MOST weekends you'll find Peter Gribbon taking class.

Not in a stuffy classroom, mind you, but on the banks of a mill pond which, thanks to him, is an important educational resource.

Peter's specialist subject is fish and how to catch them and, as always, his students are hooked and keen to learn.

Peter's obvious love of fishing is catching.

That love is shared by his fellow qualified coaches - Mel Tate, Andrew Rogers, and Andrew's daughter Abbey, 16 - who make up Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet-based 'Education Through Angling' team.

Today's offering is a family taster session for mums, dads and kids but, on other days, in other classes, the team works with youth groups and even young offenders, reeling in children from all ethnic backgrounds and abilities to enjoy the thrill of fishing.

On top of that the team offers an Open College Network course to school groups - An Introduction To Angling And The Environment - which counts towards their GCSEs.

Experts agree this form of education works well because it gives students an instant reward - usually fish-shaped - that demonstrates study really does pay off.

The kids might be there to learn to catch fish - but the side effect is they also pick up a healthy respect of the environment and those around them.

Peter is a good teacher and so he should be - he hasn't wasted a lifetime just fishing.

Like his hook and bait, the 51-year-old from Norton Lees casts his mind back to a time when he first fell in love with the sport.

"Angling for me has been, and still is, an exiting adventure starting from the day I first dipped a net in Graves Park pond and caught a stickleback when I was four years old.

"It's continued into a journey that only recently took me salmon fishing on the awe-inspiring Campbell River in Vancouver.

"Everything about that trip encapsulates for me what fishing is all about - discovery, the environment, excitement, relaxation and reward."
For Peter, and countless others, angling is a sport that offers a diverse range of benefits, and it pays to get a good start.

"I have been fortunate in having a good mentor when I first started fishing, a well known match angler called Ted Hardy who used to take me to practice sessions on the tidal Trent.

"I would sit with him during matches on the River Witham, fishing against the likes of Billy Lane, and was sitting with him when he won the Dam Flask Championship for the second time.

"Ted taught me there was no easy route to success, no short cuts, and you only get out of life what you put into it."

For Peter those days were made even more rewarding by the time and effort anglers spent in preparation, making floats, and dubbing hooks.
Today everything any angler could ever need, and a great deal of expensive stuff they most probably don't, is available in a tackle shop.
Peter knows anglers who have paid more for a carbon pole than they have for their car.

He understands why they might - but doesn't subscribe to the view that the more you spend the more fish you catch.

As a self employed grinder at the Industrial Hamlet for over 20 years, Peter knows all about graft - but he also knows how to relax.

And there's no better way to do that than with a rod in hand.

So when an opportunity to acquire the fishing rights to the mill pond was presented in 1995, Peter took the bait hook, line and sinker. But he soon realised the creation of a fishery had a lot more to it than just tipping fish into water.

And the challenge inspired him to study the aquatic and terrestrial environment while embarking on some necessary habitat improvements.

Ecological surveys were undertaken by the council, fish were removed, and advice was taken from the Environment Agency before work began.
Peter said: "It was an opportunity of a lifetime for me to create a sustainable fishery and learn more about the environment, which I now teach to pupils.

"The aim was to improve the environment and increase the diversity of the flora and fauna which, in turn, would improve the potential of the fishery and be enjoyed by all.

"This led me into studying entomology which helps in the understanding of conservation and management of a fishery and the association between plants and animals. Insects are used in scientific evaluations of sites, aquatic and terrest-rial, and are useful indicators of water quality, ancient woodland and the richness and diversity of a site."

It's not only the youngsters that are getting hooked on Education Through Angling courses.

Peter said: "I get retired people who never had the time to go fishing while they were working. Very often their families book them in as a way to help them wind down - and what better way than spending a few hours catching fish?"

For more information on Education Through Angling log on to www.educationthroughangling.com or call Peter on 07792 657 669.
Reel interest passed on to youngsters - see next page.



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