Fishing village gets rave reviews

The new unit is a big hit! When the foundations involved in funding the project visited the village earlier this summer they were taken on a tour by the girls who were staying there that week. One of the visitors made a point of telling me that none of the girls had anything bad to say about the new unit! The visitor was happy about that and the program possibilities that the new unit will make possible for girls.

Phil Olsommer (facilities manager of Treelake) and I asked some of the girls what they did and did not like about the new facilities. One said the best thing was being able to canoe to their unit from main camp. Another liked the idea of being a little farther away from the rest of the camp and the quiet that comes from being across the lake. The only negative comment was in regard to having to go home at the end of the session. I’m sure we will discover some things to either iron out or improve upon as more girls stay in the village, but so far campers are having a good time, and that’s what counts.

Fishing available at camp

Fishing can be found in abundance at Camp Agnes Arnold at the fishing village. Fishing is also available at Camps Robinwood, Silver Springs, and Whispering Pines all have different size lakes or ponds that are good for fishing as well.

The types of fish girls will find include large mouth bass, crappie (pronounced cropy), pan fish (also called brim, sun fish, blue gill), catfish, and German carp. GSSJC asks that girls adhere to our catch and release policy. It takes a long time for bass to grow. If you do happen to catch a large one it has been in the lake a long time, and it would take a long time to replace it so bring your camera and take a picture, but not the fish.

Pan fish are prolific reproducers and are popularly called pan fish because they fit nicely in a frying pan. Crappie are larger but still in the pan fish family. Girls may want to try cooking up a mess of these if they, or their leaders, know what they are doing. If not, go ahead and release them back into the lake for others to catch, but do not waste them.

For girls who do want to do a little fishing I suggest flattening the barb on the hook. This can be easily done with a pair of pliers. It will make it easier to remove the hook from the fish, and in the event you accidentally hook yourself, it will be much less painful to remove it from yourself as well. So, gather up your fishing gear (the Council does not provide fishing equipment) and bring it with you. Good fishing!