Children get hooked on fishing, learn safety tips

By Tina Ray
Paraglide

	Photo by Tina Ray/Paraglide Children in the Experience, Develop, Grow and Excel Program take part in a fishing excursion at Smith Lake June 8. EDGE! works to enhance the lives of children by providing cutting-edge art, fitness, life skills and adventure activities through Child, Youth and School Services and Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation.

Sierra Lindo has been keeping a busy schedule participating in various activities on Fort Bragg. The 12-year-old said she has played paintball and been ice skating and horseback riding to keep her mind off her father’s deployments.
Lindo spent June 15 fishing at Smith Lake as a participant the Child, Youth and School Services Experience, Develop, Grow and Excel afterschool program.

During the month of June, EDGE! offers activities such as bowling, fishing, ice skating, canoeing and skeet and trap shooting for children to sharpen their competitive edge against other challengers.

“Sometimes, (with) military kids, their parents are always at work and they have nothing to do,” Lindo said. “Being here gives us something to do when our parents are away and it’s really fun.”

Lindo said she usually fishes with her dad, but military duties often take him away from the Family.
At the EDGE! get hooked on fishing event, Lindo said she learned the dos and don’ts of fishing.
Lindo learned, for instance, to fish in the early morning or late afternoon when the water is cooler and fish are less likely to hide from the sun and she learned how to project the cast far into the water.

She said she also learned not to throw a hook when someone is standing behind you in harm’s way and to make sure that lures do not get caught in trees.

Daniel Roland, recreation assistant with Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation, worked as the facilitator for the life EDGE! fishing excursion.

It is important that the children learn how not to hook themselves or other people, Roland said.
“I want them to be able to go out and fish and have fun, but do it in a safe manner,” he said.
As an additional safety precaution, Roland also directed the children to wear personal flotation devices when fishing off the lake’s dock.

Nathan Jacob, 10, swapped PFD’s to be certain to wear the right size.

Jacob, who recently moved to North Carolina from Texas, said he is not as familiar with the water here, but that fishing is a hobby he enjoys.

Jeremy Abacan said that the EDGE! program gave him an opportunity to make new friends and to take his mind off his father’s deployment to Afghanistan.

Fishing “helps because I know I can still have fun, (and) meet a lot of friends,” said Abacan.

EDGE! is a win-win situation for children, said Deanna Lampley, Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation partnership specialist. There is no cost for children who are in grades 5 to 12. The cost for children in grades 1 to 4 depends on the program. All activities are designed not to create a financial hardship on parents.

For more information about the EDGE! program, call 432-6428 or register at CYSS Parent Central Services on the fourth floor of the Soldier Support Center on Normandy Drive, at Tolson Youth Activities Center on Macomb Street or online at https://webtrac.mwr.army.mil.

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