Today's fishing session is the start of our 2006 youth fishing camp. Each summer, we host several camps that aim to guide kids through the learning process so they would be able to fish own their own after these camps. Not only we want to make sure that they walk away knowing how to bait or detect a bite, but also how to recognize a particular fish species when it is brought from the water. At times it can be hectic, having several kids swinging their own fishing rods around for few hours is intense, but most of the time every kid is able to focus and bring in a few fish by the end of each camp.
The venue where we do these camps is always London's Landing. The floating dock is protected by Shady Island, making it an ideal place to show beginners how to properly use fishing gear. The fish are also plentiful, multiple fish species per day is a norm.
After briefing the kids for 30 minutes regarding the Fraser River estuary, fish species and safety in fishing, the hunt was on.
The strong easterly wind this morning was not ideal, especially with the outgoing tide, but I was still hopeful. It did not take long before the pieces of coho salmon started to attract a few sculpins.
The sculpins were followed by a school of northern pikeminnows and peamouth chubs.
Some good times we had, around 15 fish were hooked, certainly not a bad start for these new rods.
Water clarity was fair, but spinner or spoon friendly.