Hazy, smokey skies from Canada wildfires may dilute the batch of new anglers who go out to enjoy a day of license-free fishing this summer, but the free programs of Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) have developed serious interest around the state.
Becca Freeman of Severn, Maryland said she thought a free fishing day for novices is “awesome.” She and her husband Jesse have already gone fishing with their three-year-old daughter Indie with a toy rod, reel and tackle when they go on vacation. Two-year-old Ezra might not be far behind.
“I was outside all the time as a kid,” she said. “Fresh air, not being in front of a screen all day, using your imagination; learning that you can figure out ways to entertain yourself instead of feeling that you constantly have to be entertained. I noticed that if I let my kids watch too much TV, that’s what they want that constantly. They forget how to use their imagination.”
The DNR’s Keith Lockwood writes the agency’s regular fishing report which covers Chesapeake Bay Fishing, as well as freshwater hotspots around the state. He acknowledged that the number of anglers in Maryland has been declining for a while now.
“Every state in the United States is struggling with fewer and fewer anglers, ” Lockwood said. “Recruitment is a real problem for everyone. It (free fishing) is an attempt to remove an impediment. You can catch and keep fish in tidal or non-tidal waters…as long as it’s legal (fish size & limit.)”
The free fishing days are the first two Saturdays of June and July 4.
