Ben Garbacz/Daily Mining Gazette The fish were biting Friday afternoon at the Swedetown Pond. Oliver Werner, 9, caught a bullhead.

Ben Garbacz/Daily Mining Gazette
Ariya Siira, 8, casts her pole at Swedetown Pond as part of Fish Camp on Friday afternoon.

CALUMET — Children from the Keweenaw area get to learn fishing skills and gain conservation knowledge in the free joint program between the Keweenaw National Historical Park and the Calumet-Keweenaw Sportsmen’s Club.

The club applied for and received a grant from the Park Service to promote youth and family fishing opportunities. The grant provided the availability of fishing equipment and staff for the second year of the Junior Ranger Angler’s Fish Camp. While the club has been conducting fishing derbies for nearly 20 years, they have been wanting to become more involved in outdoor education and providing opportunity. The club secretary, Richard Marsh, wanted to make this program possible again to provide the opportunity for kids to go fishing who may not have the ability to do so at home.

Ben Garbacz/Daily Mining Gazette
Young anglers are introduced to Fish Camp on Friday.

The camp began Friday, and it concludes Saturday. The day at the camp begins with presentations from the club and the Park Service that delve into education. The children learn about basic skills of fishing primarily from the club, such as safety, basic gear setup and identification, casting, tying knots with fishing line and local fish identification.

Marsh believes that kids need to start early in learning these skills to heighten their chances of success. He believes that casting accuracy is one of the most important skills for them to comprehend since distance does not necessarily mean better. Certain fish species can be found closer to shore, and thus it is more important to land the line in the desired location to better the chances of catching a fish. Marsh is especially excited once children finally comprehend what he has taught them.

The children are also taught about natural resource preservation and respect for their surrounding environment. The program emphasizes the “leave no trace” concept in which the kids leave nature in the state that it was in when it was undisturbed.

After the presentations and learning activities, the group has lunch and then heads out to Swedetown Pond to put their newly acquired skills to the test. The rainy weather is not a problem for the kids as their excitement for the potential catch helps them forget the raindrops. The kids have help setting up their fishing rods and have the chance to catch perch, bluegill hybrids or bullhead. The children release the fish they catch with the understanding of preserving the resource and are then sworn in as Junior Rangers.

Karl Larson, a park ranger in the Interpretation and Education Division, says he feels like this experience is passing the torch and hopes the kids learn to protect and maintain the resource so it’s available for future generations.

Larson compared the preservation to architecture.

“What is the first thing that you need to do to get someone to preserve a building?” said Larson. “You have to get people to care about it.”

The Calumet-Keweenaw Sportsmen’s Club will host its 19th Annual Kid’s Fishing Derby on July 20. Kids 16 and under are welcome to come fish and will have the potential to win prizes.