Novice tackles new experiences
My uncle has always loved to fish. He can spend an entire day fishing in the ocean or at a lake in the Philadelphia area. He usually catches a few edible ones, like black sea bass, and calls my mom to pick up some of his slippery haul upon returning home.
While I have always enjoyed eating the fish that my uncle catches, it’s not an activity I’ve ever thought of doing myself. That is, until I began hearing about the health benefits of fishing during the covid-19 pandemic. Maybe my uncle was on to something.
According to a 2020 study published by the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation, fishing has a variety of physical and mental health benefits, including an increase in peacefulness and relaxation and a decrease in stress. It seems covid stressed people out, so more people sought out fishing as a way to practice self-care and relax.
Christopher Donofry ’22, who has been fishing with his family since he was small, said he really started to appreciate the solitude fishing provides during high school and college, especially during covid.
“Even though I do love fishing with other people, I found especially during lockdown, it gave me an outlet,” Donofry said.
In the midst of a busy semester, I crave relaxation, so I decided to give fishing a try. All I needed was an open fishing location that didn’t require a license. Pennsylvania requires a fishing license for anyone ages 16 and over wanting to fish on public land. In 2021, the license cost $22.97 for both Pennsylvania residents and student non-residents.
At Linvilla Orchards, located about 15 miles from campus in Media, Pennsylvania, fishing is offered from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. between late March and October without the need for a license. Admission tickets are available on Linvilla’s website for $9.99 per fisher and $6 per spectator (online prices). For an additional $3.99, customers can also rent fishing rods fashioned with a tiny hook.
It was my best (and only) option so late in the season. The Pennsylvania Boat & Fish Commission posts the seasons for various types of fish. Some fish have extended or year-round seasons, but you have to be hard-core to fish in the middle of a Pennsylvania winter.
I’m not hard-core, so one late October morning, my parents and I purchased tickets online, paid extra for the fishing rod rental and made our way to Orchard Lake, the designated fishing spot on Linvilla’s property.
Like many of the ponds at Linvilla, Orchard Lake had originally been built to provide water irrigation to the farm’s various crops. However, in 2004, the lake was opened up to the general public for fishing, said Sarah Mills, an administrative assistant at the farm.
“Fishing is something that a lot of local people love to do and we have some people on staff that are passionate about fishing,” Mills said. “So we opened [Orchard Lake] to the public and stocked it regularly with different types of fish… It’s also really great for kids because [they’re] going to come and know that there’s fish in the pond.”
The sight that greeted me when I arrived at Orchard Lake solidified Mills’ words. Excluding a few individuals who were already leaving for the day, the majority of fishers were young children who, like me, had no prior fishing experience.
Timeka Ford-Smith, a middle-school principal, was at Orchard Lake with her daughter attending a fishing birthday party. She said her daughter was ecstatic when she received the invitation.
“[My daughter] said that she always wanted to go fishing,” Ford-Smith said. “This is actually her first time.”
While my dad waited at a nearby picnic table, my mom and I bought some live minnows from the lake’s bait vending machine. We walked back to the table and stood next to it as we grabbed our fishing hooks from where they were fashioned to our fishing rods. Then, we opened the container of minnows and each tried to pierce one onto the hook.
It was not easy.
Tiny as they were, the minnows were slimy and squirmy, making it easy for them to slip from our fingers. At one point, I wondered aloud if we should have bought the night crawlers instead. However, eventually, we both managed to bait our fishing hooks.
With our victory against the minnows under our metaphorical belts, my mom and I moved onto casting our fishing lines. Firmly grasping our fishing rods, we pushed a small switch, which released our fishing lines, we tried to flick our baited hooks towards the lake.
This took several tries, a malfunctioning fishing rod and six minnows to master. By that point, I was getting the hang of it. And then I felt a harsh tug on my fishing rod.
“Quickly—don’t lose focus,” I anxiously thought. “Reel it in! Hurry! Or it will get away!”
As if it were a matter of life or death, I turned the spinning reel handle which resisted, threatening to undo all of my previous progress. For a few minutes, it was all I could do.
Then, I screamed with joy as my reward finally flopped onto the grass.
“I caught one! I actually caught one!”
I didn’t even care that the smallmouth bass I’d reeled in was only about the size of my hand. I might not be ready to fish in anything bigger than a small pond, but I now understand its appeal. Maybe, one day, it’ll be me bringing my uncle home a fish to eat.
