I enjoy the League so much.

Our next trip would be to Poole to try for a common goby. This is the exact reason LRF works so well for us… With my partner and youngest off to the shops and we set our sights on the next challenge. In typical Tyler fashion, he managed to get one in the viewing tank within about 5 minutes of trying. I however, spent the next what felt like forever trying to successfully lift one up the wall, without it flicking off first! Thankfully I managed one before the shopping session was over.

At this point, we started to dream a bit bigger and a top 5 finish seemed possible. Could we push him to 20?

With the weather settled, all 4 of us headed to the river. Our sessions generally consist of a planned once a week after school/work session and me occasionally pushing my luck at the weekend and persuading my partner Emma that a family walk along a river is a great way to spend a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. This one was the latter! The targets were perch and pike, the weather had been consistent and the pressure was on. Thankfully Tyler relieved some of that pressure from me fairly early on and managed a nice perch, with me adding one a bit further along. The small Jacks weren’t playing ball this time, so we went bigger with a Keitech Swing Impact Fat and a 5g jig head which got their attention and it didn’t take long until he was into his first of the day. Unfortunately, it made one last run away from the net and was gone as quick as it was there. Gutted, he shook himself down and tried again. After about another 5 casts, I could see he was into a decent fish, which he played perfectly. I was on netting duties, no pressure! Thankfully after a bit (actually quite a lot) of drama, he had his pike.

Now on 14 species, we had a successful go in the week for a sand smelt for Tyler and a common blenny for me.  Now at the point where we had caught most of the likely species locally. I knew if we were going to keep up with the pack we were going to have to venture further. I had the green light/pass and explained the situation to Tyler that we would have to ‘go a bit mad’ if we wanted to stay in the race, which became the go to phrase for when we’d end up doing crazy things that only the Winter League makes you do!  Thankfully the madness paid off and we added flounder and garfish, with Tyler also getting a weever.

After adding a ballan each during the following weeks. Our next notable session was another freshwater first for us both. After initially spotting them during the day, it took a return trip during the night and a first outing for my Shadowmaster headtorch, for us both to land ourselves our first rod caught bullheads.

To add to the excitement, we had spotted several 3 spined sticklebacks on the walk back to the car, but not wanting to destroy the buzz of our earlier catch we both agreed a return dedicated trip was in order. So a week or so later, after several frustrating hours of kneeling around, we both had a hard-earned freshwater stickleback to add and mark Tyler’s 20th species.

Somehow, corkwing and tompot had evaded us up until this point, but luckily Tyler managed both to take him up to 22.

The next catch was one that will probably be a highlight of a lifetime, not just of the Winter League. It was another one of those ‘let’s go mad’ moments. After a couple of failed attempts and the league drawing to a close, we thought we’d have a late evening attempt for an LRF favourite the leopard spotted goby and the thankfully our last-ditch attempt was rewarded by a session where everything just seemed to go right and we both managed not just one, but two each on the night and number 23 for Tyler.

It was at this point, with less than a week to go, that we focused our attention back to the freshwater tally. With the fishing pass granted, we agreed to go for it on the last week and squeezed in 3 final sessions. We fished 3 new locations, each one rewarding us with new species. Tyler adding silver bream, bleak, rudd and roach and bringing his final tally to 27 and ending the league in a well-earned 4th place.

I suppose the big question is ‘would we do it all again’? Absolutely! We have gained invaluable local knowledge and pushed our boundaries. Learning new skills and techniques along the way. As always for us the biggest positive has been about the father/son experience and it’s safe to say the league has given us memories that will last a lifetime.