In article , Andy
wrote:
I hope someone can help with my quest!

I have a young son who is bursting to have a go at fishing. He is

How old is he?

particularly keen to eat anything that he might catch, so I thought sea

I am based in the Reading area, so the obvious venues are either Southsea or

Slightly OT but there is a good deal of excellent freshwater fishing in your
area - and one exciting (for a youngster) freshwater quarry is the signal
crayfish. Like a mini lobster it will swarm over a bit of rotten meat in a
dropnet after dark. The Kennet & Avon canal around Reading is swarming with
them. They were protected (by a quirk of law - the native crayfish is still
protected but there are none left near you.) until this year, you get a
licence (free I think, but you must carry it) from the Post Office. Drop
crayfish into fast boiling water, cook for 5 minutes, drain and serve with
dill sauce.

Hayling Island. Are either of these suitable for a young lad with a rod,
reel, spinners and a few feathers? As the rod is quite short, casting miles

Neither would be my first choice for a young angler - a teenager might
manage OK. When he has learned to cast a sliding float and trot down the
tide they would be good venues to try with a ragworm just tripping along the
bottom (in the harbour channels) for a winter flounder. If starting from
scratch he is not likely to be up to it this year.

If you're going that way then consider continuing onto the Isle of Wight
where there are several more suitable venues.

Hmmm. Mudeford (though not the first couple of trips), Hurst and Poole
would be better too. Anyone here know whether Brighton Marina would be
worthwile for a beginner? I've never fished it but it looked the biz.

You want access to a bit of deepish*, preferably clear water from a safe
shore vantage. A harbourside (with railings for the very young) or a rocky
shore. Ideally a west-country type venue.

Feathers are not suitable for a beginner when shore fishing. They are
dangerous in the hands of the inexperienced and tend to tangle so freely
that much of the time is spent unravelling them. Small spinners, OK.
Middle sized floating plugs - also OK. For a beginner though the float is
by far the best introduction.

Cheerio,

*deepish water is -not- necessarily the best fishing. It is the easiest for
a beginner who will not have the skills to avoid scaring large fish in
shallow water.

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