400 kids experience fishing

This year our Golden Rods and Reels Volunteers have scheduled training sessions for over 300 Cubs, plus our participation in BC Rivers Day at Goldstream Park. At Goldstream we restricted our training sessions to casting only. We had over 100 kids attend this session. That makes over 400 kids, in 2009, we have had the opportunity to pass on our interest in fishing.

We have done sessions with the 5^th Juan de Fuca ( 20 Cubs), 5^th Tsartlip ( 14 Cubs and 6 Scouts), 5th Cedar Hill( 9 Scouts) and the 5^th Gary Oak Group (28 Cubs). Typically we would host a session at the Cub Hall, generally on a Tuesday and, on the following Sunday would move outdoors to Ida Ann Lake. Fishing has been OK, but not great. We have been experimenting with different types of bait and our success rate has been steadily improving.The Cubs, Scouts and parents seem to learn a lot and have a good time.

We have now concluded our session due to weather but will be up and running in April 2010.
It is important to recognize our committee; Dennis Gedney, Robert McConnell, Barry Proud, Art Raven, Gordon Riddell, Larry Repp and Ray Wallis. Thanks for a job well done.

Fishing for Fun

Our club is gearing up for a busy fall with a few Cub and Scout Groups in Greater Victoria. Our members will be attending their meetings and teaching such things as fish anatomy, knot tying and fishing techniques. These sessions with the Cub and Scout packs will enable them to obtain their Fishing Badges.

Teaching Cubs to fish

Another session, this time at Ida Ann Lake in Langford. These cubs are receiving instruction from members of our club and are using real hooks. They caught 5 fish that evening and all went home with some fishing knowledge and memories of a fun time.

Views at the Wolf Howl 2009

Wolf Howl 2009

The Golden Rods and Reels participated in the Wolf Howl Jamboree for Cubs at Camp Bernard at Sooke on Saturday May 2, 2009. The Theme of the Jamboree was Star Wars and Our Camp was known as the Jedi Village. Our Seniors Fishing Club was represented with seven members: Art Raven, Gordon Riddell, Dennis Gedney, Robert McConnell, Barry Proud, Ray Wallis and Jim Macdonald. Also assisting was Dennis Junior. Barry was the biologist in charge of Fish Anatomy and fish whimsy: Dennis was the knot tying specialist; Robert was the casting Guru and Gordon was our time keeper.

The Wolf Howl setup had 240 cubs arranged into smaller groups of thirty each. Eight Star war theme areas were set up throughout the camp. These groups of thirty Cubs rotated throughout the eight zones. Consequently, we had groups of thirty Cubs arriving every forty minutes. We broke the group of thirty Cubs in three groups of ten each. We were then able to rotate Cubs through knot tying, fish anatomy and casting. We had to rely on Cub Leaders and parents to help out. Robert provided a great description on how a spinning reel works. The Cubs were provided with a spinning rod for their use. The Rods and Reels were on loan from the Hatchery in Duncan and were well used. Some of the Cubs caught on quite quickly and others took a little more time.It was quite amazing when watching the Cubs cast. Their first few attempts were weak but, they became quite proficient as they continued to practice. Some of the Cubs were very experienced and as a result could cast quite a distance. This group of Cubs would cast over the dock into the swimming pool area.

We are looking forward to working with Cubs and Scouts throughout the Capital Region to assist them with their Fishing Badges.

Goldstream (Howard English) Hatchery December 2007 Newsletter

The Golden Rods and Reels are very active at the Goldstream Hatchery and the following is just a short portion of the December newsletter, if you want to view the whole newletter follow the link below and you can read about the work that has been done by volunteers over the year.

Escapement 2007
Once again, this fall has been a disaster for Chinook returns on the southern part of Vancouver Island. In spite of a release of a considerable amount of water into the Goldstream River starting in late September, only five Chinook were captured, all male. To make matters worse, the Nitinat hatchery also had a much less than normal return this year, and consequently are not able to provide us with any eggs. The rains have been quite irregular in November and early December, but Coho and Chum have returned and reasonable numbers have been captured, although far from a desirable total.
Shawnigan Creek had a fairly good return, and we have been able to augment our fish with some from that watershed. We should end up with totals of about 100,000 Coho eggs and 230,000 Chum eggs. The best news is that over 200 Coho have been counted returning to Millstream, so we hope that our rebuilding efforts are beginning to pay off.

For the full newsletter click the following http://members.shaw.ca/goldstreamhatchery/Pages/newslett.htm

Go Fish - "A Learning Experience"

The Golden Rods and Reels Club is currently working with Go Fish BC. to teach school age children how to fish . This is the program we wish to bring to the class room in area Schools and in the spring to the actual lake. Our Club will be suppling all the equipment and all cost absorbed by the club. We also hope to have various stations for :

*safety and regulations
*fish biology
*catching fish
*removing hooks
*knot tying
*casting (without hooks at first)
*types of lures and bait
*different methods

We are still in the learning process but hope to have this program off the ground in the near future.

If you want more information about Go Fish BC visit their website
www.gofishbc.com/learntofish.htm