License purchase means more angling opportunity
PRATT — Spring is a time of renewal, anticipation, and respite from a long winter. But for anglers, spring means just one thing: the fish are biting somewhere. April, May, and June are the best months to fish in Kansas, and fishing opportunities have never been better. Anglers preparing for another great year must remember their most important piece of equipment — a fishing license.

Not only is a fishing license required for all resident anglers age 16 through 64 and all nonresidents 16 and older, but money from Kansas fishing license purchases goes directly to supporting the management of Kansas’ fisheries. The following projects were made possible by Kansas fishing license dollars supporting the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks in 2010:

• access to 1,500 acres of private ponds and 90 miles of streams through the Fishing Impoundments and Stream Habitats program (F.I.S.H.);
• fishing rights through the Community Fisheries Assistance Program to almost 240 community-owned waters, removing additional local fees to fish these waters;
• fisheries law enforcement resources;
• fight against the spread of invasive species such as zebra mussels, white perch, and Asian carp;
• sampling and research to improve the state’s fisheries resources;
• introduction of fishing to more than 10,000 kids at KDWP fishing clinics and derbies;
• a mobile aquarium exhibit that displayed live Kansas fish to more than 150,000 people;
• four fish hatcheries and maintenance of facilities at 40 state fishing lakes;
• stocking of more than 150,000 rainbow trout, providing winter fishing opportunities;
• 138,000 catfish added to urban waters for close-to-home angling; and
• more than 82,000,000 sport fish stocked in Kansas reservoirs, state fishing lakes, and community lakes.

High-quality fishing is just a lure’s throw away from just about anywhere in Kansas today. To learn where all of these great fishing opportunities are located, pick up a 2011 Fishing Atlas at the nearest license vendor or download it online at www.fishks.org. While at this website, get all the inside information by checking out the 2011 Fishing Forecast, view weekly updated fishing reports, and sign up for fisheries biologist newsletters.

Purchase of a Kansas fishing license helps keep Kansas fishing outstanding, and renewing a license is more convenient than ever. Just visit www1.ks.wildlifelicense.com, phone 1-833-587-2164, or stop by any local sporting goods retailer.
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