Take ‘Em Fishing, Year Deux

Many of you will remember our Take ‘Em Fishing contest last year. We wanted to encourage our avid anglers to make it a point to find someone new, or someone who had not fished for a while, and get them back on the water. Then all you had to do was snap a photo, submit it online, and you might win prizes including up to a fully-rigged boat!

We are doing it again!

Accept Take ’em Fishing Challenge for chance to win prizes

LINCOLN, Neb. – Summer is here, and people all across Nebraska are fishing. Why not introduce someone new to fishing, snap a photo of the adventure and register in the Take ’em Fishing Challenge for a chance to win a prize?

This is the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s second year offering the challenge, which encourages experienced anglers to take a pledge to go fishing with a beginner or someone who hasn’t fished in several years. Anglers who take a photo of themselves taking someone fishing can enter an online drawing for dozens of prizes, including two $500 Scheels gift cards, a fishing kayak, or a two-night stay in a Nebraska state park. All participants will be featured on the agency’s Facebook page and will receive a Take ’em Fishing decal.

Last year, more than 4,710 entered the challenge.

“Everyone remembers that time someone took them fishing for first time,” Game and Parks Director Jim Douglas said. “It is important for anglers to pay it forward and teach someone else. The result can be lifelong memories and friendships built around fishing.”

Fishing allows groups of friends or family to spend time together while engaged in the same activity, no matter the fitness or skill levels of the various participants. It requires only basic, inexpensive equipment that can be found at any sporting goods store. Game and Parks stocks ponds and lakes across the state with sport fish, which means that just about everyone can find a good fishing spot close by.

Fishing is also crucial to the conservation of our natural resources. Money generated through the sale of fishing permits and aquatic habitat stamps is used to maintain healthy fisheries in Nebraska water bodies, and to improve access for anglers. We need more anglers to ensure the health and vitality of Nebraska’s aquatic resources for generations to come.

The benefits of fishing are numerous. Anglers report feeling more satisfied with their mental health, more inspired at work and closer to their families than non-anglers, according to the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation.

Visit OutdoorNebraska.org/takeemfishing to take the pledge (encouraged but not required), register, view rules or get more information. The Take ’em Fishing Challenge will run through Oct. 31, 2020.

If that was not enough, the “pot” got sweetened even more!

New Take ’em Fishing grand prize: Bass Tracker Classic

LINCOLN, Neb. – With a donation from the Cabela’s/Bass Pro Shop and the Nebraska Game and Parks Foundation, this year’s Take ’em Fishing Challenge just got a little more exciting: One lucky participant will win a Bass Tracker Classic XL boat.

This is the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s second year offering the challenge, which encourages experienced anglers to take a pledge to go fishing with a beginner or someone who hasn’t fished in several years. Anglers who take a photo of themselves taking someone new fishing can enter an online drawing for dozens of prizes, including the boat, valued at nearly $11,000; two $500 Scheels gift cards, a fishing kayak, or a two-night stay in a Nebraska state park. All participants will be featured on the agency’s Facebook page and will receive a Take ’em Fishing decal.

Though the challenge officially started in May, due to the current health situation, the contest has been extended through Oct. 31, 2020, to increase people’s chances to participate by fishing one of Nebraska’s many diverse waterbodies.

“We’re excited to offer a great grand prize Bass Tracker Boat for the second year in a row,” Director Jim Douglas said. “We give a special thanks to Cabela’s/Bass Pro Shop and the Nebraska Game and Parks Foundation, and look forward to seeing the many memories made by our Take ’em Fishing participants.”

Last year, more than 4,710 entered the Take ’em Fishing challenge, and 1,200 already have entered this year. To learn more, or to submit your entry, visit OutdoorNebraska.org/TakeEmFishing.

Fishing allows groups of friends or family to spend time together while engaged in the same activity, no matter the fitness or skill levels of the various participants. It requires only basic, inexpensive equipment that can be found at any sporting goods store. Game and Parks stocks ponds and lakes across the state with sport fish, which means that just about everyone can find a good fishing spot close by.

Fishing also is crucial to the conservation of Nebraska’s natural resources. Money generated through the sale of fishing permits and aquatic habitat stamps is used to maintain healthy fisheries in Nebraska water bodies, and to improve access for anglers. More anglers also ensure the health and vitality of Nebraska’s aquatic resources for generations to come.

Visit OutdoorNebraska.org/TakeEmFishing to take the pledge (encouraged but not required), register, view rules or get more information.