1 week Ago
There's nothing like catching your first fish. I can remember my first fish, and I'll bet 2-year-old Maddy Thomas won't forget her first fish. Maddy, her sister and three cousins enjoyed a Good Friday family tradition when her grandfather, Rusty Thomas, took the five grandchildren to a spot near St.
George where they spent several hours hooking and releasing bream and bass. "That's all they've talked about for the past month, going fishing on Good Friday. Trey, my son, bought Maddy a Princess rod and reel," Thomas said, noting that the tradition began with his oldest grandson, Cord Gerth.
"My grandfather and grandmother lived in the town of Dorchester, and they had this pond. I grew up fishing with a cane pole and a cork. We'd go dig worms in the flower beds, and we couldn't wait for the catalpa worms to come out.
That's how I grew up, fishing for bream and bass. We had a good time, and that's what I wanted to teach them. "Every year we'll go fishing, and they look forward to going, and I enjoy seeing them catch something as much as I enjoyed catching them when I was a kid.
" Today, Thomas said they fish with crickets. They stop at Westbury's Hardware in Harleyville and purchase a couple of tubes of crickets to spread among the cousins. Everyone has their own rod and reel, and the adults stay busy baiting hooks and unhooking and releasing the fish.
"It was kinda like you had to hide behind a tree to bait the hook because the fish were biting so good," Thomas said. It was only moments after Maddy dropped her cricket into the water that the cork began darting around. She set the hook and her dad "was hollering, 'Reel Maddy, reel.
' Her hands were going just as hard as she could go," Thomas said, adding that all the youngsters were as excited as Maddy about her first fish. There are a lot of lessons from Thomas's Good Friday family fishing tradition that you can take to heart. If you don't already have access to a spot you know has plenty of bream, then ask friends and family for advice.
And don't try to make them fish for hours on end. An hour or so is plenty for young children. "Maddy has been looking forward to this trip, and we all got together, went up there and had a big time," Thomas said.
"And I look forward to seeing them catch fish as much as I did when I was growing up. That's what it's all about, seeing kids do something outdoors, whether it's deer hunting, turkey hunting or fishing. It was a lot of fun, and that's what it's all about.
" The S.C. Department of Natural Resources and Hampton Wildlife Fund has announced "A Marvel-Ous Youth Fishing Rodeo May 3 at Charleston's Colonial Lake.
The event is for youth 15 and younger and participants are invited to dress as their favorite hero. Fishing hours are 8:30-11:30 a.m.
This is a catch-and-release event (not a tournament) and instructors will be available to help anglers learn the basics of saltwater fishing. Visit www.eventbrite.
com/o/scdnr-fishing-outreach-18659384739 . Registration is now open for the South Carolina Mahi Series . The captain's meeting will be held from 1-4 p.
m. May 4 at the Pioneer Boat Factory, located at 208 Upchurch Lane in Walterboro. Teams get to pick two fish days between May 5-May 30 with the heaviest two-fish aggregate determining the winner.
Last year, Pelagic Prophet, captained by Nick Shreves of Savannah, finished with a 53.8-pound total, nipping Go Jolly, captained by Gabriel Jolly of Charleston, which finished with 53.4 pounds.
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