YOUR PAGE - WE WANT YOUR INVOLVEMENT !!
 This page is by and for the young people who are involved with Get Hooked on Fishing or for those who want to find out more about what we do.
To make this page a success, we need your involvement. Instead of us telling YOU what should appear on this page, we want YOU to tell us.
If you have any suggestions, please get in touch with us by visiting our CONTACT PAGE 
We look forward to hearing from you ... Get Hooked on Fishing Team
GHOF My Experience - January 2009
 I started with GHOF in May 2007 doing my module one, I had met Darren a few weeks earlier at Ashington High School and from meeting him I knew that GHOF was a project that I wanted to be involved with.
It’s surprising how much you can learn about something that you have been doing for 15 years in such a short time, I think that in the past year and 8 months I’ve learnt more about fishing and my self then I had all the years before starting with the project.
In the time that I’ve spent with GHOF I have done so much that I wouldn’t of had the chance to do other wise, I’ve completed my GHOF module’s 1, 2 and my module 3 which was an amazing experience, I got to go to Norway on a fishing trip of a life time, and I caught the biggest fish of the trip and my biggest fish ever which was a 8lb Cole fish.
Not only have I been through all of the GHOF modules I have also been invited down to conferences in Manchester which me and Darren ended up standing in front of about 150 people and talking about the project which we were asked to do 10 minutes before hand, and I also got the chance to go down to Leicester and learn about course fishing which I had never done before and I caught my first carp. I am now also a qualified level 2 sea angling coach of which there are only 3 in the whole of the North East.
I can honestly say GHOF has changed my life for the better, not only have they gave me a chance to do all of these amazing things, they have employed me in my dream job, which not many people get to experience, so I’m one of the lucky ones to be able to pass on what I have known and learnt all my life which is one of the best feelings you can have.
But its not just a job, its my life and I’ve been fishing since I was 3 years old and have loved the sport ever since then, so being able to do it as a job is a life changing opportunity, and I’ve made some great friends in the process who I hope will be friends for life.
Written by Jamie Prime, January 2009
Get Hooked on urban fishing - gott07 November 2007
Urban fishing went down hook, line and sinker at the Dott 07 Festival. The Environment Agency brought in experts from community charity group Get Hooked on Fishing to give one hour lessons on the banks of the Tyne... and everyone lapped it up. Boys and girls were casting in the Tyne in hope they would catch something fishy, and they did! From Flounders to Codling and a few crabs, lines were barely still for a moment and the kids couldn't believe their luck.
Activities took place at the side of the Baltic for three days during the festival. The sun shone, the wind howled, and it was COLD! Wrap up warm would be my top tip for fishing in the Tyne. Fishing expert Darren McGlen, winner of the 2005 North East Fishing Winter League, led the free sessions. Everyone and anyone was welcome to join in, you didn't need to bring anything or know anything about fishing, it was all supplied - rods, lines, bait and buckets of knowledge! Groups were taught how to cast, reel and interesting fishy facts about their catch.
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Copy and images courtesy of Dott07
Kids Get Hooked On Fishing - Match Fishing, 29th October 2007
 Fishing is at times a solitary pursuit, but can also be great fun with a friend, as Berryhill High School students Thomas Smith (age 11) and Nathan Royall (age 12) demonstrated. The duo enjoyed a memorable pike-fishing day at Fenton & District’s Dilhorne Pools.
Thomas, a peer coach with Get Hooked On Fishing, had asked Nathan to accompany him on a fishing trip, and watch him fishing in order to give Nathan an insight into pike fishing.
Nathan watched in awe as Tom proceeded to bank four fish in just two hours. The first fish of 7lb arrived within 15 minutes of Tom casting his deadbait into the water. This was followed 20 minutes later by a fish that threw the hook after a short fight. Virtually an hour after starting, Tom had his third run and hit into a pike of 8lb. As he was playing the fish his second rod picked a run up too! Tom had to ask his dad Dave (who had been sitting watching them fish) to hit the fish and once the fish was on Dave asked Nathan to hold the rod while he netted the first fish.
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Copy and images courtesy of Match Fishing
 Anthony's Story - How he got Hooked on Fishing ! ... September 2007
I love fish. I love fishing. You could say I am hooked! This is my story.
And this is how it all began ...
From the age of 12, I was constantly getting into trouble, especially with the Police and this had a negative effect on my school work. I was very shy at the time and I was bullied at school. I was quite small because I suffered from a mild form of muscular dystrophy so rather than lashing out physically, I would do so verbally.
 How I got hooked ..
One of the problems was I didn‘t have anything to keep me interested and busy until my older cousin recommended that I join a scheme that he belonged to called "Get Hooked on Fishing!" in Bishop Auckland, near where I live.
Getting Hooked ...
At first I wasn‘t sure about joining the scheme and I was a bit hesitant as I had never been fishing before and it had always seemed boring to me. But once I started getting involved in it I really started to enjoy it and constantly found myself down at Witton Park fishing Centre. I also became good friends with the project founder Mick Watson and became a member of the Get Hooked Centre.
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An article by Jonathan Boulton a peer coach from the Durham scheme ... August 2007
The ‘Get Hooked on Fishing’ scheme is about young people teaching other young people how to fish. I was introduced to the Get Hooked on Fishing scheme in 2002 via Eph Bunting, who is now the North East Regional Manager for Get Hooked on Fishing. After a day of visually putting together what went on within a days coaching I was given the chance to coach the following day. I instantly made friends with the other peer-led coaches and to this date I am still good friends with them all.
My most enjoyable experiences of my time with Get Hooked on Fishing are the rewards we gain for our coaching. Rewards have included working at events such as the ‘Chatsworth Game fair’ and the NEC’s ‘Go Fishing Show’. The reward that tops the list is the two trips to France that I have participated in. The most enjoyable was my first trip to a lake called ‘Etang de la Botte’. I gained a new personal best of a 33lb common carp and a total of 173lb made up of 12 fish in the week.
Over the years I have received a huge amount of support from a number of people. People that have supported me over the years are people such as the founder of Get Hooked on Fishing, Mick Watson, my local fishing club secretary and regional manager Eph Bunting and all the peer-led coaches that have taken part in the scheme over the years have supported each other. Through this support of working on the scheme and with a variety of people I have become a lot more confident within myself. This is due to talking to large groups of youngsters that have taken part in coaching events and taking part in demonstrations in front of hundreds of people at fishing shows.
Through volunteering on the Get Hooked on Fishing Scheme I have been able to see youngsters lives change as they have moved from hanging around on streets to gaining a sport for life.
Fishing Games:
Check out the games below ... have fun !!
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