Ct DEEP Fishing Day

Yesterday me and my daughter spent the afternoon hauling in Bluegills on a flyrod. She had sooo much fun, that she kept asking me all night to go fishing again today, so what the hell. :)
     Sometimes I like to search the great 'ol Interweb for fishing plans. Todays query turned up a State sponsored youth fishing event, and it was in NL, just 10 min away!   Link
   Called No Child Left Inside,  this event was geared towards educating tomorrows fishermen/fisherwomen. there were displays showing local species, trivia games, and tons of fishing poles for anyone to come use. Along the Pier at Ft. Trumbull, the state had 3 'bait stations' set up, with more than enough live bait, sandworms, and squid for everyone! Pretty cool event, with a huge turnout.
   Now the best part..... My 3 y.o daughter showed up everyone! She had no reservations at all about baiting her own hooks, in fact, she didn't want my help at all. Dropping bait off the side of the dock was a learning experience, she has a pretty good fly-rod cast, but bait-rods with push-buttons took a little tutorial. after a while of talking about fish, nibbles, and how to tell if fish were biting..... FISH ON. reeling in was pretty fun, she almost lost it wrapped up on a piling, but when it emerged, everyone gasped. This Porgy was HUGE! well, we got it on dock, and she picked it up right away! I had told her if we caught one, she could put it in the 'Catch Tank' all by herself. well, she grabbed that fish by the leader and tail and made a B-line for the holding tank, about 100 yards away. on the way there, everyone in attendance was telling her how great her fish was, how good a job she did, etc. it was awesome. she had the biggest smile on her face the entire time. The DEEP photographer got a photo of her in all her glory, and then the fish went in the tub so everyone could see it swim around, and learn about Scup (porgy) All'n'all, not a bad afternoon.