Netting interest

The Lakehead Region Conservation Authority Family Fishing Day didn't attract many participants but a coordinator for the event says it is still a good way to introduce people to the outdoors.

Erin Nudds, an outreach education coordinator with the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority, helped organize the Family Day Fishing event at Hazelwood Lake Nature Centre and Conservation Area on Sunday. Despite the warm weather, less than 10 people attended the workshop.

Nudds said she was disappointed with the turnout but felt activities such as the Family Fishing Day were a good way to make people excited to go outdoors.

"I think getting that connection from young people is the biggest challenge of my job," Nudds said. "I sort of feel that some kids aren’t as interested in the outdoors as I was when I was a kid. These programs are what makes living in Thunder Bay special. We have so much accessibility to fishing and other outdoor activities. The programs are important because they allow people in the community to see what we have to offer."

She added that she hoped to have more people come to the event next year.

Ted Ostrowski came to Hazelwood Lake to walk his one-and-a-half-year-old husky Teeko. Ostrowski walks his dog down by the water every day and said he`s usually the only one there. Thunder Bay offers something to do all year around whether it’s walking, ice fishing, canoeing, hunting or skating, he said.

He said it was a shame that the community didn’t better utilize the park areas that are around the city more.

"So many time I’ve come down here and we can spend any where from an hour to an hour and a half and I don’t see anybody," Ostrowski said. "I feel this is an area that could be utilized far, far more often. Although, to be fair you do see the anglers, kayaks, and you have the ice fishermen but definitely the numbers of people coming here are conservative. Given the landscape and the terrain, surely there could be more people here."