Forest Service Hosting Free Fishing Clinic for Kids
Release Date: May 4, 2015
The Barlow Ranger District and Hood River Ranger District of the Mount Hood National Forest will be hosting free fishing clinics for kids. The Barlow Ranger District event will take place on Saturday, May 9th and Hood River Ranger District’s fishing clinic will take place on Saturday, May 16th. Both events will begin at 8:00 and end at 1:00 PM.
This year, the Forest Service is teaming up with Columbia Pacific Council’s Boy Scouts of America, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Middle Fork Irrigation District to sponsor these popular events. The Barlow RD’s event will be held at Camp Baldwin off of the Forest Road 44, and the Hood River RD’s event will be held at Middle Fork Irrigation Pond on Laurance Lake Road in Parkdale.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will stock the ponds at both locations with trout for the kids to learn how to fish. Children 13 and under must be accompanied by an adult, and are encouraged to bring fishing gear, but the Forest Service does have a limited amount of fishing poles and tackle available for use by the kids. Both fishing clinics will have a hot lunch available for participants. The Hood River fishing clinic will also have related arts and crafts, fly tying, a fishing contest for the largest fish, and other games, prizes, and refreshments donated by local businesses.
“I look forward to this event every year because it’s not only about fishing. The kids learn about bugs and streams, as well as fun arts and crafts,” Stephanie McKinney said, Fish and Wildlife Biologist for the Mt. Hood National Forest.
Other fish clinics will be held in June sponsored by the Zigzag and Clackamas River Ranger Districts. Stay tuned for these upcoming events.
For more information, contact Stephanie McKinney at the Hood River Ranger District at stephaniemckinney@fs.fed.us, (541) 352-1221 or Chris Rossel at the Barlow Ranger District at crossel@fs.fed.us, (541) 467-5119. Visit our event on the web at: http://www.fs.usda.gov/goto/mthood/justforkids.
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