This year the weather was considerably more favourable to us. Kid’s Fishing Days were run covering coastal, estuarine, fresh water and impoundments. These events were attended by about 978 kids, 208 instructors and coaches and 154 parents and carers. Each child attending received tackle specific to the local conditions. There were taught how to both use that tackle and care for it. On the days, lunch was provided and varied from the traditional sausage sizzle to red claw on the barbie caught that day.

It is impossible to pick out a group that had the most fun. Smiles were enormous on all the faces. In this report I have included a selection of the individual reports from events. From the photos you can see that there were a large cross section of children covering, boys and girls, indigenous and also those from socially, physically and emotionally disadvantaged sectors. For those last three groups, these days are probably the most important. In addition this year we ran a Level 1 Instructor’s Course on the first weekend in May. We now have an additional 13 Level 1 instructors. Those that attended that course have already run events for their organizations. These new instructors came from all across the state, including Mount Isa, Mareeba, Caloundra, Toowoomba, Mackay and the southeast. As an aside, modules from our Level 1 Instructor’s course, that include the templates on which our kid’s fishing days are run have this year been included in the national angler education resource database.

Sunfish Queensland wishes to acknowledge the valuable support provided by the provision of this grant funding. Educating our next generations on the valuable resource that they need to protect is extremely important. Equally important is the ability to pass traditional knowledge and skills onto children that may not have those in their family networks that are able to do so, given the changing demographics in our society. We also can’t forget the tremendous opportunities provided for families with children who have difficult circumstances. These families are discovering a pastime that they can enjoy as a unit, irrespective of physical or emotional disadvantages.

Kind Regards
Judy Lynne
Executive Officer
Sunfish Queensland Inc