STARKVILLE — Even with rain moving over Lake Phillips Saturday morning, Cub Scout Pack 14 didn’t cut bait on its first Fishing with Friends Derby.
Instead, a few scouts, along with their family members and friends, gathered at Camp Seminole. All were determined to learn about fishing, rain or shine.
“Somebody told me, ‘the fish are already wet,’” Pack 14 Cub Master Adam Tunnell told The Dispatch. “So it’s not going to hurt anybody.”
Tunnell said members of Pack 14, a group of children between kindergarten and fifth grade, had invited friends from the community to learn about fishing, conservation and the outdoors. The fishing derby included participants of all experience levels.
Boy Scouts of America Pushmataha District Executive Gary Smith said by the time the derby was over, about 50 fish had been reeled in from the camp’s lake.
Keeping the fish, he said, would help with managing the lake’s fish population and teach the children about the lake’s ecology.
“Part of the conservation we’re teaching them about the lake ecology is that our lake is… I don’t want to say burdened with smaller fish, but it has an abundance of smaller fish we’re trying to remove so the lake will flourish and the fish will grow,” Smith said.
Certified Angling Instructor Gil Cochran said the children learned techniques for casting, different kinds of bait and other hands-on fishing skills. He also taught participants how to identify the fish they were catching.
“We showed them what kind of fish are in Lake Phillips,” Cochran said. “There’s bream and bass and catfish are the main species – there’s some crappie in here.”
Participants were also taught skills to clean the fish once the catching ended, Smith said, so they could eat what they caught.
“Give a man a fish, he eats for a day, teach him how to fish, he eats for a lifetime,” Smith quoted.
Cochran said all of the kids, no matter their prior experience, caught on quickly, as fishing “is so natural” to kids. Still, the main goal was not to catch a certain number of fish. Instead, it was to encourage kids to do their best, following the Cub Scout motto.
“If they’re doing their best to put their hands on the fish or put their hands on the worm and put it on the line… if we can get them to do that, they’re going to make memories,” Cochran said.
Cochran said the event also taught participants some of the core values of the Boy Scouts of America, like respect for wildlife and cooperation with others. He said not even the rain could spoil the participants’ attitudes.
“It’s a little damp, but you can’t dampen these jokers,” Cochran said. “It doesn’t affect the fish and the kids are the same.”
Cochran said he hopes to hold a similar event at Camp Yocona near Tupelo in August, though he hopes to include other packs from the Natchez Trace Council’s 22 counties in the future event.
Michael Lamb was out fishing with his son Liam, who has been in Pack 14 for three years, along with his daughter Eden, who joined the scouts more recently.
While both of his children had some prior fishing experience, Lamb said his son learned new information about different kinds of hooks during the derby.
“It’s a good way to spend a Saturday morning,” Michael said. “Friends and fishing.”
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Related Photos
Sawyer Tunnell, 10, poses with a bream he just caught still on his fishing pole on Saturday morning at Camp Seminole. Sawyer Tunnell was out at the lake with his father, Adam Tunnell, along with other family members and friends for Cub Scout Pack 14’s Fishing with Friends Derby. (Photo by Abigail Sipe Rochester/Dispatch Staff)
Wesley Cochran, 9, removes a red ear from his fishing line with the help of his father and Certified Angling Instructor Gil Cochran on Saturday morning at Camp Seminole. Cochran instructed members of Cub Scout Pack 14, along with friends and family members, on the basics of fishing during the Pack’s Fishing with Friends Derby. (Photo by Abigail Sipe Rochester/Dispatch Staff)
