WHILE other teenagers may be found hanging around street corners, Danielle McWalter likes nothing more than pulling on her waders and going fishing.
The 14-year-old Arbroath High School pupil was one of around 100 youngsters who got involved in a pilot Snap scheme which ran earlier this year from the Arbroath Cafe Project, a youth drop-in centre in the town.
Danielle, who was taught the art of angling, said: "It was great fun and I definitely intend to keep it up."
She added: "My friends think I'm joking, and laugh when I tell them I'm going fishing, but it's better than hanging around the streets with nothing to do all day."
According to Danielle, anyone who might think spending several hours at a time angling is "boring" could not be more wrong.
"Just waiting to see what you might catch is actually exciting and you can do this in beautiful surroundings, and it would be great if more younger people got involved, " said the teenager, who was runner-up in a recent trout fishing competition. Her father, Mark McWalter, who runs the Arbroath project, confirmed it had been a draw with local youngsters.
He said: "We aim to give kids, many of whom are underprivileged, as many opportunities as possible, and the angling scheme was one of them.
"It proved very popular and it gave people a renewed respect for their environment."
Welcoming the prospect of a Scottish Youth Angling Association whose aims include sourcing cheap fishing equipment, he added: "Often we are dealing with kids where there isn't a great deal of money around, so certainly more people would get involved if the equipment was cheaper."
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