“It was my best day of fishing day ever,” said my young friend Thomas. He was referring to the annual Green Wing Fishing Event on Saturday Sep. 14th at McKinney Lake Fish Hatchery in Hoffman, NC.
The Green Wing Event has been put on by the Richmond County Chapter of Ducks Unlimited for several years. With help from many volunteers and generous sponsors, the event has been a great success.
Each child 17 and under was given a new rod and reel, a backpack with a duck call, ball cap, t-shirt, and, of course, a cup of fishing worms at no cost to them (although donations were accepted).
My friend Thomas and I got his stuff and headed to the far end of the fishing pond. We had fished in the same spot for a couple of years and knew it would be in the shade, plus it was a great place to fish.
As we walked around the pond you could tell that the maintenance crew at the fish hatchery had mowed around the pond and everything looked so nice. Even though we were a little early, some kids and their families had already set up at different places around the pond.
Arriving at our fishing spot, we sat up our dove hunting stools and got his rod and reel all rigged-up. He baited his hook and made a good cast with his new open-faced rod and reel toward the middle of the pond.
As time went by, we noticed that several of the kids were catching some small bluegill, but Thomas, bless his heart, wasn’t getting a bite.
After reeling in his bait several times and throwing it out again, he became a little impatient. After a while I asked him did he remember to spit on his bait. No-sir, was his answer with a puzzled look on his face. Well, he reeled in his bait and I spat on the worm and bless-pat if’en on the very next cast he caught the biggest fish of the day (a really large fish we call a shell cracker). From then on, he caught a fish on just about every other cast. Altogether he caught 9 fish! The rule of the pond that day was catch and release, and he enjoyed watching the fish swim off to catch another day.
By about 11, more kids and adults had come to the event and the pond was about encircled by fishermen. All ages were enjoying their time together.
About midday, the smell of hotdogs being grilled filled the air around the little pond. Why Thomas said, “I sure hate to stop fishing but I think I would like one of them hotdogs.”
We got up our fishing equipment, went over, and were offered a couple of dogs, chips, and soda. Oh, did I remember to tell you that there were over 200 people eating and enjoying the event?
After we ate, Thomas and the other kids enjoyed BB gun target practice and animal pelt identification put on by the NC Wildlife. Also a fire truck from Hoffman VFD was on hand, a Bloodhound from Richmond Co. Sheriff’s Dept., water dog demonstrations, and Ducks Unlimited brought their own trailer full of things to see for the young sportsmen.
At the end of the event, drawings were held to give the winners all types of sporting equipment, but somehow during our stay Thomas had lost his ticket stub.
Was this day over for young Thomas? Not by a longshot. We thanked Mr. Gary Weyant (chairman of the Richmond Co. Chapter of D.U.) and all the volunteers that gave their time and effort to put on such a wonderful event.
Our next adventure for the day was to visit the John Lentz Hunter Education Complex and Shooting Range just up the road from the fish hatchery. Thomas had never been, and even though we carried no guns of our own, we sat on the sideline to watch as the shooters shot skeet, trap, and target pistols. When no one was on the range I let him go and pick up some of the clay targets to carry home. He said they looked like small Frisbees. I promised to bring him back at a later date and teach him how to shoot.
My day was over with my young friend, but oh, how many memories he and I have to share. I want to personally thank anyone who had anything to do with this Green Wing Event and remind everyone to “Take a Kid Fishing.”