Hundreds try hand at fishing

Hundreds of children swapped their phones for fishing rods and attempted to put some dinner on their Dunedin tables.

About 250 children took part at the Fish & Game Take a Kid Fishing event at the Southern Reservoir over the weekend.

Fish & Game officer Steve Dixon said the event was about getting children outside and having a crack at catching fish.

Technology and social media had led to fewer family fun days, so the event was a good chance for the whole family to be together.

"When you’ve got that many kids and mums and dads, it makes a good family event.

"A lot of people put this day up on their calendar."

Some children at the event had never gone fishing before.

They could get started just before the opening of the fishing season on October 1, Mr Dixon said.

Fish & Game had raised and placed about 450 rainbow trout in the reservoir that weighed between 0.9kg and 4kg each.

The children had the option of keeping the fish or throwing them back in the water.

"If they want to keep the fish, we can humanely dong it on the head for them and we’ve got a filleting table over there so we can cut the fish for them and they can take it home and eat it."

The Dunedin City Council had offered the reservoir and the Otago Community Trust had put some money towards it as well, he said.

It was free for children to attend the event and there were already nearly 300 children registered for next weekend.

mark.john@odt.co.nz