Guide’s Diary December

General

Fly

Coarse

Sea

Tackle

Guide’s Diary As he pens his last diary, Jim Hendrick reflects on his career as a guide and says thanks to those who have helped him. 62 Irish Angler December 2009

I

have come to the last of the series of Guide’s diary. I have also come to the end of year seven for my bass guiding business in Wexford. There is no doubt that the continued result of many satisfied and happy customers is the end product of hard work and support given to me. This support comes in many ways, a word, an encouragement, a squeeze on the arm and a kind look in the eye! To say thank you is simply not enough for me – it’s two short words for something that deserves a lot more. To say I couldn’t have done it without you, although clichéd, is the truth. Eileen Powell, David Byrne, Nicolas Jamin, Jose Delgado, Geoff, Julien Lajournade, Roger Baker, John Hall, Andrew Ryan, John Devereux, Ivan Farnetti, Michael Benson, Judd Ruane, Glenda Powell, James Cash, Paul Siggins, Nicolas Sauron, Nico de Boer, David Anchell. Each person in this list has given me something in a way that I can never ever repay them. This is not simply a list of customers. Some people of course are, but rather it is the names of people who recognised within themselves that they could volunteer something to help shape the progress and outcomes of SEAi without really realising it.

Fred, George Mc Laughlin, Marc Laurent, Catherine Hendrick, David Dinsmore, Michael Shanks, John Connellan, Hayes Tackle, Olivier Meurant, Loetitia Meurant, Matthias Brouwer, Patrick Molitor, Seamus Hartigan, Red ‘n’ Ed, Giles Lohier, I find myself changed now as a person, it was inevitable I suppose. When you are grounded emotionally into a particular environment that you love and then want to share, it creates its own complexities. Beyond ‘normal’ business matters and functions my heart is also at the centre of what I do. And therein lies the enigmatic risk for me. I see people from all over the country and the world appreciate not only SEAi for what it is but also the remaining unspoilt areas of Wexford where they can have amazing angling experiences under my guidance. They like the countryside, the food the people, the weather, the sense of modern Ireland. They come, they have a nice time and they go. They come back again or refer their friends to SEAi, buying products at local shops, staying in local B&Bs, eating and drinking in pubs and restaurants, spending their time and money in the town and country I love.

Peadar O’Brien, Alban Choinier, Herle Hamon, David Gaudochon, Ed Mitchell, Jean Yves Quillien, Pascal Etain, Tim Harris, Cyril Chaquet, Ashley Hayden, Fintan Lawler, Paul Bourke, Charles Kuhr, Steen Ulnits, Brian Corcoran, Ger Potter, Niall Kelly, John Bent, John Weir, WORD.

Alan Larkin, John O Brien, Colin Rigney, Daniel Raux, Edouard Bonduelle, Les Goff, Thomas Walsh, Catherine Hendrick, Marc Petitjean, Henry Lyneham, Rob Bowen, Ollie Price, Diego Farnetti, John Quinlan, Emily Hendrick, Mary O’Halleran, Clive Gammon, Bill Kelly, William Hendrick, Nick Mosse, David O’Neill, Ruth and Dan, Patrick Browne.

There have been moments in the last seven years that are truly unforgettable – moments in time that are now stamped in my mind forever. I have seen and heard wide smiles, loud shouts of joy, exclamations of amazement, fits of frustration and disappointment, sheer bullheadedness

There is the other side of the coin – those who expect ‘time earned’ information for free, those with ulterior motives, killers and harvesters of fish and those who would reduce the special status of bass to a mere commodity. Those who constantly look for an edge and play silly games

and determination, falls, wettings, sunburns, scrapes, piercings, exhaustion. Each of these and so many more moments and experiences are beyond any calculable measure. Each one has made the last seven years a unique angling adventure.

with egos and competitiveness in fish numbers and size. Somewhere along the line I was deeply concerned about this ‘new’ and high level of negativity that I was encountering around angling.This was something of a surprise to me. The bullshit politics, organisations, associations, angling hierarchies and snobbery and the mire in which they operate continued to surprise me!

Mike McCullum, Richard Storer, David Wolsoncrofft Dodds, Marty Harrison, Pat Boyle, Andy Elliott, Gerry Friel, Jonathan Dukes, Betty Hendrick, Noel Hendrick, Andrew Nolan, Rudy van Duijnhoven, Jos van der Vouw, Murphys Tackle, Paddy Keeling, The list has in fact made the last seven years possible. Business insights, strategies, methods, training, techniques, encouragement, vision, verbal support, mental support, and even more encouragement. The ‘doing it’ has been made easier, the self belief is now greater than the continued nagging doubts. People have travelled from far and wide and experienced bass fishing in Wexford, some have returned feeling changed and invigorated by that experience. Jim Powell, Mary Powell, Eric and Michele, Pascal Magnetto and Frank,

I can gladly and confidently say after seven years I have learned a lot, and that it is easy to get misdirected and confused about where you are heading and where and how you really should be going. The people mentioned here and many more, because the list continues to grow, have kept me on the straight and narrow. And as season eight begins I will focus one more time on what really counts and is important to me. My family, my friends, and the people who I want to surround myself with because of their positivity and sense of goodwill, their generosity of spirit and understanding of the fishing and the guiding service. The people who share their words and expressions of happiness and satisfactions through their fishing and sustainable experiences in Wexford. The list continues to grow …

December 2009 Irish Angler 63