I got the chance to go to a Cub Scout day camp today and help at the fishing station. Not only was it a great opportunity to give back to the community, but it was also a chance to pass on the sport to the next generation.
The first group rolled in around 8am, and it wasn’t more than a minute or two that kids were into fish. It was chaos, and I loved it! Form one side of the bank, there’d be a kid yelling “I got one! I got one!” I’d run over to unhook it, and there would be another kid with a fish on.
Not only was it great to put them on fish, but showing them where the fish were and why they were there made it not only fun for them, but educational too!
The boys had all made rods out of bamboo sticks, and it was as simple as it gets. There was a bit of line, a cork for a bobber, a hook, a worm, and a bunch of little gillies!
After the first group left and the second group came in, the tables turned a bit. Every now and then when a fish got deep hooked, they’d go belly up, and we couldn’t do any thing about it. Well a few of the resident bass figured that out, and it resulted in 2 or 3 HUGE bass that cruise the shore and snack on the boy’s fish.
Well as soon as one boy saw it, we heard “Oh my gosh, theres a huge bigmouth bass over here!”, and all of the kids rushed over to fish for it. Well while it wasn’t interested in little bits of worm, any bluegill or perch that went belly up wasn’t floating for long, and it was always accompanied by a loud yell from the boys, mainly saying “oh my gosh, he ate it!!!”
By the end of the day, storms rolled in and we had to evacuate the camp to a safe indoors location, however, from all of the boys I talked to, they had a blast, and everyone got to take their rods home to be used again!
If you get the chance to help out kids with fishing, I urge you to do it. Not only is it a blast to watch them catch fish, but it is also a great time to teach them the sport. By simply explaining why a bluegill likes a tree in the water, or why we clamp the barbs on hooks, The boys not only left catching fish, but with lots of knowledge for the future.
Tight lines,
Rob