40 Young Anglers Turn Out for an Afternoon of Learning
Category: npaa
Sep 16th, 2014 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Sep 16th, 2014 at 12:00 AM
After the weigh-in of the Koep’s Walleye Challenge NPAA Members Jim Peters #323, Shaun Zenzen #796, Scott Ludwig # 632 and Nancy Koep # 323 put on a “Future Angler” fishing clinic for 40 young attendees. “What a great turn out we had for our clinic, the weather was wonderful and the kids were eager to learn”, said Koep.
The hour long clinic starting out with Jim Peters teaching the kids about knot tying. He showed them several different types of knots and then all the NPAA Pro’s went into the crowd of kids and did some hands on training. You could see the excitement in the kids eye’s when they got it right. After that Shaun Zenzen took the stage and talked about aquatic invasive species(AIS). He talked about all the different types of invasive species and what impact they have on the lake. He asked the kids to name some of them, and they were all very responsive. “You can tell the kids are hearing more and more about invasive species by the knowledge they had when asked questions”, said Koep. Zenzen went on to talk about the importance of the Clean, Drain, Dry procedure to help stop the spread of AIS.
Up next was Scott Ludwig, he spoke to the kids about the importance of boating safety. Scott had different styles of life jackets on hand and showed the kids their proper use and also explained the MN DNR Rules for life jackets to the kids. Then Nancy Koep took the stage and explained casting to the kids and showed them how to use the fishing poles they were just given. As she was teaching the kids about the drag, Ludwig would grab the line and start pulling on it, so the kids could see what the drag is used for and how much was too much, or too little drag. After the Clinic, Koep put on a casting clinic where the kids had to try to get their bobber into a hula hoop. If they were successful, they received a prize. “The kids really had fun with that, only 1 got the bobber stuck in the tree and we had to cut the line”, said Koep.
When the event was over, the kids went home with Fishing Combo’s, NPAA “Future-Pro” T-Shirts, water bottles, coloring books, brochures on invasive spices, and bumper stickers from Clam. “I would like to thank everyone who helped us with the clinic and also the NPAA for all the prizes they gave us for the kids’, It was a great turn out and great event”, said Koep. We are looking forward to next year!