It is not unusual for a boy to grow up learning to catfish from his dad. It is less common for a girl to do the same thing—or maybe not!
Natalee Sasse is the perfect example of one young angler who has been fishing with her dad from an early age. She is the 8 years old daughter of Levi and Breanna Sasse. She has more experience with catfishing than some adults.
“She’s been fishing with me since she could walk,” noted Levi, the proud dad and father of 4 girls. “It wasn’t all about the catching at first. What I really wanted to teach her was to be patient and have fun.”
By the time Natalee was 3 or 4 she was already fishing tournaments with her dad and having success at it. They recently made the trip from their home state of Illinois to fish the North Alabama Catfish Trail (NACT) and the KingKat Classic in Alabama.
“Natalee loves fishing,” noted KingKat Administrative Assistant and NACT guru Lisa Gail Haraway. “But she is a shy one to interview. She demonstrated her dedication to fishing by coming to Alabama so her daddy wouldn’t have to fish by himself. He didn’t have a partner at first and she said she wanted to go. She hung in there through sun and rain and said she loved it.”
“I like catfishing because it’s fun,” replied Natalee following a recent tournament. “And I like fishing tournaments with my daddy and meeting new people.”
Natalee even had some tips for other young anglers.
“Always try to use fresh bait, don’t give up, and no matter what always have fun,” said Natalee.
Editor’s note: Natalee does indeed love to tournament fish. She and her Dad, Levi Sasse are regular competitors on the North Alabama Catfish Trail and they recently fished the Cabela’s KingKat Classic (see photo above) where Natalee caught her personal best 27.5-pound blue cat. They finished in 5th place.
