Gone Fishing
With the weather starting to actually feel like summer, it’s time to unplug and take advantage of the warm, sunny days while they’re still here.
In a recent study, parents of children 8-12 years old said their kids spend three times as many hours on electronics each week as they do playing outside. Kids aren’t alone in this: The same study found that half of adults spend five hours or less outside each week. Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris is challenging families to get off their screens and embrace the fun of fishing by bringing its national Gone Fishing movement to the Twin Cities with family-friendly activities throughout June.
To kick off National Fishing and Boating Week, all three Twin Cities Cabela’s locations are teaming up to reel in a special donation day at Cabela’s Rogers location on June 6. Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s are donating hundreds of fishing rods and reels to local nonprofits like the Blooming Prairie Youth Club and Fishing4Life, and the St. Paul Police Department’s Police Athletic League to help kids get outside. This is part of a larger donation of 55,000 rods and reels to charities across the country, their largest in history.
Gone Fishing will continue over the following two weekends, June 8-9 and 15-16, at Cabela’s locations in Rogers, Owatonna, and Woodbury. Kids of all ages can catch their first fish in free catch-and-release ponds and even receive a “First Fish” certificate. Other activities include free fishing seminars, crafts, and photo opportunities.
Since the start of the program, Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s have donated 400,000 items to youth-focused nonprofit organizations across the nation, in an effort to inspire future generations to love and enjoy the outdoors so they protect and conserve it. Older generations are responsible for teaching younger generations the beauty and fragility of the natural world around us. With adults and children spending more and more time staring into a screen, we need events like this now more than ever.
If you usually go fishing for Fathers’ Day, Gone Fishing can be a wonderful and accessible opportunity to enjoy the great Minnesotan wilderness, and bring the family together.
