By Helen Petre
Fishing builds confidence, curiosity and respect for nature. You do not need much gear, but you do need a positive attitude. Sometimes you catch a fish. Sometimes you do not. Sometimes it does not matter. A fisherman learns critical life skills while fishing, successful or not. Every child should discover the outdoors, and every child should have a chance to fish. It is a learned skill. Someone has to teach you. Fishing is learning about fish and fish habitats, but it is also learning important life skills, like patience, perseverance and problem-solving.
I walk down to the lake in my neighborhood often to explore the shore, the frogs and turtles, the weeds that are host plants for butterflies and the native bees that pollinate the plants. It is rewarding, regenerating and positive. One Saturday late afternoon, it was exceptionally rewarding. I met up with a whole bunch of middle school boys fishing. The boys rode their bicycles, under their own muscle power, down to the lake carrying their poles and bait. No phones. No parents. No fear. There are snakes in the high grass around the lake. They knew that. They showed me spiders and damselflies. They showed me fish. They had no problem talking to some weird old lady who walks and bikes around the neighborhood looking for snakes and spiders.
While we were at the lake, they caught several largemouth bass. These fine fishermen are the next generation of anglers, and they are also the next generation of confident analysts and project managers. All fishermen start like this. Someone, probably their parents, teaches them to fish, and they learn more than how to fish. They learn independence, problem-solving and critical thinking. They can do it by themselves. They can decide what to use, where to cast and when to fish. Sometimes they learn patience and persistence, and sometimes they just learn that it is really nice to be outside. Being out on the grassy shore with all those living things is like entering a world that is all your own. People that do not do it never know. It is freedom, and these boys have parents who gave them freedom.
The boys were nice, excited, happy and confident, and they wanted to show me their catch. That is something to be proud of. I am proud of them and their parents. The daily bag limit is five, with only one over 16 inches. Youth under 16 do not need a license, and these boys fishing the lake in Owl’s Head were all under 16. They could have easily caught more than five, but they were all just catching and releasing.
Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides)
Largemouth bass are the most popular game fish in Florida freshwater, and these boys know all about them. Fishing along the shore, they caught one every time they cast. Their bait was soft plastic worms. They tried single-tail grubs, but the Senko wacky worms worked best.
Here are some of the boys with their afternoon catches. I hope to see them out here often. Something tells me I will.
