Learn to Fish at the Brant Wildlife Festival

WHAT: Expert anglers from the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC (FFSBC) will be teaching children as well as their parents basic angling skills including how to choose the right equipment, bait techniques, fish identification, fish handling and fishing etiquette as well as licensing protocols.

WHY: In conjunction with RLC Enterprizes, parks facilities operators for Vancouver Island, FFSBC is offering the Learn to Fish program on Vancouver Island once again this year.

WHEN: Saturday, April 18 2009

WHERE: Spider Lake within Spider Lake Provincial Park is located 16 km west of Qualicum Beach, 8 km west of Highway 19 on Horne Lake Road and Spider Lake Road (both gravel). Follow the signs to Horne Lake Caves off the highway.

Meet at the picnic area, which is off Lakeview Road less than 1 km before the main park entrance.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Learn to Fish is designed to introduce recreational fishing to youth and to groups of people that have traditionally been under-represented among anglers, including new immigrants to B.C. The program will also be offered later in the year in Abbotsford, the Thompson-Okanagan, Vancouver Island Learn to Fish is supported by funding from the, Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, the BC Lottery Corp, the Sport Fishing Institute of BC, Discover Fishing BC as well as the Province of BC and the Kootenays.

Prior to the hands-on program, senior park naturalists of RLC Enterprizes will undergo Learn to Fish program training and will then observe the children and their parents.

Learn to Fish dove tails with the FFSBC’s Fishing in the City initiative, which identified four lakes across the Lower Mainland that had good shoreline access, were close to public transportation, and were accommodating and inviting to both experienced and novice anglers. Working with its many partners, the society developed a plan to stock Lafarge and Como lakes in Coquitlam, Rice Lake in North Vancouver and Green Timbers Lake in Surrey with “catchable” sized trout on a frequent basis over the spring, early summer and fall. Once the fish were in the lakes, it was just natural to ensure the popular Learn to Fish program was expanded to teach people how to catch them!

For more information about the Learn to Fish program, Fishing in the City www.discoverfishingbc.ca or www.gofishbc.com which are both chock full of free information and links to other informative fishing sites.

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