Kids drop lines at fishing day

OCEAN PINES -- There were varying levels of experience and expertise at this year's Ocean Pines Anglers Club's Teach a Kid to Fish event.

Six-year-old Kirby Kaeufer was something of a veteran, offering guidance to other youngsters on the edge of South Pine Lake, near the Sports Core pool. He fishes frequently with his father, Steve Kaeufer, who said it's common for Kirby to be sitting on the porch with his pole and tacklebox when he gets home from work, waiting to go fishing.

"My wife will call and say, 'He's already out there waiting for you,'" Steve Kaeufer said. "He really loves it."

Seven-year-old Allyson Snyder of Bel Air was on the other end of the spectrum. She was casting and reeling for the first time with her grandfather, Harry Weaver, who winters in Arizona and spends summers in Ocean Pines.

They'd heard of the event -- which the club has been holding since the 1990s -- and asked Allyson if she would be interested in giving it a try.

"She was excited to get out here all week," said Weaver as Allyson concentrated intently on her fishing bobber floating on the lake.

Mikey Fajota, 9, from Port Campbell, Ky., was in town with his mother, Sally Fajota, visiting his grandparents, who'd bought him a fishing rod a couple of summers ago that Mikey was getting to use for the first time.

Mikey, like most of the other kids, wasn't having much luck catch-wise, Sally Fajota said, but was having fun anyway, because he'd been dying to use his rod.

The event, which is sponsored by the Ocean City-Berlin chapter of Optimist International, was started by the anglers to get kids into fishing at a young age, according to member Al Warner, who said he was pleased with the turnout of more than 50 people.

"I guess we're just trying to keep the sport going, you might say," said member Gary White.

The event was supplemented by a demonstration from the Worcester County Sherrif's Office K9 team.

smuska@dmg.gannett.com

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Coues Deer and Stripers - International Hunting Consultants

I had hoped to have good news this week about my recent coues deer hunt in Southern Arizona. No deer but I did have a great time. The Winchester Mountain Range is a very big and rugged environment which makes bowhunting quite a challenge. Those coues deer are “wrascully wittle wabbits”. I saw lots of critters but no bucks closer than 250 yards. My archery skills only go out to about 160 yards (ha). So I have decided not to linger on that subject for long and just post a picture of my success in the past and move on to the spring fishing season.

WE ARE HAVING A CONTEST!

Cory and I are so blessed by being able to live out our passion for hunting and fishing every day, and because of all the fine folks that support us through visiting our web site and reading our blog we have decided to give something back. We are going to take 4 people on an all expense paid trip to Lake Powell to fish for stripers. The trip will be April 19th to the 22nd and here is how it works. Just fill out the survey at the end of this post and you will be entered to win. The first drawing will be on February 28th for one person and a guest and the second drawing will be on March 30th for one person and a guest. We will cover the cost of your lodging, meals and all needed licenses. As you can see the last trip was quite a success.

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