4-H Youth Sportfishing Newsletter

April 19, 1999
Volume 1, Issue 1

A Successful State Training Launches the Pilot Program

The Mississippi 4-H Youth Sportfishing Program was initiated at the inaugural state training workshop held at Mississippi State University February 26-27, 1999. This workshop was held specifically to train volunteers and agents who will provide leadership to the 4-H YSF Pilot Program. There were thirteen counties represented from nine pilot locations. Over 60 people attended or participated in the training workshop. These figures exclude the six training team members that were integral in performing the training. A total of 32 adult volunteers were trained, along with 12 4-H Youth Agents 2 Agents-in-Training, and 1 Program Assistants. Seventeen (17; over 50%) of the volunteer leaders were first time participants in a 4-H Leadership activity, bringing to reality one of the initial goals of the program: recruiting new adult volunteer leaders to 4-H. Despite the vigorous training agenda, written evaluations indicate that all the participants were very pleased with the workshop, and now feel better prepared to lead local Youth Sportfishing Programs.

The Friday night/Saturday agenda was an intensive 24 hours of activity. The Friday evening session consisted of an introduction to Youth Sportfishing by Dr. Marty Brunson, the program leader, which was followed by a delicious fish fry. Mr. Brian Allen from San Jose, CA addressed the participants, inspiring all in attendance to be proactive in local leadership, and provided insights regarding ways to recruit local level support. Participants were then divided into their respective discipline groups and received about 12 hours of classroom and hands-on training during the next 24 hour period. Each person from each Pilot Program was trained in one of the five curriculum disciplines that include: Aquatic Ecology, Angling Skills, Coordinator, Tackle Crafting, and People & Fish. In turn they will be responsible for teaching this to young people in their respective counties.

The state Management and Training Team was instrumental in developing and implementing the draft curriculum notebooks and the Pilot Program. Each individual on this Team is committed to lending his or her time, talent, expertise, or insight to develop extensive "train-the-youth-trainer" opportunities to allow 4-H adult volunteers from across the state to become more qualified to lead project activities in their home counties.

by Justin Laughlin, Extension Intern, Department of Wildlife and Fisheries

Name the Newsletter

Our newsletter needs a name! This is the official call for all of you volunteer leaders and 4-H youth agents to submit to us what you think would be a suitable title for the Mississippi 4-H Youth Sportfishing Program's quarterly newsletter. This is one more chance for each of you to be instrumental from the beginning in the development of this exciting 4-H program. Plus, you just might give the perfect response and give this newsletter its permanent name. Give it some thought...What kind of title would be snappy, cool, and catch your eye, all at the same time?

But, "what's in it for me?" you ask. To encourage submissions we will award a set of rubber fish for your YSF Pilot Program to use in "fish printing" to the person whose newsletter name is selected! Entry rules are simple! Write down your suggested title(s) and submit to:

Justin Laughlin C/O Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Box 9690, Mississippi State, MS 39762

before May 1, 1999. If you prefer you may send an e-mail to jhl3@ra.msstate.edu or fax your entry to 601-325-8750. No telephone entries, please. Be sure to sign your entry so we'll know who wins!

Marty on Mentoring

by Dr. Marty Brunson

Special Note: As I have reflected in recent days on our collective progress in 4-H Youth Sportfishing to date, I am excited about having come so far in so little time! Progress prior to February 27, 1999 was accomplished by a relatively small handful of people who worked hard to position the program for success. But we have a long way yet to go before we have the kind of program and level of youth involvement that we all envision. Much of that future progress and accomplishment now will be determined by you....the "expanded" YSF team...the agents and volunteers... who are providing leadership at the local level. As we work together, we will seek to provide continued program development support at the state level, and this newsletter is one means that we will employ to communicate with you. This column will be devoted each issue to the concept of mentoring, and I hope that you will find its contents useful and perhaps even inspirational.

What is a mentor? Those of you who attended the February 26-27, 1999 Pilot Program Training at MSU will recall that I presented one dictionary definition as follows: "a wise and trusted counselor and teacher." But we also discussed throughout the workshop that a mentor is really more than that. I presented my "Old Man and the Boy" model, which I believe fits much more thoroughly the concept of the mentoring relationships that we seek to develop in the 4-H Youth Sportfishing Program. I hope many of you have had the opportunity to read this wonderful book entitled simply "The Old Man and The Boy" by Robert Ruark. You won't be able to read it without being touched in many ways!

