Fort Stewart Soldier Fishing Day Fun For Whole Family

By Randy Murray, Fort Stewart Public AffairsOctober 1, 2009

Fort Stewart Fishing Day
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT STEWART, Ga. - More than 125 Soldiers, retirees, veterans, Family Members, Army Civilians and guests endured the hot Georgia sun and merciless humidity as they lined the banks of Fort Stewart's Pond #30 for five hours of fishing fun, Sept. 26. To ensure the event's success, the Directorate of Public Works' Fish and Wildlife Branch stocked the pond with 750 pounds of 12 to 14-inch long catfish, according to Susan Chipple, Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation.

"I love it out here," said Staff Sgt. Richard French, 26th Forward Support Battalion, 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team. "I try to take my Family fishing every weekend. Last weekend, we were (fishing) down at Harris Neck (National Wildlife Preserve)."

Staff Sergeant French won the drawing for a new rod and reel presented by DFMWR, but he was too busy catching catfish to collect his prize, so he tasked his wife to go the DFMWR trailer to accept it for him. His children stayed behind, assisting him by baiting hooks and putting fish on the stringer. Their Family fishing operation looked something like an assembly line. Staff Sergeant French said he was trying to get in as much Family time as he could because he'd be re-deploying soon and have to focus his attention on keeping his Soldiers safe. Fishing, he said, was the best way for his whole Family to have fun.

Although the event focused on getting single Soldiers out of the barracks by letting them know about fishing and hunting opportunities on the installation, Chipple said it was open to everyone. State and post fishing permits were waived, and DFMWR even provided bait for the event - night crawlers and chicken livers. Any observer could tell the chicken livers were immensely more popular with the catfish than the more squeamish, first-time fishermen, who preferred to let someone else bait their hooks.

A limited number of fishing rods were made available for single Soldiers and first-time fishermen, and Directorate of Logistics provided a bus that shuttled single Soldiers to and from the event.

DPW Fish and Wildlife representatives were also on-hand, manning a booth that provided information about hunting and fishing on post and off. They even fried up some catfish and hushpuppies and gave out free samples for the hungry fishermen. Still another trailer with sinks and running water was provided for fishermen to clean their day's catch, and for first-time fishermen, someone was there to show them how to skin and fillet a catfish.

Other Outdoor Recreation events planned for the near future include the Big Buck Contest, a wildlife photo contest and a managed deer/hog hunt. For more information about these events and others, call 435-8061 at Fort Stewart or 315-5163 at Hunter.