SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — This weekend will be the 24th annual free fishing days in West Virginia. Governor Tomblin, like many before him, has declared no fishing license is necessary to fishing the state Saturday or Sunday. The designation culminates National Fishing and Boating Week and is a celebration of the enjoyment of fishing.
“A lot of folks may have fished as youngsters and haven’t fished in a while. It’s a great way to reintroduce folks to fishing,” said Brett Preston, Assistant Chief for Warmwater Fisheries for the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. “It’s also a great opportunity to introduce new people to fishing.”
Preston said studies show children are more likely to take up fishing as a lifelong hobby if they start in their youngest years. He said they have also found many adults were taken fishing when they were kids, but as they grew older their obligations and time were dominated by other interests. Those folks let fishing fall by the wayside. This weekend is set aside to give them an opportunity to get back to the water.
A few years ago, there was grave concern over fewer and fewer anglers. Children’s time is more dominated by youth sports or video games. State wildlife agencies and national tackle manufacturers recognized the problem and began to spotlight the concern.
“I believe nationally it’s leveled off and there’s probably an increase in fishing interest over the last couple of year,” Preston said. “Here in West Virginia we’re pretty much holding our own.”
The beauty of fishing is the range of cost. You can spend a lot on high end gear, but you can still catch fish for just a few dollars.
“It is a fairly inexpensive pastime, depending on the level of skill and interest,” Preston said. “To get started, spincast rods aren’t overly expensive and a dozen night crawlers doesn’t cost much either and there are plenty of places to fish.”
As part of the attraction, the Division of Natural Resources has stocked cacheable size catfish in a number State Park ponds for another year. The program has become very popular in recent years for the annual free fishing weekend.