SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES: ( IN ADDITION TO THE FISHING!!! )
When we were kids, my father always told us we had a duty to leave a place better than we found it. He wasn't meaning monumentally different - just better.
Sooooo - your assignment is to never leave home without a couple of those pesky grocery bags (they crumply up great and fit into yur pocket - you never even realize they're there - UNTIL you need them).
Either before you start, while you are fishing, as you come across it, or before you leave, do a simple walk through and pick up bits of trash/line/wrappers that people have missed putting into the trash can. It is such a simple thing that does a lot of GREAT things for you, your kids, others watching you, and the environment. It might only take you a couple minutes - maybe a little more - but it reaps a ton of benefits. It helps elimninate wildlife getting tangled in line that can, eventually, amputate a limb/wing or cause death. Birds, when nesting, love to pick up filamentous/stringy stuff to line their nests with. Most organic stuff will not irreperably tie around young nestlings and eventually tighten, causing circulation impairment as they grow with the eventual loss of appendages - wings/legs. This is NOT an urban legend - it happens. Check these sites out for more environemntally sound things to do as an angler.
http://ww3.brevardcounty.us/mrrp/wildlife.cfm
http://network.bestfriends.org/groups/friends_of_fish/news/archive/2007/03/27/the-end-of-the-line-wildlife-and-fishing.aspx
Never EVER leave your trash - carry in/carry out is best. You should plan on that approach (ie ensure you bring garbage bags for your trash/anything else you pick up) as many public places no longer place trash containers due to budget cuts. Unfortunately, using public places will allow you the realization that not everyone picks up after themselves - but YOU can change that. And this idea is contagious - it spreads!!!
If you and your kids pick up the line that others leave - it lessens the chance of un-necessary harm coming to innocent wildlife. Doesn't that make you feel better just reading about the positive things you have the power to accomplish???
Another great site with great ideas is 'Recycled Fish' - check it out - lots of great stewardship ideas....
http://www.recycledfish.org/lifestyle-of-stewardship/index.htm
LOOKING AT THE LITTLE THINGS IN LIFE (really little):
Constructing a makeshift observation aquarium:
A little planning goes a long way. Sometimes when you go fishing, no matter what you have for bait, the fish just will not bite. If your time on the water is precious, bring something along for a back up plan to pass the time. Bring a larger glass/clear plastic jar - one with a wide mouth; a fine net you can scoop up pond material with (you can make one out of a metal coat hanger and an old piece of fine curtain material and a needle an thread to sew the material to the coat hanger - net style - or buy just one at an aquarium store). You will also need a large magnifying glass to peer into your makeshift aquarium.
Go to the shallower edge of the water - look for lots of plants, algae, weeds. Put some water (almost full) in the jar. Take your net and drag it through the plants/algae/weeds, scooping as you go. the place the material of the net into the water in the bottle - dump the net contents - and see what swims out and away into the depths of your bottle. Let it sit, undisturbed for a while - in the shade on a picnic table or other eye level place, and after a minute or two, you can take your magnifying glass and start looking. There will probably be some things you can see with the naked eye - but there will be many more tiny/creepy/crawly things that you can look at and wonder about. These are the little things in life that support the huge things we mentioned earlier.
This is the stuff - first food - of baby fish. Did you know that baby fish are called 'fry'?
In many species of fish, one (or both) of the parents guard the newly hatched 'fry' until they are free swimming and can feed on their own. Most (but surely not all) fish hatch from eggs and have attached yolk sacs that slowly absorb and nourish the young 'fry' until they get big enough to eat some of those things you have captive in your jar. Some fish are called 'live bearers' as they bear live, perfectly formed, capable of swimming/eating young.
Here is a website that can help you sort out what you see:
http://www.funsci.com/fun3_en/guide/guide1/micro1_en.htm
Life - all sorts of life - is very interesting. Don't you agree....?????
Back swimmer (courtesy of www.funsci.com)
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fresh water snail eggs (courtesy of www.funsci.com)
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