FISHING FOR THE DISABLED ANGLER

My introduction and experiences whilst fishing with the disabled.

I guess disabled angling has been a huge part of my fishing from a very young age, I have an older step brother 'Andrew' who is blind and has attended the regular family fishing trips since before I was born.
  As many of my family members are keen fishermen and women our fishing trips were never the usual and usually consisted of the whole family! We would  arrive on the banks of the river Trent on a weekend and set out for a relaxing days fishing. As I grew older and I turned into a more competent angler I would always pair up with Andrew on fishing trips to take the weight off my dads and my granddads shoulders who for years had spent there time on the bank teaching others rather than having a relaxing days fishing to themselves.
 From there on I developed a huge love for helping out my step brother Andrew with his fishing and this more than anything started off my obsession with the sport. As using the usual float tackle was simply impossible for him we invested in bite alarms and this made his fishing much more independent, being able to hook and play the fish independently and the more he learnt the happier and more confident he became.
  From there I went on to help show him how to bait up his feeders and after a couple of years I taught him how to pole fish, the pole fishing was a good change as there were no casting involved and he could ship out the pole and land fish on his own, one thing that always amazed me was how he would feel bites through vibrations in the rod or pole sometimes before there had been any visual indications what so ever. In my view this shows an amazing connection between angler and nature that you cant get from any other sport in the world.

Angling facilities for disabled anglers

  I believe that disabled access is now a key in the modern fishing world especially as many more disabled individuals are now taking up the sport.

I must say i do believe there is a huge lack of appropriate facilities for disabled anglers and it has to be said that much more could be done by fishery owners and the EA to make our fisheries much safer.

  The majority the fishing I did when fishing with my blind step-brother was on commercial waters, not because of the fishing but because the banks seem to be much better and easier for disabled people to access especially those who require pegs suitable for wheel chairs. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the fisheries in the UK who do cater the needs of disabled anglers like my brother Andrew and would like to give a huge thank you to Aston park fisheries which have been great to not only my step brother but also to many other disabled anglers and i would recommend there fishery to anyone looking for a fantastic days fishing!