Why More Than 6,500 ‘Small Frys’ Reeled in Their Junior Angler Badge Last Year
By Courtney Johnson
What is the Junior Angler Program?
At the Timucuan Ecological and Historical Preserve, and with the help of rangers at Sheffield Regional Park and through the Blue Star Families Outdoors Explorers For All military program, the three children in the Jacksonville, Florida based Hargrove family, received a fishing pole, learned to cast and fish, and earned their Junior Angler badges. “They absolutely adored the practice fish, with things like big rubber fish to try to hook while learning the cast,” said their mom, Tricia.
The program connects the fishing tradition across generations while teaching children skills they can apply in the future, either at a clinic or while earning their badge. “They [the Hargrove kids] still talk about the right way to handle a fish, watching the gills to not touch them yet still having a firm grasp on the body,” says Hargrove. She adds, “We fish in our retention ponds not to eat but to get outside and slow down as a family and laugh at the kids freaking out over the worms when we get actual bait. It’s the small, unscheduled, slow moments, like sitting around waiting in a fish, that help to make this life so much more worth living.”
A collaboration between the U.S. Department of the Interior, the National Park Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Junior Ranger Angler program was established in 2019 at more than 30 national parks to promote fishing and give young anglers a chance to earn their Junior Ranger Angler badge. The Junior Ranger Angler program introduces children to ethical angling practices, to native fish species at specific parks, and to the joys of recreational fishing while creating a sense of investment in park spaces and their ecosystems and habitats. Grant monies from the National Park Foundation, the official nonprofit partner of the National Park Service has made this program thrive. It’s now one of more than 300 Junior Ranger programs in the Department of the Interior with more than 45 participating NPS sites—and, more than 6,500 youngsters earned their angler badge in 2023, according to the National Park Foundation! When established, former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke said, “The Junior Ranger fishing booklet is a great tool to inspire future anglers to get out on the waters and enjoy the American pastime of fishing.” In the spring of 2024, the National Park Foundation announced 37 new grantees, “national parks, park partners, and community-based organizations will host in-park fishing clinics, set up gear libraries, and more in hopes of providing more children, families, and communities opportunities to enjoy the outdoors and national parks.”
Fishing Clinic at Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, photo courtesy NPS.
Image courtesy of the National Park Service.
While you can download the book at home and complete the Let’s Go Fishing! badge on your own, finding an event or clinic is recommended for a variety of reasons, from making connections with other anglers to being able to borrow fishing gear. “Hands on, real world experience is where it’s at,” said Hargrove. “We had already done the book work at Atchafalaya National Heritage Area years ago, so they had the badge. Being able to actually hold the rod and reel and have someone else teach them (we homeschool and they still aren’t convinced I do know some things) made all the difference.”
Doing it on one’s own, says Hargrove, is easier with access to gear, and proximity to a body of water. “I know around us are a few free days and teaching days where certain places have learning opportunities and rental equipment. The book and badge would be an extra accompaniment to things like that,” she said.
Participating Parks and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Entities
The following sites offer a variety of opportunities to participate in the Junior Angler Program, from weekly meetups and multi-week clinics to one-day angler events and fishing derbies. Junior anglers can learn how parks conserve their fish habitats and about fishing regulations (most units are catch and release), and help build relationships within the outdoors with local communities. These programs are often free with park admission, but most will require you to sign up beforehand. Fishing enthusiasts can also earn the badge on their own by grabbing a Let’s Go Fishing book from a visitor center. Some of the participating park units include:
You can download and print the Junior Ranger Let’s Go Fishing! booklet to get a head start. Over 200 national parks, monuments, rivers and recreation areas offer fishing. For additional information and specific fishing regulations, click here to learn what national parks allow fishing. Click here for a great resource to find other fishing opportunities near you, or near the places you like to explore. You can also apply for fishing licenses.
So now that you have learned about this program collaboration between the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, find a fishing event near you to help your family work towards your Junior Angler badge. As the saying goes, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
