Weeki Wachee fishing clinic teaches 153 kids outdoor basics

Forty volunteers turned Weeki Wachee High School into a hands-on fishing classroom for 153 children ages 5 to 14, giving Hernando County families a free lesson in casting, knot tying and conservation on a day built around the water that defines this part of Florida.

The Weeki Wachee Anglers Incorporated Fishing and Social Club teamed with the high school for its ninth annual children’s fishing clinic, and parents and children began lining up as early as 7 a.m. The clinic used five stations to move young anglers through fish education, poles and nets, knot tying, casting and net throwing, so children left knowing how to identify equipment, bait a line and try for a catch in a guided setting. One of the more memorable stops came when children reeled in plastic practice fish and were told to check under the gills, where they found a rolled-up dollar bill.

Event coordinator Dave Humbles said the point was to create the next generation of anglers, encourage kids to get outside and help them enjoy the local environment. That message fit neatly with a club that says it was founded in 2014 as a nonprofit and works to protect Florida’s natural resources for future generations. Bass Pro Shops and Fish Florida sponsored the free event, which kept the cost barrier out of a family outing that can otherwise require gear, bait and time on the water.

The clinic also landed in a place where outdoor recreation is part of the local economy and the local identity. Weeki Wachee Springs State Park says the underwater theater opened on Oct. 13, 1947, and Florida State Parks says the mermaid attraction once drew as many as half a million visitors a year. The Southwest Florida Water Management District says the Weeki Wachee River is a first-magnitude spring system originating in Hernando County and running about 7.5 miles to the Gulf, a resource that shapes everything from weekend boating to tourism.

Weeki Wachee High School’s published enrollment is 1,465 students, underscoring the scale of the campus that hosted the clinic and the reach of a partnership built around a simple idea: teach children to fish, and they also learn how to handle the springs, rivers and wildlife that make Hernando County distinctive.