Thank You MD Youth Fishing Club

Type: Nontidal
Region: Central
Location: Owens Creek

My son Ryley and I stopped off at Owens Creek after baseball practice. After a few casts he managed to hook a small brown trout. The fish seemed stressed and as it�s catch and release on Owens Creek right now we opted to place him back in the water as quickly as possible, without a photo.

But here is another photo I would like to share that was made possible because of the Maryland Youth Fishing Club, the Maryland Fishing Challenge and most importantly Fisheries employee Letha Grimes!

Up until two years ago it was quite difficult to get my youngest son Ryley, to go fishing. Then one day I saw that the Department of Natural Resources had just created a Youth Fishing Club. Being a Cub Scout Ryley was keen on earning the patch. But still it was a tough sell. There just wasn't enough action in our local ponds and streams to hook him on fishing. But then one day we received a letter from Letha explaining how we could have an opportunity to go out on a charter boat with a fisheries biologist to help catch and tag striped bass. So as luck would have it we were picked to go out on a boat at the end of July 2013. The seas were very rough that day and nearly everyone vomited; everyone except Ryley and I. Unfortunately the boat had to turn back for shore without tagging or even catching a fish. Despite everything that day just the experience had him start asking for more. The following summer I reached out to Letha and explained our circumstance from the previous year�s attempt and she was instrumental in getting us back out and he caught numerous stripers and bluefish. He loves fishing so much he had us charter boats while on vacation in the OBX to go fishing. He convinced us to charter another boat on the bay to go out fishing for striped bass last year and again this year. And ultimately all those pictures from the trips Letha helped inspire lead Ryley to a most awesome day this past March. Out of over 1000 kids he was selected to be the "Angler" for an article in Field and Stream magazine�s June edition, titled �How to Raise a Wild Child�. I just wanted share how much of an impact the Youth Fishing Club and Letha Grimes has had on my son. Thank you for everything!