(Submitted story)
MODOC, S.C. –Severe overnight storms didn’t deter local families or dedicated union volunteers from gathering at J. Strom Thurmond Lake for the 4th Annual Take Kids Fishing Day on May 23.
Co-sponsored by the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance (USA), the Augusta Building & Construction Trades Council (BCTC), and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the event drew 65 eager young anglers and 100 total participants to the Modoc Boat Ramp. Organizers moved the event up a month this year to escape the oppressive summer heat that challenged last year’s anglers. Despite the storms, the event was high-energy, and the stringers were loaded with catfish.
“It was a great event,” said event lead Dale Cullum, business manager for Heat & Frost Insulators Local 92. “The lake was six feet low this year, and we put 1,500 pounds of catfish in there. If you went home without a stringer full of fish, you were doing something wrong.”
Eight union volunteers from the Augusta BCTC joined five volunteers from the Corps of Engineers to keep lines untangled and hooks full of worms. Each registered youth walked away with a free rod and reel to call their own, giving many first-time anglers a proper introduction to the sport.
For families like Sarah Johnson’s, the community effort paid off in a big way. Johnson, who caught wind of the event on Facebook, brought her three daughters, ages 10, 7 and 4.
“My middle daughter loves fishing, but they’ve only been twice in their lives,” Johnson said. “This event was number three. My oldest and my four-year-old don’t usually have a good attention span, but they continuously caught fish.”
The girls left the business of handling the worms to Mom.
“The girls did not bait their own hooks because they thought it was too gross,” Johnson said. “I did it because Dad thought it was gross, too.”
Teaming up with friends, Johnson’s three girls and their friends, six young ladies total, managed to fill a five-gallon bucket to the brim with catfish. Thanks to some helpful friends who pitched in to clean the catch, the family headed home with plenty of fillets, brand-new fishing poles, and plans to test their new skills at a friend’s farm pond next week.
The annual event took place at the handicap-accessible fishing pier near the popular Modoc boat ramp. In 2023, union volunteers relocated the pier and constructed an abutment and paved walkway to make it accessible through the USA’s Work Boots on the Ground conservation program. Funded in part by the Augusta BCTC’s annual USA conservation dinners, the facility ensures that the local community has top-tier public access to the outdoors for years to come.
The good news for local parents is that the tradition isn’t going anywhere. According to Cullum, the Army Corps of Engineers has already secured the funding to keep the Take Kids Fishing Day tradition alive and well for at least the next three years.
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