Local youth wins fishing challenge

#Middlebury #DEEP #Fishing

Noah Savin holds a largemouth bass he caught at Lake Elise. Noah was 6 years old when he won the 2021 Connecticut Youth Fishing Passport Fishing Challenge. (Harris Savin photo)

By MARJORIE NEEDHAM

New Year’s Eve 2021 marked two special dates for Middlebury resident Noah Savin, a 7-year-old first grader at Middlebury Elementary School. It was the day he turned 7, and it marked the end of the year in which, as a 6-year-old, he entered the 2021 Connecticut Youth Fishing Passport Fishing Challenge. Participants in the challenge, run by the fisheries division of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), try to catch each of 22 aquatic creatures (21 fish and one crab) on a DEEP scorecard. As proof of each catch, they submit a picture of themselves with it to DEEP.

It wasn’t until February 2022 that Noah learned he had won the 2021 challenge, beating youth as old as 15 by catching 17 of the listed species. Noah said he was surprised he won. He didn’t think he had caught enough fish.

DEEP Supervising Fisheries Biologist Michael Beauchene said two things about Noah’s catches made him stand out. One was that he caught all of the saltwater species listed. The other was that he caught a common carp. “Common carp are not usually caught,” he said. “Despite their reputation, they are hard to catch because they have a sensitive mouth, and they are kind of shy. You have to target them by place and gear.”

Beauchene said the annual award ceremony won’t take place due to COVID, but he will be delivering a prize package to Noah. He’ll get a spinning reel and rod, two publications on Connecticut fishing that are good resources, a ball cap, some lures and a certificate.

Noah Savin and his dad, Harris, hold a striped bass Noah caught off a beach at Milford, Connecticut. Noah said this was his hardest fish to catch. (Harris Savin photo)

Noah’s dad, Harris, said Noah showed an interest in fishing when he was just under a year old. Taken out on a boat for a fishing trip in Costa Rica, he kept reaching for the reel and wanting to wind it. He began developing his skills as a toddler with one of those rods with a string holding a magnet to pick up metal fish.

At the age of three, he began fishing in earnest, always wanting to do everything on his own. Noah told this reporter the hardest challenge fish to catch was the striper (striped bass), which was big and strong. The easiest was the bluegill.

Noah said of fishing, “It’s my favorite thing to do, and eating them. Daddy cooks them and I help.”

Noah does a lot of his fishing here in Middlebury, on Hop Brook, where Harris said he caught the three different trout species on the challenge list in one day; at Lake Elise (which Noah calls “catch and release”); and at Meadowview Park (which Noah calls the “police pond”). In addition to trout, his Middlebury catches included pumpkinseed, bluegill, largemouth bass, catfish and the common carp.

Noah’s mom, Cathy, said she was excited for Noah that he came in in top place. Asked if she was surprised he won, she responded, “Considering that is all he does in the summer, I was not surprised.” She said she doesn’t fish since it involves touching worms, but she is happy to cook what Noah catches.

Beauchene said on average 1,200 youth get the state’s free fishing passports each year. In past years, a smaller number has participated in the challenge, but that may be because photos had to be emailed in. This year, DEEP is using a new online and mobile Angler Recognition Form he hopes will encourage more youth to participate in the challenge. It sends in the photo and location of each catch.

Information on the challenge is at portal.ct.gov/DEEP/Fishing/CARE/Fishing-Challenge. Beauchene said he designed the program to get families out to spend quality time together. When the program first began, its slogan was “Away from the screens and into the streams.” He said every family that competed in the challenge was all in to use fishing as a family activity.