Along with the start of summer
vacation from school for the kids, June
brings with it the annual Kidfish, given
the first Saturday of the month which
falls on June 7 this year. Kidfish was
developed in order to provide kids who
otherwise may not have the means, an
opportunity to try catching a fish. At
any one of hundreds of events that take
place abroad, whether in a supermarket
parking lot, with a plastic make shift
pond stocked with fish, or on the lake or
bay. There are at least 3 things that
will be present at every one of these
events, that is kids, fish and big
smiles! Many of these kids come from
inner city families, or one parent
households, or just families that don't
have someone to take them. This is a
great way to light the spark of the
outdoors in every child! To teach them
about nature, our important resources,
patience and responsibility, but most of
all, to teach them about having fun in
the outdoors! These are sometimes the
only opportunities that these kids have
to come in contact with fishing. Generous
sponsors make sure the kids don't leave
empty handed either, with suncreen, snack
and other kinds of goodies for the kids
to take home.
This year, one of the many groups that
will be taking part in these events will
be the Houston AVANCE/Headstart
Fatherhood Program in conjunction
with Surf-Masters Saltwater Fishing
Association. Surf-Masters will be
taking the kidfish concept one step
further by taking the members of the
Fatherhood program fishing along with the
kids. Many of these fathers, just like
the kids have never been introduced to
fishing. So they will be learning about
fishing the same time their kids will,
with hopes that these kids will have more
opportunities to go fishing with dad now,
since he too is learning how to fish and
getting hooked. Like Kidfish, The
equipment will be furnished for these
Dad/Kid teams to use to learn more about
the experience of catching a fish from
its natural habitat! Surf-Masters will
have Certified Youth Angler instructors
along with other volunteers to help teach
responsible fishing practices,
conservation, regulations, ethics and
catch and release. But we will be showing
them mostly how to have fun!
For the young anglers that are
interested in more than just a day of
fishing, TPWD has the Reel Kids program,
and the Junior/Master Angler programs
that are a little more advanced and teach
fishing essentials such as fish
identification, aquatic habitats, Ethics
and Responsibility, fishing Safety and
first aid, fish rules and regulations,
tackle, knot tying and fishing is also
included.
For those individuals that wish to go
fishing, but may not have access to
equipment, TPWD has created the
"Tackle Loaner Program".
Individuals or groups may borrow rods,
reels and tackle boxes with terminal
tackle for anyone to use for up to 7
days, free of charge. A list of loaner
sites is available on the TPWD
website at www.tpwd.state.tx.us or
you can call the Austin office,
800-792-1112, then ext. 65. Have a
great time fishing with a kid!
Photos courtesy of Catchingbigfish.net
By Victor Delgado
Aka “Whopper”
If you have any
comments or questions, be sure to post
them on the Surf-Masters Message
Board
Return to Feature Articles
|
