Posted: Monday, August 18, 2008 12:00 am
Family fishing event spawned by success
of youth seminars
By Matt Neznaski
For the Democrat-Herald
ADAIR VILLAGE - With no small measure of screaming and hollering for mom to come and look, Alexia Stefanovitch, 9, hauled in her very first fish on Saturday: a 3-inch bluegill caught on a fly rod.
"If you're flyfishing, you have to be careful if there's bushes behind because you might get stuck," she said, preparing for another cast.
Stefanovitch took part in a family fishing trip to Adair Pond organized by the Boys & Girls Club of Corvallis and sponsored by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The event followed two evening classes, where families learned the basics of fishing, using both spinning gear and fly rods.
The Boys & Girls Club has held fishing seminars in the past for kids, said Mary Ann Dozer, who organized the classes. This time, it made sense to get the whole family involved.
"This time we did it with families," she said. "What motivated me was the last year we did this, the parents started asking me when do I get to learn to fish?"
Dozer said she's hearing of fewer people under age 35 who have ever learned to fish. So the kids she teaches are coming to the sport first and bringing their parents with them.
"There's a whole generation that got skipped," Dozer said. "The kids are now teaching their parents how to fish."
Megan Dehaan, 14, of Corvallis took to the fly rod and chose to add a bright green foam indicator with her fly.
"Honestly, this is my first time fishing," she said. "All I know is you have to have the fly on the end and it's kind of like bait fishing. You wait for this to go under and there's a fish."
Her brother, Conner Dehaan, 10, used a spinning rod and reel outfitted with a flashy silver lure. He said the family had just purchased a canoe and he was hoping they'd add some fishing gear to use when paddling.
Their mom, Kelly Dehaan, was amazed at how well her kids had progressed in just a couple of sessions.
"Isn't that awesome?" Kelly Dehaan said. "I think that's our new gig."