Kids enjoy fishing event

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

June 6, 1996

By Devlyn Brooks

Staff Writer

For the second consecutive year, guides and anglers participating in the annual Take a Kid Fishing event battled inclement weather while they were at play.

Larry Sundquist, a nine-year TKF veteran, said out of the 10-year history of Bemidji's event, the last two years have been the only years the youthful anglers encountered bad weather.

However, the cold and rainy weather had no effect on the guides and kids at the fish fry held at Lake Bemidji State Park after the day's fishing. The boats pulling into shore all carried passengers that wore smiles.

One of those anglers was former state Natural Resources Commissioner Joe Alexander, who said he was not only here to fish, but also here on business.

He, and cameraman Dock Robac, were filming the event for a half-hour television show he hosts, "Environmental Journal." The show can be seen on local access channels across Minnesota, Robac said, but times vary according to different television stations.

Alexander said he chose Bemidji for the shoot because "it is a community that goes all out for Take a Kid Fishing.

"This weekend, adults can take a kid fishing without a license anywhere in Minnesota. But the people of Bemidji said, 'Forget about the license. We're just going to take kids fishing,'" Alexander said.

He also said Bemidji was the first city to make TKF an "all-out community effort."

The event was an outgrowth of the 1986 Governor's Fishing Opener held in Bemidji, when Alexander was natural resources commissioner, as guides to that event decided to do it again for kids. It has continued each year since.

Another celebrity to make an appearance was "Ernie the Angler," who has a twice-a-week fishing program on WDAZ-TV in Fargo. "Ernie" hit the lakes with the other guides and afterward conducted interviews with the event's organizers.

Sundquist said there were 180 kids and about 90 boats that went fishing on Bemidji's 10th anniversary TKF.

"It's just a good time, and we owe it to the guides and the people on shore," Sundquist said. "It's kind of hard to believe that on a Wednesday you can get so many people to turn out."

He said the reason Bemidji's event is always successful is that no one has to beg people to help. "They all chip in and do their part, so it runs itself," he aid.

Guides reported that even though the weather might have been bad, it was a good day for fishing. One of the larger fish caught was by 14-year-old Jay Diekow who lured a northern that weighed almost 10 pounds.