Robert posing with his first fish ever!! The fish was caught using a fly and bobber at the Youth Fishing Clinic at Oden State Fish Hatchery. Photo courtesy of Randall Claramunt.

Rick Westerhof, Fishery Biologist from the Green Bay National Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office traveled to the Michigan Fisheries Visitor Center on May 3, 2008 to assist with the Youth Fishing Clinic.  This was the third annual clinic sponsored by the Michigan Fisheries Visitor Center, Oden State Fish Hatchery and the Miller Van Winkle Chapter of Trout Unlimited. 

The clinic is open to children in grades 3-8 and this year, registration was increased to 136 energetic kids.  Kids come all over the area to take part in stations set up to teach kids about fishing.  The stations this year were casting, fly tying, stream insects, live bait, rules and regulations, fishing, and fishing equipment and gear.  Lunch was provided along with door and raffle prizes for the kids. 

The kids always look forward to their chance to catch the retired broodstock (rainbow and brown trout adults) in the outdoor viewing ponds.  There are two ponds with numerous “lunkers” swimming around waiting for something to eat.  As in past events, Rick was fortunate enough to work the fishing pond with several die hard fly fishermen (like Bill) from the Miller Van Winkle Chapter of Trout Unlimited.  Each kid is provided a fishing pole, bait and protective eye gear.  The eye gear is extremely important as the kids learn how to cast and set the hook, but can be very distracting because the eye gear is too big from many of them.  Most kids have fished before, but there are always a few that never picked up a fishing pole before.  Rick usually gets the opportunity to teach the new fishers how to cast, set the hook and reel the unsuspecting fish in. 

In the first group, Rick teamed up with Robert, who never fished before.  Robert was an excellent student, who caught on quick and was rewarded with his first ever fish – a nice “lunker” brown trout!  After several minutes of fighting the fish, the brown trout was finally landed, without the aid of a net, as Bill was off assisting other kids.  Robert was so excited and proud of his accomplishment that he was smiling from head to toe.  Not to mention, Rick was smiling too. 

As the day wore on, it became harder and harder to catch fish, as the fish were getting smarter.  Bill was a die hard fly fisherman that wanted kids to use flies instead worms or the secret bait.  The secret bait was a piece of foam painted brown, rolled in fish feed with a hook projecting through on one end.  An informal competition developed to see what caught more fish – flies, worms or the secret bait.  Reluctantly, Rick conceded that the flies caught more fish or got more hits, by the mere fact they were fished all morning!  Numerous kids had hits with the worms and secret bait, but the hooks were too small to properly set the hook or Rick did a poor job of teaching them to set the hook.  All baits were proficient at catching tree limbs and branches surrounding the ponds. 

Helping Robert and other kids catch their first fish was extremely rewarding for the kids and Rick.  By the look on Robert’s face, he is hooked on fishing for life.  Getting kids outdoors and teaching them to catch fish is a priority for United States Fish and Wildlife Service, along with the sponsors of the Youth Fishing Clinic.