It seemed like a lofty goal for such a young girl.
But Mya Wolfinger, 8, of Shapleigh knew that anything was possible when you have determination and a dad who will take you into the heart of Maine’s wilderness.
Mya has been working on her goal of catching Maine’s seven major game fish in the salmon family since she was 4 years old.
“I just like fishing and spending time with my dad,” Mya said.
She caught a brook trout and a brown trout in a tributary of the Saco River when she was 4.
With such a great start, her father Justin Wolfinger, who has had his own fishing adventures, planted the idea for her to catch a landlocked salmon and the other trout species found in Maine.
Mya caught a rainbow trout when she was 5. Then she caught a splake. This year she caught a landlocked salmon, lake trout and most recently, an Arctic charr or blueback trout. Her salmon, brown trout and lake trout were all in the 18-19-inch range, he said.
Wolfinger said his daughter seems to be a good luck charm.
“The fish start biting when she’s around,” he said.
The only fish in the salmon family native to Maine she hasn’t caught is a whitefish, which she has in her sights.
Mya said the most fun fish to catch was the Arctic charr. She also caught a 17-inch brook trout that trip. Both fish were released alive into the pond.
The charr was the one that took the most physical stamina. The family went 40 miles into the North Maine Woods to a remote pond in pursuit of it, camping out in pouring rain and whipping wind, Wolfinger said. It was Mya’s first time in that part of Maine.
They fished in 45-minute intervals a few times because the weather was relentless, and Mya caught just the two fish on a pond that normally yields a fish about every 20 minutes, he said.
Wolfinger was very proud of Mya’s accomplishments, saying that he didn’t catch a charr himself until he was 29, and that most people never get the chance to target those fish.
“I certainly don’t know of any kids who have done it,” he said.
The family plans to make the North Maine Woods trek an annual adventure, hopefully without the difficult weather conditions.
“For (Mya and her sister’s) first journeys up there, I’m pretty impressed with them. I know they can do it now because they endured some of the worst conditions possible,” Wolfinger said. “If it was 75 (degrees) and sunny the whole time, the girls might not have appreciated the seriousness of going out to a place like that.”
The next big goal is to catch three different species of fish on one lake in one fishing trip, Wolfinger said.
And what is Mya’s thought about it all?
“It’s cool. Go fishing with your dad,” she said.
