Youth Fishing Fun Lasts A Lifetime
Steve Knight
Jonna Fitzgerald is known for a lot of things around East Texas. She is a former Miss Texas, she has worked as a television newscaster, she is an active volunteer, plays a pretty mean fiddle (or violin some nights) and currently is on the staff in U.S. Rep. Louis Gohmert's Tyler office.
Not on the Tyler native's resume is angler, but it has been a lifelong activity that reached its pinnacle last month when she caught a 57-inch mahi mahi fishing off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii.
Fitzgerald was in Hawaii teaching a seminar for the Therapet Foundation, an organization that trains animals for use in rehabilitation therapy programs in hospitals. During a break in the schedule, Fitzgerald and several others chartered a boat for a six-hour fishing trip.
"There were several of us and we said if we could do anything, what we would we want to do? Deep sea fishing has been on my list my entire life, but I never had the opportunity to do it until now," Fitzgerald said.
The trip, like fishing trips can be, wasn't exactly action packed, but on the way in and in view of the dock, the mahi mahi hit the artificial lure.
It was a short fight, maybe six or seven minutes. "The weight lifting at the gym helped," Fitzgerald joked.
Compared to East Texas farm pond fishing, however, the hookup was exciting.
"There is no comparison. The magic is not having any idea of what you are going to pull up out of that water," she explained.
Courtesy Photo
HAWAIIAN DELIGHT: Having started fishing as a youth on East Texas farm ponds, Flint’s Jonna Fitzgerald’s latest catch was this 57-inch mahi mahi fishing off Oahu, Hawaii.
Fitzgerald was taught to fish by her parents. Her father, the late "Blue" Fitzgerald, taught her to cast. Her mother, Eddie Ruth, was just as important in getting Fitzgerald to the lake and continues to enjoy fishing herself.
"We had a farm in Wood County, and every Friday after school my mother would load up my brother and I and we would go to the farm. It was our routine on Saturday to get up and go fishing," Fitzgerald recalled.
Her dad preferred fishing for catfish and crappie, so on occasion the family would also take trips to the big lakes such as Palestine or Fork.
Her first recollection of fish is that of a young girl doing exactly as she was told.
"I remember sitting on the pier watching the little bobber and not blinking. I remember just staring at the bobber on the end of the cane pole. I was told to watch it and I was watching it," she said.
She also remembered every time a ripple on the water moved the cork that she would scream, thinking that she had caught a fish.
Fitzgerald's introduction into fishing was once commonplace, and the goal of this year's National Fishing and Boating week concludes this week with activities such as Saturday's free-fishing day in Texas. Along with activities at state parks, anyone is permitted to fish Saturday without a license. The hope is that people will enjoy themselves and return for more fishing in the future.
For Fitzgerald the fishing trips were about a lot more than finding catalpa worms to use as catfish bait or landing a bream or crappie under a bobber.
"Every weekend we looked forward to going. It was a bonding experience. I have always been close to my parents. This was something that we did together and they gave me the personalized attention that a child craves, with a common goal," she said.
For a young girl who grew up reading mystery novels, the fishing trips were like treasure hunts since she never knew what was going to be on her hook, if anything.
Fishing, along with her father's cattle raising, also provided her life lessons on the importance of clean water, open spaces and farming and ranching that she carried back into the classroom and into life as an adult.
Today her less frequent trips fishing are a release to Fitzgerald, a few minutes away from a telephone and computer. However, the excitement of landing a fish, any fish, is still there.
As someone with a large and successful resume, Fitzgerald remains a proponent of fishing and encourages parents to take their children, especially their daughters, to the lake with them.
"It is not something they will strike out and go do on their own unless someone else in the family takes them. You do get hooked on it. You get fascinated with it. You want to go back and fill that adrenaline rush," she said.
Youth fishing events being held Saturday in conjunction with National Fishing and Boat Week include the Adam Reilly Take a Kid Fishing Day from 8 a.m. to noon at Purtis Creek State Park near Eustace and a free fishing day at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens.
The event at Purtis Creek includes a free hot dog lunch, door prizes, fishing clinics, kid fishing tournament, archery and paddle boats. For more information call 903-425-2332
At TFFC there will be fishing contests, door prizes, free hot dogs and drinks. The activities are accessible for the mobility, visually and hearing impaired. Events last from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Admission is free for children 12 and under. For more information call 903-676-BASS.
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