Oregon Dept of Fish and Wildlife to hold Youth Angling event at Sunnyside Park

Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 at 10:39 AM

Oregon Dept of Fish and Wildlife to hold Youth Angling event at Sunnyside Park

Sunnyside Pond

SALEM, Ore. -(FishNLand.com)- The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Northwest Steelheaders and Linn County Parks Department will host a free youth fishing event at Sunnyside Park Pond near Sweet Home on Saturday, May 9 from 8 a.m. to noon.

The event is part of ODFW’s Youth Angling Enhancement Program, designed to introduce young people to the fun of fishing. The department will provide rods, reels, tackle, bait and fish bags for use by young anglers who do not have their own fishing equipment.

In addition, ODFW staff and volunteers from the Albany Chapter Northwest Steelheaders and ODFW’s Angler Education Program will be on hand to help participants learn how to bait a hook, cast a rod and land the catch.

“While the focus is on the kids, we encourage parents or grandparents to spend the day with them and turn this into a family activity,” said Karen Hans, ODFW fish biologist.

Under Oregon Sport Fishing Regulations, anglers aged 13 and under are not required to have a license, while those 14-17 must have a juvenile license. All fishing regulations continue to apply for this event.

The pond is located in the Linn County Sunnyside Park at the head of Foster Reservoir. Take Highway 20 about 3 miles east of Sweet Home, then turn north onto Quartzville Road and travel one mile to the park.

For information about the event at Sunnyside Pond, call ODFW fish biologists Karen Hans at 541-757-4186. For a list of other YAEP events throughout the state go to www.dfw.state.or.us.