Green River Girls Earn Youth Fishing Certificates

April 8, 2014

GREEN RIVER GIRLS EARN YOUTH FISHING AWARD

 

GREEN RIVER—Addyson Neff is one happy little ten-year old angler. Neff is the first southwest Wyoming recipient of the Wyoming Youth Fishing Challenge.

            “I love the outdoors and I love fishing,” Neff said with a huge grin. “It wasn't easy and I had to do a lot of work, but if you’re fishing a lot, you have a lot of fun. I also feel really proud and I think my family is proud of me, too.”

            The Wyoming Youth Fish Challenge Program is a new program designed to provide youth with angling challenges that will expand their fishing skills. Youth under the age of 18 can complete up to 10 challenges, including Trout Trio, Cool Catch, Wyoming’s Wild One, Pan Pair, Habitat Counts, Percid Prize, Bass Battle, and the Hatchery Hop. The program is based on the Cutt-Slam, a Wyoming Game and Fish Department program started in the 1990s by the late Green River Fisheries Supervisor Ron Remmick. This program is a collaboration of the Game and Fish, North Platte Walleyes, Trout Unlimited, 4-H Sportfishing, and the Wyoming Fly Casters.

            Addyson, a seven-year veteran angler, has already earned to challenges: the Trout Trio and Habitat Counts challenges. To complete the Trout Trio, participants are required to catch any three separate species of trout found in Wyoming, including brook, brown, rainbow, cutthroats, kokanee, tiger, splake, lake or golden. To complete the Habitat Counts, participants are required to catch a fish from three of the different habitats-lakes, beaver ponds, tail waters, small streams, and rivers. If youth anglers complete five or more challenges, Game and Fish will recognize them as a Master Angler. Participants who successfully complete any category will receive a collectible certificate featuring the fish they caught and recognizing them for their efforts.

            For a year and a half, Addyson endured cold, windy days, walked a lot, and used a variety of bait, including Spoons, flies, worms, and marshmallows. She also used both a fly rod and fishing pole to catch her fish. Her father, Scott Neff, also an avid angler and member of the Seedskadee Chapter of Trout Unlimited, was there for every catch and offered lots of support and guidance to his daughter. Addyson’s sister Janae also helped the younger angler. “My oldest daughter, Janae, was a bit envious of her younger sister when Addyson received the Wyoming Youth Fish Challenge certificates,” Scott said.  “On Saturday, April 5, Janae finally completed the Habitat Counts challenge by catching a fish on a tail water.”

            Scott Neff was the 56^th person to earn the Cutt Slam award in 1999. “It looks like getting Wyoming Game and Fish Department certificates is in the blood,” Scott said.

            When asked what she liked about the fishing challenge, Addyson said she liked the fact that she had to ask other people for help to catch the fish.

            “Well, I had to ask a man fishing on Flaming Gorge what he was using to catch fish because he was catching fish and I wasn't,” Addyson said. “The man put a worm and a marshmallow on the hook for me and it worked! Then, when I was fishing at Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge, Shelly [Koerner], the manager’s wife, let me borrow her net so I could get the fish out of the water. The fish kept breaking the line and swimming away before I could get them out of the water. Using the net worked!”

Wyoming Youth Fish Challenge Program rules are as follows:

• Open to any youth (resident or nonresident, 18 years of age and under)
• All fish must be caught in Wyoming
• Photos must be taken with the youth and the fish at the body of water of capture
• Fish can be caught over multiple years, prior to the 19th birthday
• Native fish do not have to be taken from their native range, unless it is for the Cutt-Slam
• Verification sheet must be submitted to Casper Game and Fish Office for authorization

Verification sheets and a description of the program are available at the Green River Game and Fish Office and online at wgfd.wyo.gov . 

~WGFD~ 

Contact: Lucy Diggins-Wold, 307-875-3225, extension 18607

Photo Credit: :Lucy Diggins-Wold, WGFD *High resolution photos available upon request.