Squirt & Hal's hunting and fishing pics..

[squirtthecat]

(I'm including Hal in this as it took place next to his office building)

MrsSTC's class (and 2 others) has been going to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources 'urban fishing clinic' for a few years now.    They have a stocked pond out by their headquarters at the State Fairgrounds.  It's quite the setup.

This year, I got invited as well.  (well, I got invited to bring 10 dozen cookies for the kids and chaperones)

So, 11 pounds of pulled pork (and a small bribe to the cafeteria lady) nets this:



They start the trip with a 40 minute presentation by the DNR guy.  He covers fishing safety, ethics, rules & regs, and a quick talk on the various species here in Illinois.




Talking about the business end of a fish hook, and how he would get it out of the kids if they hooked themselves.
(cue the squeals)




Quick casting lesson:




And, here we go!






Had a little rain.  And a LOT of goose poop.   Even the geese had to watch where they stepped.



(that's Hal's office in the background, he wandered down for a few minutes)



Most of the kids caught about a dozen fish each.  This little girl pulled in over 20...  Posing with the biggest.




They fished for about 90 minutes, then we broke for lunch when the wind/rain picked up.



The sun came out 20 minutes later, so they had some time to run around and get filthy/muddy in the grass.

It was a good day.  Kids had fun and were wiped out by the time we got back to school.   


I blew off the rest of the afternoon and did some 'hunting' of my own.   ;D

[KevinG]

Looks like they all had a good time. I'll be doing some of that too with my nephews in about a month or so once school lets out. They really want to go hunting though. I didn't have a shotgun small enough for them, so I went out and bought a used 20 gauge and got a really good deal on it. Had to clean it up, it was pretty dirty. Ended up having to take it to a gunsmith cause I couldn't figure out how to put it back together again, so much for the good deal, now it's going to cost just as much as a new one. I don't feel too bad though cause he couldn't put it back together either. It's still down there. :-[

[Tenpoint5]

I have on eof mine going to the fish hatchery to see how they raise fish then they are going to a troutstreem and see how they stock a stream next Tuesday

[squirtthecat]

I have on eof mine going to the fish hatchery to see how they raise fish then they are going to a troutstreem and see how they stock a stream next Tuesday

That would be neat to see...   


One more fish shot.  Couple weeks ago at another DNR event..    This is the 'electric boat' they go around and shock ponds with to survey the fish.   Check out the monster this guy got from Lake Springfield.

[stantonl]

That's a great event. Can't wait till June for my boys to come down and we can go fishing. That's all they talk about when I talk with them. 

Larry

[OU812]

That trip will stick with them kids the rest of there life's even if they dont grow up and continue fishing.

Did the same with all of my kids at De Soto Bend and the place you guys went looks ALLOT like De Soto. We even got to take the kids out in a canoe for a trip around the lake.

Did the lunch thing too.

Good times had by all.

I will never forget it.

[squirtthecat]

Yeah, the kids look forward to this trip all year long...     We were almost rained out (heavy thunderstorms in the area), but they dissipated at the last minute and it turned out nice.  I kept an eye on the radar on my phone, just in case we had to saddle up and race back to school.

This is a top draw for chapperones as well.  Almost every dad/uncle/grandpa signs up for this one.   Some bring their own poles/chairs/coolers!   :D

[OU812]

I chaperoned every year my kids went, was the cook too.

You would be surprised how many guys dont know how to cook over an open fire.  ::)