A Secret Ingredient of the Charles River

Participants of the environmental science class
deep in the dough-making process.

I'm still getting used to freshwater fishing on the Charles with Community Boating's environmental science class. This last week my team and I decided to introduce a new type of bait to the kids in hopes of seeing more success reeling in fresh water fishies. I had received a good tip from an onlooking passerby with experience in fishing; he told us that dough balls were great bait to use when fishing in freshwater, especially for catching carp, a fish known to reside in the river. We brought bread, flour, and the special ingredient, garlic powder and taught the children how to mix their very own dough balls. The kids were very excited at the mention of creating their own bait, in no time at all their hands were completely covered in dough. At first the balls kept sliding off their hooks in the water so they had to go back and re-tweak their recipe, but making the bait made the fishing experience all the more interactive for them and they made sure to express their appreciation! We got a whole bunch of bites but unfortunately we didn't reel anything onto the dock; the fish were experts in liberating the dough from the hooks, all the while evading capture. For next week, we have to think of new type of bait to use that will successfully get those fish on the line-- it's back to the drawing board!

The Save the Harbor team
hard at it!

A participant showing off
her masterpiece!

This weekend I had the pleasure of working the Revere Sand Sculpting Festival! We had our own Save the Harbor table nestled in among the numerous food vendors, obstacle courses, and of course, sand sculptures. There we offered free flatfish printing to the public allowing them to get hands on with a real life flounder. The crowd was in total disbelief of the fish being real, and it wasn't until being challenged to touch it that they realized we were not kidding! The kids always love inking the fish and making their very own colorful prints, but it's always a joy to see the parents enjoying learning about the history behind Gyotaku fish printing, as well as seeing the excitement of their children as they print the fish and certainly the look on their face as they display their new works of art!