WRITTEN IN THE STARS
Sea angling is a frustrating sport for many. We all hope something exceptional happens for us, but this seldom comes true, or reaches the height of our expectations and ambitions. The same thing plays out through the eyes of most human beings in almost all walks of life; few of us reach the pinnacle of our desire and experience those moments. This is a story of some kindred spirits with a dream of seeing the extraordinary and having a moment and memory they’d be able to treasure forever.
SOWING THE SEED
Ryan Thompson, Harley Thompson, Liam Gunn, Paul Wastell and I all got talking at the European Open Beach Championships back in February this year. Harley had come second in the juniors with a lovely bass. We were all beaming, seeing the youngster’s delight and perhaps having flashbacks to our own childhood memories and what got us well and truly hooked on this magical thing that is fishing. I turned to Harley and said, ‘It must be a dream come true at such a big event to get up there amongst the prizes.’ He replied quickly, saying, ‘It’s all about getting out and enjoying the fishing, having friends around to share it. Anything else is just a bonus.’ Perhaps we could all learn a thing or two from the youngster; at just 10 years old he has such a pure outlook on it all. The lad spends as much time as he can out fishing; he’s polite, kind, encourages others and simply has a passion for his angling and adventure. He is living and breathing this magnificent hobby that we all share and love and his passion is infectious. As a group, we all chatted excitedly in the aftermath of the EOCB about the prospect of chasing future fish in locations like Norway, and the conversation descended into fishing tales from days gone by. We asked Harley what he’d love to catch. Without hesitating the little chap told us he’d love to get after a common skate. But he also told us, with trepidation in his voice, that he wasn’t sure he could handle one at his age. Ideas are infectious. His father, Ryan, had a dream to get one for