About 9 years ago, I sat in the Atlanta Airport awaiting a connecting flight back home. Those of you who know me will understand the truth in the statement that places like that are not my favorite places to be. In fact, as I sat watching the throngs of folks streaming by, each on their own respective journeys, I grew impatient by the moment because I was in a particular hurry to get home. You see, it was Friday afternoon in late October,and my flight was scheduled to arrive in Columbus at 3:30 pm. With luck, I would arrive home on time, travel the 20 miles to my house by 4:15 pm, hurriedly change clothes and race to the squirrel woods with my two little boys for an hour or so of the experience that IS everything that the Atlanta airport IS NOT! It dawned on me as I sat there watching hundreds of strangers walk past, that I was likely one of only a very small subset of that airport crowd with such visions in my head. That realization greatly burdened me, and I opened my briefcase, took out a notebook, and drafted the following article that was first published in one of our other newsletters in early 1991. Although some of the research quoted in the article is now dated, I hope you will understand why I wrote what I wrote. I hope you will also recognize that I am AT LAST in a position to answer a call and fan a flame that was kindled way back, long before there ever was a 4-H Youth Sportfishing Program!

WHY TAKE A KID FISHING?

Good question! After all, kids can't even bait their own hooks, but they are extremely adept at snagging daddy's ear with those same hooks! Kids like to make noise, and their attention span is too short, and they like to use our best rods as pogo sticks, and it's just a lot of trouble! Besides, we have too little precious fishing time to waste it fooling with kids! But...

Did you know that a recent survey commissioned by the American Fishing Tackle Manufacturers Association (AFTMA) shows that more than one-half of all anglers began fishing when they were less than nine (9) years old? More significantly, when only highly active anglers (fished more than 40 times per year) were examined, 66 percent began fishing before age nine!

The AFTMA (people who produce fishing tackle and depend upon fishermen to keep them in business) recognizes the importance of taking a kid fishing! In fact, they actively encourage government and special interest groups to develop strategies to start kids fishing early in life. They recognize that if kids don't fish early in life, there is a better than average chance that they'll never fish at all!

There's also another group of people who start fishing early in life, but then either quit or greatly reduce their fishing activity. A recent study by the Home Testing Institute of Chicago focused on anglers 18 years and older who recently quit fishing or reduced their fishing activity. Several interesting findings about these dropouts and less frequent anglers surfaced, including: 1) two-thirds of these anglers fished with family members; 2) over half rated themselves as having below average fishing skills, and 3) most fished for relaxation and the thrill and challenge of catching fish.

Among anglers who have stopped fishing, the importance of family commitments, the absence of fishing partners, and the lack of time were found as important factors underlying this decision. Family plays a central role in fishing participation. Not only was the family an important reason for not fishing or fishing less frequently, it was also an important reason why many anglers fish more often (up to 60% in some studies. As children grow and leave the home, both parents and children lose fishing partners, and unless fishing is something they really enjoy, many will become "dropouts".

Fishing tackle manufacturers have an economic incentive to encourage people to fish. But, you and I have an incentive of greater magnitude and dimension that cannot be limited by economic appraisal. Who got you started fishing? How old were we when we felt that first unexplainable surge of adrenalin in response to a nibble or a strike?

Some of my fondest memories of childhood are of fishing for "green trout" (largemouth bass) with my father either on a farm pond (Griffin's Lake) close to our house, or a reservoir (Big Creek Lake) in rural Mobile County, Alabama. I vividlyremember being too small to fish, so I'd clamber around (noisily) on the bank following my Daddy as he cast his favorite "Devil's Horse" repeatedly around the weedy shoreline at Griffin's Lake. Daddy caught sone good stringers of "green trout", and always with his trusted Devils Horse (I can't tell you what color because it's a well guarded secret amongst only the most experienced green trout anglers in the Mobile area).

Before long, I learned an awkward two-handed cast with Daddy's Zebco 33 spincast rig, and began fishing in earnest. Eventually I developed a one-handed cast, but I never have learned to cast left-handed like Daddy did to keep from having to switch hands between casts and retrieves. Incidentally, I never got as good working a Devil's Horse through stumps and weeds, or catching fish with it, as my Daddy either!

Now I have two little blond haired boys who will soon be doing with me what I did for years with my daddy. I only hope that I will have the same patience and foresight that Daddy showed when he introduced me to one of his lifelong loves, and that my sons will be counted among the ranks of "fishermen" when they are old enough to reminisce about their own childhood experiences.

So, why take a kid fishing? I guess there's no reason in particular, especially if its not important that future generations (my kids and yours) hold and treasure some of the same values that we do! Do you remember Joshua's challenge to the Israelites when he called them together to reassess their national priorities, "choose for yourselves today whom you will serve ... but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord?" (Joshua 24:15). In a similar fashion, we should be challenged in 1991 to choose today the kinds of values we wish to pass to our children, and take great care that we allow nothing to usurp this inheritance. Our children's minds will be filled with something from somewhere, good or bad; its our responsibility to provide the "good", and I am convinced that one important aspect we must hand down involves a love for and appreciation of our natural resources.

That's why I am resolved that as for me and my house, not only will we serve the Lord, but we will also go fishing. After all, if my two boys don't fish before they reach nine years old, there's a better than average chance that they'll never fish at all. And if they don't learn to really enjoy fishing and realize the pleasures that a day on the water can bring, they may become "dropouts" like a lot of other folks. And neither their daddy or their daddy's daddy could stand to see that happen.

