Bill Kane has been a guide since Take A Kid Fishing began 33 years ago. His favorite part about the organization are the kids.

“These guys, they’re just fun. It’s fun taking kids out and showing them how to do stuff,” Kane said. “Watching them do things that I take for granted.”

Each guide had two kids to a boat. Eric Nevins has been a guide since 2005. He said it’s a great experience to take kids who otherwise don’t have the opportunity to go fishing on a regular basis.

“To see that excitement of catching a fish whether it’s 3 inches long or 30 inches long, just to see that excitement again because sometimes, I fish a lot, so sometimes you forget that every fish is a trophy,” Nevins said.

Some of the kids participating have never fished before, and other kids keep coming back to the event.

“I had a blast today…me and my friend caught over 50 walleyes and I got four sheepshead and one perch and one northern,” said Sam, one of the event’s participants.

One fishing guide has been volunteering with Take A Kid Fishing for the past 20 years. He says the best thing is the enthusiasm kids have to want to go fishing.

“Definitely teaching them skills how to fish, what to do, you can’t keep everything, catch and release. We talk about invasive species so I mean, it’s the whole gamut so hopefully it will help preserve fishing in the future,” Mike Schwersinske said.

Take A Kid Fishing started because a group of fishermen wanted to preserve the traditions of fishing.

“The best way to experience that is with the kids from 10 to 15 years of age where they’re just getting into something that they really want,” Christina Regas, a committee member with Take a Kid Fishing said. “So they really wanted to make sure the sport continued.”

After setting out on Lake Bemidji at Cameron Park, kids and their fishing guides met back at Lake Bemidji State Park where they cleaned their fish, took pictures with their guide and had a fish fry celebration.

Two kids at the event received a lifetime fishing license after they were nominated by their fishing guides.

By — Malaak Khattab

News Reporter