Kids Fishing Clinic

The Club held its annual Kids Fishing Clinic on 5 April 2003 at Alumni Pond on the NMSU campus. Attendance was good, the weather was fairly good (just a little breezy) and a great time was had by all. The clinic is sponsored jointly by Mesilla Valley Flyfishing, Inc. and the New Mexico Dept. of Game and Fish. Ti Piper, who is contracted to the NMG&F to coordinate these type of events all over the state of New Mexico, brought down a supply of fishing rods and other assorted tackle. On Wednesday prior to the event G&F stocked the pond with 125 12" trout. Forty five kids between the ages of 5 and 11 years of age had registered and there were only a couple of no-shows. The kids were split into small groups and went through the various learning stations. The trout anatomy station was manned by Ti Piper, the knot tying station by Jeff Arterburn, the fly tying station by Bob Pridgeon, the casting station by the NMSU Chapter of the Wildlife Society and the fishing regulations station by the NMG&F. After each group had gone through all the stations, they were rigged up for fishing, given some bait and sent to the pond to catch a fish. Some of them did catch fish. At noon there was pizza and sodas for all, kids and grownups alike. The kids had placed their names in a basket at registration and these were drawn for door prizes. Some lucky kids won rod and reel outfits, tackle boxes and other assorted fishing-related prizes. The various people and organizations helping out were: MVFF: Jim Hulsey, Bob Pridgeon, Jeff Arterburn with daughters Kara and Sophia, Tom Wobbe and Paul Turner NMDG&F: John Sershen, Richard McDonald, Chris Ortega, Joey Vega and Cindy Adcock with daughter Melissa NMSU Chapter of Wildlife Society: Morgan Vance, Danny Burton, Dominique Watts, Rachel Green, Robert Merrill and Chandra Freyermuth Ti Piper Domino's Pizza on N. Missouri came through with 21 pizzas to feed the crowd Wal-Mart donated all of the gifts given as door prizes along with enough small items that each kid received a bag of goodies. These events are a lot of fun for kids and adults alike. Members who haven't helped out with events such as these will be surprised at how much they will enjoy them. Click on the images for a larger view.
	Gather around folks. The show is about to start.
Cindy Adcock makes sure they're registered for the door prize drawings to be conducted at the end of the clinic.
	Ti Piper explains the plan.
.......and everyone listens to the plan.
	Bob Pridgeon dazzles them with his fly tying.
Jeff Arteburn demonstrates the art of tying the proper fishing knot so you won't lose that big one.
	Game & Fish personnel explain the regulations.
The casting station is manned by members of the NMSU Chapter of the Wildlife Society.
	Ti Piper explains the ins and out of fish anatomy.
Finally they get to fish.
	The Wildlife Society takes a well earned rest.
This catfish is almost as big as the angler.
	Joey Vega helps a proud angler with her catch. A bass this time.
The real reason everyone came -- free pizza. Dominos came through for another year.
	Now to give away all those gifts that Wal-Mart provided.
And another winner.
	And yet another.