Free Fishing Clinic Held to Pass on Love of Sport
On Saturday, June 2, 100 children ranging in ages from eight years old to 14 years old will participate in the Putnam County4-H annual fishing clinic.
In addition to having seasoned volunteers from the Oasis Sportsmen’s Club showing the young people how to set up their equipment and properly cast a line, the 100 children in register in advance through the Cornell Cooperative Extension will receive a free rod, reel, tackle kit, hat and 2012 fishing directory outlining all of the wonderful places in the area to make a big catch.
The free gear is courtesy of the Jack Stewart Memorial Fund that was established after 45-year resident of Carmel and owner of Stewart Marine, Jack Stewart, lost his teenage son in a tragic accident 20 years ago. Since then, Stewart has donated thousands upon thousands of rods and reels to local kids to get them interested in the pass time that he enjoyed with his own son for so many years.
“It gets kids involved in fishing. There is lost generation of fisherman out there,” Stewart said, noting that Putnam County has some of the premiere fishing spots in the whole of New York State and is the author of the fishing guide the participants will receive at the clinic.
President of the 60-member Oasis Sportsmen Club Robert Hansen, who is also the secretary of the Putnam County Federation of Sportsmen, is part of group of volunteers who stock the reservoirs in the county with fish and designated hunting areas with pheasant every year.
He said the clinic will start off with club members using hoola hoops as targets to allow the kids to learn how to cast a fishing line decisively. After instruction, the group will head down to the lake to do some real fishing. The point in holding the clinic and offering the free gear is that kids will continue to go fishing on their own.
“There eyes are as big as the kids,” Hansen said of parents of children who have participated.
That delighted surprise, Stewart said, is because many of the parents have never gone fishing themselves. He said that leisurely sport is the perfect anecdote to unplugging children from video games and electronic devices.
In getting today’s kids involved in fishing, Stewart said, parents will have to deal with one repercussion.
“The only problem you are going to have is a kid who’s always going to be asking when is the next time we are going fishing,” he said jokingly.
Spots are filling up, but community member interested in registering their children for the free clinic that will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 2 at the Putnam CountyVeterans Memorial Park on Gipsy Trail Road in Carmel can call 845 278-6738. All children who participate in the clinic must be accompanied by an adult. If you call after pre-registration already has filled up, your child’s name will be placed on a list to be notified of when next year’s event will be held, prior to the event being publicized to the general public.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.
