An adventure-loving tween from Miami landed two state information and three world information (with one pending) whereas fishing off the Florida Keys earlier this yr — reeling in sizable cobia, a snapper and a grouper that any fisherman could be proud to catch.
This weekend, Julia Bernstein, age 12, will settle for the Fleming Species Award, the best junior honor, from the Worldwide Girls’s Fishing Affiliation for catching and releasing 37 completely different species of fish in 2023.
“As soon as she is attached to a fish, she may be very decided and has unimaginable willpower,” Dale Bittner, fishing information and boat captain of the 27-foot conch boat, “Bait Stealer,” advised Fox Information Digital.
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“She may be very coachable and doesn’t present lots of emotion excessive or low. Julia may be very quiet and respectful,” Bittner stated.
That’s simply how the tween snagged the Florida Fish and Wildlife (FWC) state information for cobia and mangrove snapper in addition to the Worldwide Sport Fish Affiliation (IGFA) junior size information for crimson grouper, crimson snapper and cobia on Jan. 5.
Guided by Captain Dale Bittner, 12-year-old Julia Bernstein hooks a 24-inch crimson grouper, which is an IGFA junior size report. (Heidi Mason)
The cobia continues to be pending certification, however is predicted to be permitted.
“We went out with a plan,” the younger lady advised Fox Information Digital.
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“When fishing for information, it is necessary to have a method for the day. We had been fortunate we had been capable of get the crimson snapper on the primary drop.”
Twelve-year-old angler Julia Bernstein of Miami, Florida, fights for the IGFA crimson snapper report on Jan. 5 off the coast of the Florida Keys. “We went out with a plan,” she advised Fox Information Digital. (Heidi Mason)
It was a sunny day with gentle winds, stated Bittner, who has been fishing with the woman and her household since she was simply 10. She focused the crimson snapper in 240 ft of water.
“We had been on a roll,” younger Julia Bernstein stated.
After photographing and measuring it, she launched the snapper and moved onto her subsequent conquest: cobia.
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“We arrived at an ideal time as they had been on the floor and visual above a shipwreck,” she stated.
Measuring 25 inches, the crimson snapper Bernstein caught on Jan. 5 earned her an IGFA junior world report. (Heidi Mason)
“The motion was quick, and between the barracudas and cobia, we hooked and launched a number of fish earlier than she landed the qualifying report for IGFA junior launch,” stated Bittner.
The younger angler stated she was not in a rush — and on a mission.
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“We stayed longer with the cobia as a result of we knew we might catch each a world report and a state report, and they’re certainly one of my favourite species to catch,” younger Bernstein stated.
By the tip of the day, she nabbed her share of record-setting fish — and was appreciative of doing so.
“It is an unimaginable sport. You are able to do it everywhere in the world, and it is one thing I can have enjoyable with my complete life.”
“I might have referred to as it an ideal day if we had caught even one or two information,” she stated, “however to choose up 4 in in the future was a really particular expertise.”
Catching a report fish, Julia Bernstein stated, takes lots of dedication and the flexibility to energy by way of obstacles.
“We attempt to make the most of each alternative we’ve got, however typically a shark will eat a fish that you’re combating or it would break off in a wreck,” she stated.
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“Issues do not all the time go to plan with fishing — traces break, fish do not cooperate, climate performs a component from the primary drop. However we by no means quit.”
She comes by that perspective naturally — as her mother, Dr. Heidi Mason, is a lifelong fisherwoman and has 4 IGFA information herself.
Seasoned fishing information Dale Bittner celebrates with Julia Bernstein after the woman reeled in a state-record cobia off the coast of Key West. (Heidi Mason)
“It was one thing that I beloved and treasured as a child and located it very formative,” Mason, a Miami-based doctor, advised Fox Information Digital.
“It was lots of enjoyable as a younger girl going out and beating the boys. I had a blast with it.”
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Mason stated she’s loved watching her daughter be taught and develop out on the water.
“She may be very targeted and really decided,” Mason stated.
After it was measured and recorded, Julia Bernstein launched her IGFA junior-record cobia again into the ocean and it swam away. (Heidi Mason)
“She’s very teachable. When she units her thoughts to one thing, she says, ‘Hey, I need to do that.’ Perhaps the primary time she hooks up with a fish, it won’t essentially be the most important, or she would possibly make a mistake and lose it,” Mason stated.
“However she’s going to take suggestions and [say], ‘OK, that is what I have to do otherwise.’ She’ll hold working at it.”
Character-building alternatives by way of fishing, Mason stated, are plentiful.
“With fishing, we truthfully do not get all that many days to exit,” Mason stated.
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“After we do, the times are our 12-hour days. We’re out on the water, and it is very bodily demanding,” she added.
“She [her daughter] has to work laborious and struggle for it the complete time. She’s not whining or complaining. She’s all the time placing in her full effort.”
Julia Bernstein’s mother, Dr. Heidi Mason, is a seasoned fisherman herself, hooking this African pompano on a latest journey. (Heidi Mason)
With all of the work, there’s nonetheless time to absorb nature’s magnificence.
“There are essentially the most magical, unimaginable sights to be seen,” Mason stated.
“These magical moments the place you cease and take a look at the wonderful, lovely world and the ocean round you — it actually makes you admire every part that we’ve got,” she stated. She additionally stated she hopes individuals “notice the significance of conservation.”
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All of Julia Bernstein’s world-record catches have been launched, per IGFA guidelines.
“It is wonderful to catch and launch a fish and watch it swim away, understanding it’ll continue to grow, and hopefully another person will get to have the identical enjoyable I had after I caught it.”
“It’s educating the children, from a really younger age, the significance of this wonderful useful resource,” Mason stated. “We’ve got these unimaginable websites and animals, however we’ve got to care for them.”
Julia Bernstein is on board with the conservation idea.
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“It is wonderful to catch and launch a fish and watch it swim away, understanding it’ll continue to grow,” she stated, including that she hopes “another person will get to have the identical enjoyable I had after I caught it.”
A straight-A pupil, Bernstein can be an completed sailor.
Additionally an completed sailor, Bernstein was chosen final week to be on the U.S. workforce for a regatta within the Netherlands. Group USA received the regatta, and she or he was fifth in her fleet. (Heidi Mason)
Lately, she was chosen to be on the U.S. workforce for a regatta within the Netherlands.
Group USA received the regatta final week, and Bernstein was fifth in her fleet.
The woman and her mother stated they hope their fish tales encourage different women and girls to strive the game.
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“I might love for extra women and girls to be on the market doing it,” Mason stated.
“It is wonderful to catch and launch a fish and watch it swim away, understanding it’ll continue to grow.”
“It is an incredible household exercise. Some individuals consider fishing as a solitary sport, the place you sit on the finish of the dock. However when you’re doing it at this degree, it is very a lot a workforce sport.”
Fishing additionally ranges the taking part in subject, younger Bernstein stated.
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“I believe it is cool that girls and boys compete towards each other for junior information,” she stated.
“Quite a lot of instances it comes right down to finesse and technique, notably when you fish with lighter line. It is not simply brute power, so it is one thing that we will compete in as equals.”
Bernstein will probably be accepting the Fleming Species Award from the Worldwide Girls’s Fishing Affiliation for catching and releasing 37 completely different species of fish in 2023. (Heidi Mason)
Bernstein stated that whether or not she’s fishing offshore out of Key West, within the Everglades or within the Florida flats, she’s in it for the lengthy haul.
“It is an unimaginable sport,” she stated.
“You are able to do it everywhere in the world, and it is one thing I can have enjoyable with my complete life.”
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