("There ya go buddy, you caught the first one of the day.  Gonna keep him?  Yup"–250 News photos)

Prince George, B.C. – It’s all about a passion for fishing and, like many other passions in life, the younger you start the more passionate you are about the activity.

That’s what was happening in the parking lot at Canadian Tire on Saturday.  Moms and dads, sons and daughters, grandparents and grandkids showed up as the store hosted Kids Can Catch, which gave youngsters an opportunity to catch a trout and release it or take it home.

Sean Simmons says “it’s a joint effort led by Canadian Tire in partnership with Spruce City Wildlife Association, our company the Angler’s Atlas and Northland Dodge and the BC Ram dealers.  We want to introduce kids to fishing and what better way than to set up a fishing pond and let the kids catch fish.  We’ve got about 200 rainbow trout, about a pound each, in the pool.  And we let kids line up and, as they’re processing through, they get a chance to put some bait on a hook and try to catch a fish.”

Simmons says “if they want to release them they put them back in the pool, if they want to keep them and have them for dinner we’ve got a cleaning station and we’ll process it for them.”  (some of the kids weren’t that keen of the meaning of the word “process”=gut and clean).

Simmons says Kids Can Catch has been going on for about five years in various locations around town in conjunction with Spruce City Wildlife.  This is the first time it was held outside Canadian Tire.  It is entirely free although Simmons adds “we’re looking at this as a fundraiser for both the Jumpstart Program and for the  Spruce City Wildlife Association’s fishing programs, so as people are coming in we appreciate any generosity that participants can provide to the club.”

Asked whether he’s noticed an increase in the number of young people who’ve taken up fishing, Simmons says “when they’re given the opportunity they love it, so reducing the barriers is part of our objectives here.”

With that he had to go, to do some “processing.”