Fishing is a practice in patience. You have to be willing to sit and wait. And sometimes it means going home without a single bite.

It’s a lesson members from the Verda James Club learned at a popular fishing hole in Casper.

On a warm summer Tuesday, the Club bus pulled into the gravel parking area at Yesness Pond. Club kids filed off with excited chatter toward a trailer with fishing poles lined up neatly against its side.

“We have blue ones and pink ones,” said the man greeting them.

That man was Kenny Mayer from North Platte Walleyes Unlimited. Each child was given a rod, reel, and bobber courtesy of the non-profit group that works to promote and improve angling opportunities in Wyoming.

After a brief safety note from Club director Cody, the young fisherman set out for the shore, eager to throw their lines into the water.

 

“I have a passion for the outdoors and fishing. Being from Wyoming we are raised doing this sort of thing,” said Cody.  “I wanted to give the kids the chance to experience something they may not have before.”

Cody and staff provided this fishing experience to 65 Verda James Club kids. In all, the young anglers caught about a dozen fish and released them back into the pond. They got back on the bus that day with their own fish tales to tell and a fishing rod of their own. Most of all, they walked away with a new appreciation for patience and what it means to wait for something.