(By the way, this was originally published in 1991 when "2Boys" (as they are known) were ages 4 and 2; they are now "almost 12" and 10, and are AVID anglers, outfishing Dad most days!)

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. How can I learn more about the 4-H Youth Sportfishing Program?

    Answer: If you have access to the World-Wide-Web, you can log on to our web site 4-H Youth Sportfishing. Or, simply contact your local county Extension Service Office for more information on 4-H Youth Sportfishing.

  2. Who is providing leadership for this program?

    Answer: The 4-H Youth Sportfishing Management Team is composed of extension agents and volunteer leaders from across the state. The Management Team is charged with overall development, guidance and management of the Youth Sportfishing Program.

  3. Is this being done in other states?

    Answer: Yes, several states have begun to implement the National Youth Sportfishing Curriculum, but every state has adapted the curriculum to meet its particular needs. Mississippi is the only state, to our knowledge, to develop a statewide series of local Pilots.

  4. What does it mean to be a 4-H Youth Sportfishing Team member?

    Answer: All team members are expected to participate actively in delivery of the local program in one of the four 4-H Youth Sportfishing "disciplines": Tackle Crafting, Aquatic Ecology/Biology, Angling Skills, and People and Fish

  5. How does this differ from Field& Stream?

    Answer: It doesn't! 4-H Youth Sportfishing is part of Field and Stream, just as are Shooting Sports, Wildlife Habitat Evaluation Program, Quail/Small Game Management, etc. We have long recognized that we lacked an aquatic component in Field and Stream, and Youth Sportfishing has filled that gap!

  6. Is there a competition component to 4-H Youth Sportfishing?

    Answer: At present, there is NOT a competitive component in YSF. This is a participatory educational program with a focus on personal development, improving knowledge and skills, and developing personal environmental and social responsibility. Competition, is NOT, however, precluded, and you may find many appropriate means of incorporating competitive events into your program.

Pilots in Flight

Note: In each issue we will provide short updates on some of the nine Pilots that are implementing the 4-H Youth Sportfishing Program.

The Neshoba Youth Sportfishing committee held its first post-training meeting on Thursday, March 18, 1999. At the meeting tentative plans were made for a Neshoba Youth Sportfishing Awareness Day to be held on Saturday, May 8 at Neshoba Lake starting at 9:30am. Committee assignment were issued at the meeting to 4-H Volunteers and Extension Agents. Plans are to have several activities going at once with prizes and trinkets awarded very liberally during the morning festivities. The Futura Club in Philadelphia has agreed to provide lunch, consisting of hot dogs, chips, and drinks. Our next planned meeting is set for April 15, 1999.

-submitted by Mike Reed, Neshoba County 4-H Agent

The Monroe Youth Sportfishing Team has held one meeting to date. At this meeting it was decided that our first step should be to try to reach as many adults as possible in an effort to secure additional volunteers, possible financial help and moral support. This meeting will introduce the program and the leaders to hopefully a large number of adults.

This meeting is set for April 8, 1999. Presentations have been made to several civic and service clubs and information about the meeting and invitations to attend have gone to others. Also, we will have articles about the beginning of Youth Sportfishing the last week of March in both the county weekly newspapers. I was able to make a short presentation to a 4-H Day Camp. We have also begun contacting school administrators seeking opportunities to make presentations in the schools as an enlistment procedure.

Immediately after the April 8 meeting we will hold another Team meeting to begin specific planning for setting dates, times and sites for beginning meetings to enroll youth.

-submitted by Jobe Miller, Monroe County Pilot Coordinator

Cooking Georgia Style

One of our state training team members, Mrs. Georgia Polk has a unique way of bringing liveliness to the room. She did this at the workshop by bringing recipes and ingredients to practice with the People & Fish participants. Of course, the recipes were for fish and seafood dishes and here is one of the ones they used that weekend.

Mississippi Seafood Gumbo
4 Tablespoons oil 3 (16oz) cans tomatoes
2/3 cup flour Dash Tabasco
2 large onions, chopped Salt and Pepper to taste
2 cloves garlic, minced 2 to 4 lbs. peeled shrimp
1 ½ cups chopped ham 1 pound crab meat
6 cups chopped okra 4 to 5 bay leaves (opt.)
4 quarts water Cooked Crab bodies (opt)
3 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce Cooked rice

Heat oil in heavy pot. Add flour and brown slowly until a very dark roux has been made. Add onions and garlic and brown; then add ham and brown. Add okra. Continue to brown mixture very slowly for about an hour or more. Bring to a boil in large pot the water, Worcestershire sauce, tomatoes, Tabasco, salt and pepper. Add browned mixture and cook slowly for 4 hours. Add shrimp and crab meat. Cook slowly 2 hours. If desired, add bay leaves 1 hour before serving. Floured and browned crab bodies may be added shortly before serving. Serve over 2 tablespoons rice in large bowl. May be prepared several days ahead. Freezes well. Serves 6-8.

Mrs. Gibbs J. Fowler

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