MANISTEE COUNTY — Nowadays, children — and adults — have all sorts of options when it comes to finding ways to spend their free time.
Some may worry that with video games, smartphones and computers being prominent in young people's lives they may be inclined to remain inside instead of going fishing. Since anglers under the age of 17 need not purchase a fishing license, it is difficult to gauge whether fishing is more or less popular amongst youngsters. However, Kevin Hughes, president of the Manistee County Sport Fishing Association, said if the turnout for the MCSFA's annual Kids Fish event is any indication, wetting a line is still a popular option for area youth.
"We've been holding fairly steady. Doing Kids Fish is one thing we really take pride in because that's one of our things: We want to get the youth involved," Hughes said. "Our numbers have been fairly steady. I was in the school business, and the child-age population of the county is down. For us to stay steady is pretty good, because the whole child population is down."
Kids Fish is a community outreach program put on by the Sport Fishing Association for kids 12 and younger held at Man Made Lake. Hughes said exposing children to the joys of fishing is an issue of great importance to the group.
"We're trying to do our best. It's just tough," he said. "Unfortunately, some of these kids are from single-parent homes and just don't get that influence from the grandma and grandpa and the mom and the dad taking them out. We're doing whatever we can to try to help them get out as much as we can with our activities."
Amy Wojciechowski, executive director of the Armory Youth Project, created the Fish On program this summer to give students an opportunity to fish.
"Because I love to fish, I wanted to share that love with the kids," she said in a previous interview with the News Advocate.
According to statistics from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the number of paid fishing license holders in the state has remained steady, as well. The number gradually climbed from 1.09 million in 2016 to as high as 1.11 in 2020 before a slight dip back to 1.08 million thus far in 2021.
Hughes said the Manistee County Sport Fishing Association works with the Sunset Shoreline Strutters chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation to instill a love of the outdoors in children because, whether they are toting a fishing rod or a rifle, it is important kids get outside.
"When we do the Kids Fish we get a lot of local support from different businesses in town. We do a joint venture with the Wild Turkey Federation," he said. "They're trying to get kids into hunting, too. Our Kids Fish day, they're one of our major underwriters — the Wild Turkey Federation's local chapter. They're in the same position; they're trying to get kids hunting and fishing and doing outdoor stuff."
The coronavirus pandemic created a surge in interest in outdoor recreation activities, and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources reported a significant uptick in new fishing customers — people who purchased a fishing license after having not owned one in five or more years — in 2020. There were 237,681 new customers in 2020, up nearly 43% from 2019's 166,630 new customers.
In recent years the Manistee County Sport Fishing Association launched Fun Fish, a weekly summertime event in which anglers fish the county's inland lakes in a friendly competition. Hughes said it is a great opportunity for parents to take their little ones fishing.
"We fish Bear Lake, Manistee Lake, Portage Lake and the back waters and all that. ... We really encourage moms and dads to bring kids on that," he said. "We try to do that weekly throughout the summer. We have one per week. We take the kids out and a lot of the guys bring their kids along with them for the Fun Fish nights."
Hughes said there are numerous benefits one can derive from fishing. If children don't take up the sport, there will be no one to pass it down to the next generation. Hughes said it would be a shame if kids are unable to give fishing a try.
"It teaches patience — some days the fish aren't biting the greatest. You have to be patient, you have to get up early and stick to it," he said. "It's something that's important to us: trying to develop an early love for fishing. Some kids never get to go to find out if they like it or not."
SEE ALSO:
Salmon season heats up in Benzie, Manistee counties
Sizable salmon: Manistee man catches 37-pound fish
Teen reels in record-setting Chinook salmon near Ludington
Armory Youth Project's fishing program one of many new offerings for Manistee students
Manistee event draws families in support of getting kids out fishing
"popular" - Google News
September 03, 2021 at 06:03PM
https://ift.tt/3zEWiBw
Fishing still a popular pastime among Manistee County youth - Manistee News Advocate
"popular" - Google News
https://ift.tt/33ETcgo
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Fishing still a popular pastime among Manistee County youth - Manistee News Advocate"
Posting Komentar