Hooking new fans
Rodeos help youngsters get started in fishing
“Go fish” has become the catch phrase, no pun intended, for one of Tennessee’s most popular annual youth outdoors events. And to think it all started in Memphis more than six decades ago.
We’re talking about youth fishing rodeos.
Whoa, partner, you might think if you are a newcomer to the area. How can you have a rodeo with fish and not horses, bulls and clowns? Well, we do. And it all started more than six decades ago when this newspaper held the first Mid-South Junior Fishing Rodeo.
On Saturday, according to its website (tnwildlife.org), the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency rolled out seven junior fishing rodeos in the Memphis area, including T.O. Fuller State Park, Herb Parsons Lake, Villages of Bennington, Oakland, Covington, Bartlett and the granddaddy of them all, the TWRA Mid-South Junior Fishing Rodeo at Johnson Road Park in Germantown. Plus, Oakland hosted its Children’s Fishing Rodeo.
Starting in late May and ending Oct. 10, the TWRA will host 28 youth fishing rodeos, including two more in the Memphis area — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Fishing Rodeo in MLK Park June 12-13, and Germantown Lions Club/City 4th of July Youth Fishing Rodeo at the Municipal Pond north of city hall July 4.
The Johnson Park Lake rodeo is an offshoot of the old Mid-South Junior Fishing Rodeo. During its 51-year run, thousands of youth went fishing at various locations across Memphis and many participants jump-started their fishing careers.
Recruitment is a word you’ll hear a lot when talking to Dave Rizzuto, fisheries biologist for the TWRA’s Region 1, based out of the Jackson office, and Rizzuto’s boss, Bobby Wilson, TWRA fisheries chief.
“We hope we can introduce the young people into fishing,” Wilson said. “Maybe they’ll catch a catfish or another kind of fish and they’ll get excited and want to keep on fishing. These rodeos are a great activity for kids. ... And the adults seem to have some fun, too.”
Wilson attended the fishing rodeo at Johnson Park Lake on Saturday to pay homage to Rizzuto, who will retire in July after 32 years with the TWRA. Several other notable Mid-South anglers were at the event, including Bill Dance, Carl Graham and Ron Wong.
For Rizzuto, while it was his final TWRA Mid-South Junior Fishing Rodeo, he did not want to take credit for the rodeo’s success or the success of any of the other rodeos that come under his job description.
“This is not Dave Rizzuto doing anything special,” Rizzuto said. “I have a team that I was able to hire and put together over the past 15 to 18 years. We’ve also been a team. I remember that my father told me a long time ago that if you hire good people, they will take good care of you ... and that is what we have been able to do.”
Saturday, after all, wasn’t his first rodeo.
Rizzuto brought along 10 TWRA co-workers, including Dave Gabbard, Region 1 information officer, who grew up in Memphis and has had a long association with junior fishing rodeos.
“My wife (Ran) caught her first fish at one of the old Commercial Appeal junior fishing rodeos,” Gabbard said. “We all love to see the kids catching fish and having a good time.”
So does Wilson, whose TWRA career includes the development of Glenn Springs Lake near Millington. He said there are 100,000 reasons why the TWRA is big on youth fishing rodeos. That’s how much money was budgeted for the 70-plus statewide fishing rodeos.
While in Memphis on Saturday, Wilson announced that Herb Parsons Lake in Fayette County recently was stocked with Florida-strain largemouth bass. In other TWRA news:
Tennessee turkey hunters passed the 30,000 mark for the 13th straight year during the spring season, which concluded May 17 across the state. While numbers continue to trickle into the agency, the total harvest stands at 31,429, a slight drop from 32,495 in 2014.
The application period for the 2015 Wildlife Management Area big-game quota hunts, the regular elk, youth elk and WMA Youth will be June 11 through July 23. Entries must be submitted before midnight July 23.