YOUTH FISHING – Sport Fishing for Youth Trust
Providing opportunities for youth to enjoy outdoor activities
Sports Fishing For Youth Trust is a charitable Trust with a goal of providing youth in the Nelson/Tasman region with an opportunity to go fishing, enjoy the outdoors, and hopefully to develop an appreciation of the outdoor environment. With the support of sponsors we have built three fishing ponds at Appleby and with assistance from Nelson Fish and Game we stock these ponds with trout and salmon.
Trustees and volunteers use the ponds to provide youngsters with a guided fishing opportunity at designated fishout days. These fishout days occur on selected days in two spells. The first spell is between 13th November and the 20th of December each year and the second spell is between the 1st of April and the 31st of May. During these two spells fishing is only permitted on the designated fishout days and no fishing without a Trustee guide is permitted.
We also, from time to time, make the ponds available for other groups and provide fishing opportunities for special needs groups, the disabled, the elderly, and groups such as Casting for Recovery, cancer kids etc.
It is essential to book children in for a time slot for the guided fishout days. Parents should check with this webpage and the Trust’s Facebook page for announcement of the dates of fishout days. The actual dates depend on matters like fish availability, maintenance requirements, and weather forecasts. The process for booking is contained elsewhere on this site.
Between 20th of December and the 31st March 2020 we usually make the ponds available for children to fish with parent supervision. Please note there are conditions of use that apply during this period and these must be observed. Details of the conditions are available elsewhere on this website however conditions include: a maximum of one fish per child on any one day, only children can be a fisher ( the person holding the rod ), no burley or feed to be used, restrictions on the use of spinners and soft baits, and all fishers must have a licence from Nelson Marlborough Fish and Game (free for 12 and under). For this period from the 20th December until the 31th of March the gate next to the cattle yards will be closed to prevent any conflict with farming machinery and operations. Fishers will need to park in the designated area outside the gate and it is an easy 150 metre walk along the stopbank to get for the ponds.
For Fishout Days our policy in the event of wet weather is NOT to cancel the event but leave it to the children/parents/caregivers to decide whether to attend, most do attend. We will cancel if the river is in flood and threatening the access road. In this case there will be a cancellation sign at the entrance from Challies road and we will endeavour to notify attendees by email.
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