About 4,500 kids learned to fish for free during last year's Indiana State Fair at the DNR's 312,000-gallon Fishin' Pond.
This catch-and-release fishing program runs from 9 a.m. to noon, and 4 to 7 p.m., daily, Aug. 7-23 (except the mornings of Aug. 7-8 and 17-21).
As last year, 3,500 hybrid bluegill and 1,500 channel catfish will be stocked before and during the fair to keep the fishing fresh.
Friendly volunteers will again teach kids, ages 5-17, how to be safe and successful. These adults will also bait the hook and release the fish if needed. Kids must be accompanied by an adult to participate. After the fishing, participants will want to head over to the education table where kids can do crafts and adults have the chance to make an Angler’s Legacy pledge to take a kid fishing in the upcoming year.
Registration, which is required before fishing, is located next to the Natural Resources Building, outside the doors of Mother Nature's Mercantile, near the paddlefish pond (sorry, no fishing there).
Just like natural fishin' holes, the Fishin' Pond is most crowded on weekends. If you go to the fair on a Saturday or Sunday and want to fish, head to the Fishin' Pond registration site as soon as you get in the fair gates. On those busy days, the early birds get to cast the worms. Early anglers also are likely to have better luck on weekdays, since that the crowds are thinner in the morning and grow heavier late in the day.
New DNR Go FishIN program coordinator Clint Kowalik, formerly an assistant fisheries biologist for the DNR Division of Fish and Wildlife, is eager to meet and ready to help the fair-going youngsters and youth fish safely and successfully.
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