By Emily Hanzlik
This summer, I’ve had the opportunity to work on my passion for educating young anglers. There is a growing need to bring youth involvement to the sport, and here are some of the ways I’ve been able to target young anglers recently.
I am lucky to work with the International Game Fish Association (IGFA). Most people know this organization for keeping track of record fish, but they also teach families to fish. IGFA provides Passport Kits, which are all-in-one teaching boxes with everything needed to put on a fishing clinic. These kits are sent all over the world, where individuals teach kids and families the basics.
Within the past few years, IGFA has partnered with the National Park Service to host fishing events. My coworkers and I travel to national parks to help them begin their teaching journey. We show them how to use the tools in the Passport Kit and help them run an education event. We average about 50 people at these events, and usually half of them are kids. First, families attend a basics-of-fishing clinic, and then everyone fishes!
My favorite thing from these clinics is how excited the kids are about learning to cast. I stand in front of them and tell them to aim at me like they are throwing a ball. Some kids are nervous, at first, but the fear goes away when they realize it is easy. It’s an amazing feeling knowing you helped change someone’s perspective.
There is also an online component to these events, which is a video of my coworkers and I fishing the local waters. Within the videos are lessons about rigs or lures that best fit the area. These videos are the backbone of our online program, which guides new anglers through learning to fish.
In addition to working with IGFA, I also run my own charter, Emily Hanzlik Outdoors. My focus is to give kids a one-on-one experience learning to fish. Everything is from land at a local marina where I grew up fishing. I give kids tons of hands-on experiences and teach them about the surrounding environment.
I recently completed a trip with three young girls who had fished before but didn’t know the true beauty of it. I had some mini fish tanks set up that allowed them to view the tropical fish they caught. The youngest girl would catch her fish and immediately run it over to view it in the tank. Each time she would pull out a book I had given them and try to identify the species. She would sit there for a few minutes admiring the fish before releasing them. I can positively say all three girls learned to appreciate the beauty of the fishery we have in south Florida.
Take a kid fishing. It might be something they never forget!
Emily Rose Hanzlik has caught more than 60 IGFA world records in various categories. Find her on social media @emilyhanzlikoutdoors.