Published: June 27, 2008 12:09 am            

Young anglers enjoy fish conservation

Shortly after arriving at the lake several youngsters started casting their lures into the water in hopes of catching a bass. Mason Wooldridge promptly caught the first bass of the morning and our conservation trip had begun in earnest.

Jimmy McGuire and I had taken on the task of carrying a few young boys on a conservation outing to a small lake. In this case the conservation outing was a fishing trip to help a local pond owner remove some of the smaller bass from the lake. A lake can only hold a certain amount of bass and if you don’t remove a few from time to time, the bass population may become overcrowded and you might end up with a lot of stunted bass.

We hoped that the young anglers would enjoy an outing that would be fun and rewarding. If they caught a few bass for the dinner table and helped with Mr. Tillman’s conservation plan, that would make it even better.

Levi McGuire stepped to the plate and started pitching a few worms to the bass himself. And it didn’t take long for a nice bass to inhale his succulent offering. The young angler promptly set the hook and the battle began. A few seconds later McGuire won the battle and landed his big fish for the day. This one was a little larger than we wanted to take out, so we took a few photos and released him back into the lake to grow up some more. That’s part of the conservation plan of course.



Short fight



As the youngsters continued fishing, Noah Dooley hooked up with a lunker bass that exploded through the surface and began a series of acrobatic leaps skyward. Noah battled the bass and got him right to the bank before it swam around a log and broke the line. The fish must have been at least six or seven pounds and had really put on a show. You can’t catch them all, and if you did there wouldn’t be any challenge or fun to it.

Before the morning was over Noah had hooked quite a few bass and even caught a monster sized bream.

Mason and Levi continued to fish their way around the lake and both caught several bass that were just the right size for the dinner table. And yes, almost every boy out there was busy practicing their hook setting skills, as well as their quick release skills. “Quick release” is a term the pros use when pre-fishing for a tournament. They fight the bass to the boat and then hope to shake them off without bringing them out of the water. Quite a few of the boys were taught that quick release skill by feisty bass that didn’t want to go home to the frying pan.

All of the boys were having a great time catching bream and bass as well. Our instructions were to remove all of the bream we caught in addition to the small sized bass. The larger bass were to be released to grow up even more. After more than a few of the lunkers broke lines, it was obvious that Mr. Tillman’s conservation plan was working and just needed a little tweaking from time to time with the help of some hungry young anglers.

While Jimmy McGuire tried to locate a bream bed, the rest of us were looking for bass. Not to be left out, Kyle Glebe also got in on the fun and caught a few fish himself, including a nice bass. “I used to think fishing was boring, but this is fun,” exclaimed the excited young angler. While some people think fishing is boring just sitting in one place on the bank all day, that’s not the way it has to be.



The search



Done the right way fishing can be challenging, fun and exciting when you learn to hunt for the bass and then determine how to catch them. You’ve got to find them first, entice them into biting and then master the art of catching them.

Most bass anglers are modern day conservationists in that they practice catch and release for all anglers to enjoy fish returned to the water. Along with that strategy, however, comes the responsibility of culling out a few to eat and enjoy.

If you’re bored with nothing to do, then you might just find a youngster to teach about conservation. There are plenty of youngsters just hoping for a chance to learn about the art of catch and release. And yes, they must be taught how to catch the fish first. When they do that they can also learn about releasing a few to the frying pan, as that’s an important part of fishing and conservation. Take a few to eat, and leave the rest for another day. And then everybody can experience the thrill again and again!

        

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