The problem

Kentucky has the third most navigable miles of water in the USA with over 90,000 miles of streams.  It also has 45 major lakes and is the only state bordered on three sides by rivers.  Despite the amount of opportunity in the state, there is still many adults who do not know how to fish, where they can fish, or the laws surrounding fishing, with an even bigger number who have never harvested their catch and cooked it for a meal.  Utilizing outdoor resources is also an excellent way for individuals to understand where our food comes from and consider behaviors to protect those natural resources.

The educational program response

Boone County Extension hosted two programs to promote fishing in Kentucky; Kayak Fishing 101 and Hook and Cook.  Kayak Fishing was a 3-part series which taught 20 participants fishing skills and laws, the basics of fishing from kayaks and included a float trip for participants to put the classroom lecture into practice.  Hook and Cook included 10 participants who also learned the basic skills and laws of fishing but also learned how to filet their own catch and different recipes from Cook Wild created by the SNAP program.

The participants/target audience

General public 16 years or older.

Other partners (if applicable)

• Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife 
• UKY SNAP
• Boone County Extension Family Consumer Science

Program impact or participant response.

In total 30 individuals participated in the two programs.  Every participant learned a new skill during one of the programs, that skill varied among participants.  Many planned to purchase year-long license to continue fishing and about 25% of the Kayak Fishing participants were considering purchasing a kayak when they had the funds.  All Hook and Cook participants tried three different fish recipes and took several recipes home to try.