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Flyyak 2010 Press Release

Angling Development Board
February 6 2011

Pupils from Robert Blake School in Bridgwater enjoyed a fun filled day (28th June) learning fly fishing and Kayaking skills taught by fully licensed coaches as part of a new sporting initiative called FLYYAK 2010. This is a multi partner initiative supported by the Angling Development Board, Angling Trust, Canoe England, South West Lakes Trust and the Environment Agency.The pupils arrived at 9.30am at the beautiful surroundings of the South West lakes trust Wimbleball Trout and Sailing lakes. They were joined by another group of students from Blundell School in Tiverton.
The order of the day was as followed: Once they were all separated into two groups, the first group had an hour’s fly fishing tuition and the other an hour’s kayaking instruction, then the two groups switched over until everyone had learned the basic skills needed to safely power and control the Kayak and of course to successfully cast a fly. Lunch was then the order of the day with freshly caught barbequed trout caught from the venue earlier that morning. Once everyone was refreshed, they were all paired up and given a two person kayak, a fly rod, and a paddle, the pupils then had a amazing afternoon of exploration, paddling and casting about, taking it in turns one to paddle while the other was trying to catch one of the many trout that reside within this huge reservoir.
Unfortunately, no one managed to catch anything on this occasion this was mainly put down to the very sunny and warm conditions that were felt on the day with temperatures soaring to over 23 degrees centigrade. Nevertheless, all the participants involved had an amazing day and have hopefully caught the bug for fishing of kayaking or indeed both: “FLYYAK”ing.
Comments from partners involved:
Dean Sandford from the Angling Development Board (South West) “the day has been an amazing success and I would like to thank the Environment Agency for helping to fund this initial pilot project which will hopefully be the first of many multi partner events within the South West region throughout the rest of the year and beyond”. For further information on angling development please contact Dean on: [email protected]
Andy Davey from Canoe England (South West) said “it is fantastic to see so many young people enjoying the day a float” and went onto say “it’s great to be able to offer schools an innovative project that covers two sports for the price of one, especially within these challenging financial times”. For further paddle sports development information please contact Andy on: [email protected]
John Dawson level 2 game angling coach: “I have really enjoyed teaching these potential new participants to our wonderful sport and I think the two sports really complement each other”.
Contact John on www.johndawson.co.uk
Darryl Birch the South West Lakes Trust Exmoor and Wimbelball Lake manager said “The pupils from both schools have had a brilliant time” he then went on to say that a Flyyak competition will be held for competent game anglers at the upcoming LakesFest 2010 being held at the venue on the 14th to the 18th July as part of the celebrations for the 10 years anniversary of the South West Lakes Trust
and partners on Exmoor, for further information please see: www.swlakestrust.org.uk/10years/lakefest2010