Casting about for a fun summertime family activity?

Trying to lure your kids into being more outdoorsy?

Hooked on the idea of — well, you get it.

The annual Youth Fly Fishing Expo once again took to the pond at Battle Point Park Sunday, May 20, and many pint-sized, would-be anglers were guided through a crash course — or is that a splash course? — in the fine art of fly fishing; from tying to casting to reeling ‘em in.

The day’s fishy festivities included fly-tying and fly-casting clinics, fish-and-stream biology education, casting-for-accuracy games, and actual fishing in the freshly-stocked pond. Some 300 trout were brought in just for the occasion — and released in secret.

“We do not publish when we stock the pond because we had a year when a bunch of adults came down and fished out all the trout,” said Jeff Ozimek, Bainbridge Island Metropolitan Parks & Recreation District Outdoor Adventure Program Manager. For the intended anglers, though, it’s the ideal way to cap the experience: the thrill of the fight.

“We get boys and girls, we get everybody casting,” Ozimek said. “They go through these different stations: fly tying, the smelling game, casting practice, with just yarn, and then, after that, they work one-on-one with instructors again on the pond.”

Rods, courtesy of Sage and Redington, were provided, as well as fly-tying materials and snacks.

The event is jointly sponsored by the Bainbridge Island Metropolitan Park & Recreation District, Trout Unlimited, Bainbridge Island Fly Fishers, Sage and Peninsula Outfitters.

“A lot of our volunteers have been here five, six years, some of them three years,” Ozimek said. “It’s all hands-on, there’s visual, there’s auditory, there’s kinesthetic learning. They keep their own flies that they work on. They learn how salmon work based on smell, sight games. They practice the casting and then they actually put it to use.”

The day’s fishing policy was strictly catch-and-release (single hook, barbless).

Fly fishing is an ideal way, Ozimek said, to get youngsters interested in nature more directly, and thus a perfect fit for the parks department calendar.

“The barrier is the perception that it’s a very difficult thing to get into,” he explained. “All it take is someone who’s willing to spend the time to teach the kids. We’re all here for the kids. We put this on for the kids.

“Our [ideal] outcome is to have this positive experience for the kids fishing,” he added. “If we get a couple of kids who are hooked, if you will — I can’t believe I just said that — then that’s the outcome. And then they’re going to be the ones talking about environmental stewardship, they’re the ones who are going to be helping others and getting them out here.”

It’s an ideal shared by the event’s primary volunteers and resident fly fishing experts.

Founded in Michigan in 1959, Trout Unlimited today is a national nonprofit with about 300,000 members and supporters dedicated to conserving, protecting and restoring North America’s coldwater fisheries and their watersheds. From forested rivers like the Farmington in Connecticut to the pristine waters of Alaska’s Bristol Bay and all points in between, TU’s work reportedly spans nearly a million miles of cold water all across North America.

Visit www.tu.org to learn more.

Bainbridge Island Fly Fishers is a group of like-minded individuals that share a common interest in all things related to the pursuit of angling for fish with a fly. They meet on the last Tuesday of each month at Seabold Hall. All are welcome and invited to attend.

Visit www.bainbridgeisland flyfishers.wordpress.com to learn more.