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Gone Fishing, Back Soon

by Amber on Dec.10, 2009, under Alyssa Bingle, Amber Bingle, Ashley Bingle

Back in 2007 I did a post about Fish for the Fun of It. That was the second to last year I could be involved, but we went again this year for Alyssa. Fish for the Fun of It is an Orange County Parks and Recreation program. Three Saturdays in a row there is a fishing tournament at three different Orange County Parks.

The first Saturday we arrived at Barnet Park and found out favorite spot from years past, out on a little island across a board walk. As we were walking across we spied many brim, large and small, swimming about. We figured with so many fish it would be a good spot.

Over the two hours of the tournament Alyssa (the only one allowed to fish) caught four brim, each a little less than an ounce and a half. She was very excited because she caught one almost as soon as the tournament began.

The next week the tournament was at Blanchard Park. This park has a large spillway that many people like to fish off of. We arrived early enough to stake a claim on the bridge with our camping chairs.

The bridge was not quite the hot spot it had been last year, but Alyssa managed to catch another brim with no help at all.

Alligator Fishing with Us

On the down side of the spill way there were a pair of alligators. They were both six (or so) feet long. They live there and we have seen them for the past couple years.

On a side note, the fishing tournament happened to fall on Talk Like a Pirate Day.

The third park was Bear Creek, and is the closest to our house. Unfortunately Alyssa did not catch anything. After the tournament was over Alyssa allowed me to try my luck. I managed to land a brim.

As we were leaving we were told there was another family fishing event in Winter Park the next Saturday. Ashley and I were scheduled to be on a Leadership Retreat with the youth. The rest of the family went, and had a great time.

At this tournament there were no prizes and everyone (including adults) could fish. You could also keep any fish you caught. The three of them caught 8 catfish and a brim. They gave the catfish to a man who was going to eat the fish he caught.

At this tournament they found out another was to be held in Ocoee the next Saturday. It turned out to be a founder’s day event where the first fish you caught earned you a ribbon.

We snagged a spot in the shade, but we had little luck. Ashley managed to catch a lizard that was scampering over everyone, though not with a fishing pole. At the end of the day our only catch was one small brim.

It was a bit disappointing, so when we came home we decided to try in the pond two doors down from our house. We had received fishing poles in previous years and had some extra worms from the morning, so we had plenty of equipment.

We fished until it became too dark for the fish (and us) to see the bait. The total ended with four fish caught by Ashley, four by me, and three hooked by Alyssa. All were brim of many different sizes. I didn’t even know there were that many fish in our little pond!

Ashley had only been allowed to fish in the tournaments for two years before she was too old. Neither of those years was she able to catch anything, so these four fish where the first she had ever caught. They were also the biggest of the ones we caught that day.

The next Saturday we tried again in the pond. However, the leftover worms had turned to mush, so they did not make very good bait. We tried with frozen corn and that worked only a little better. The day ended with a lot of bites and only one catch.

The Big One

We had fun though, so we tried again on a Saturday afternoon. The corn was working better, and I caught two more brim. Alyssa landed four, one of which was the biggest we have caught from that pond. Ashley hooked a couple, but they all got away about a foot from the bank.

We have not had an open Saturday for a while, but we plan to fish more in the future.


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