Eden Prairie brothers’ Fish Hut nonprofit expands youth fishing access

Feel like going fishing? A pair of Eden Prairie brothers want to make it easy. 

Vick Tan, who is entering his junior year at Eden Prairie High School, and his brother William, an incoming freshman, started out repairing old fishing rods for friends and family in their garage a couple of years ago.

Subsequently, Vick said, “I thought to myself, whenever I was going fishing, ‘Why aren’t there more kids who are doing this activity as well?’ And from there, that was the moment where the idea behind Fish Hut was born, which was to give access to fishing to as many people as possible.”

Fish Hut is the nonprofit the brothers founded to make it easier for others to fish and, in doing so, to support their mental health.

Advertisement

“For both of us, from a really young age, I remember after school, we would just immediately start biking to the nearby local pond and just start fishing,” William said. “And for me and Vick, it represented destressing after a long school day that was also stressful.”

Learning about the youth mental health crisis and research from Harvard Medical School that details the mental health benefits of fly fishing also factored into Fish Hut’s birth. “Fishing not only represents a hobby for kids to go outside, but also helps their mental health,” William said. 

What’s in a Fish Hut?

So what is Fish Hut? The name refers to both the organization, which hosts fishing events and festivals with prizes – more on that in a moment – and to physical Fish Huts: boxes containing fishing supplies that are placed in publicly accessible places.

Fish Hut has partnered with the metro area YMCA of the North to place Fish Hut boxes in Twin Cities-area Y facilities, and is in discussions with the Eden Prairie Library about hosting one there. There is also a box near Lake Riley.

Advertisement

A Fish Hut box contains “everything that kids need to use to go fishing,” William said. That entails fishing rods, reels, line, and tackle such as hooks and sinkers. “Inside the Fish Hut,” he added, “there are also instructions of how to tie the knots and what to use in what location and recommendations like that.” 

The boxes also include, Vick said, information from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources regarding licenses and fishing regulations. 

“For example, there might be some streams where you’re not allowed to use a treble hook, you can only use a single hook. Or it can’t be barbed. So we have those regulations in there as well, just to make sure everyone is fully compliant and understanding the body of water that they’re fishing,” Vick said. 

Minnesota residents under age 16 can fish without a license, but Fish Hut is not limited to Minnesota. There are also Fish Hut events or boxes in the states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Alaska. 

The Tan brothers have family connections in New York, which brings them there often, and New Jersey and Connecticut are nearby. This summer, they traveled to Alaska.

“The Alaska trip was incredible,” Vick said. “Not only did we have a ton of fun there, but we were also able to place two Fish Huts in the Seward libraries. They were actually going to use it to do demonstrations as well, which I thought was amazing.”

Youth can enter fishing photos for prizes through August 15 

Beyond placing Fish Hut boxes, the organization also hosts in-person fishing clinics to teach kids how to fish. One such event took place in June at the fishing pier at Bryant Lake Regional Park in Eden Prairie. Fish Hut also hosts an annual winter ice fishing festival on Lake Minnetonka.

“The ice fishing festival is, I would say, our flagship event,” Vick said. “This year we had, I think, 300 kids and adults come out to the event. We had ice houses. It was an incredible event.”

This year’s summer event served as a kickoff to what they are billing as the largest free youth fishing festival in Minnesota. (Separate festivals are running concurrently in New York and New Jersey.) Through Aug. 15, participants can upload a photo of a fish they’ve caught anywhere in Minnesota.

“Once they catch a fish, they take a picture of the fish with themselves. They’re immediately entered. They win a free button,” Vick said, and are also eligible for other prizes that will be awarded via raffle at the end of the contest. Participants can also enter a grand prize portion of the contest by submitting a one-minute video describing why they love fishing.

The contest submission form can be found here. 

“So we provide (youth) with the skills necessary for them to learn how to go fishing, maybe during our winter ice fishing event, where they can then take these skills, like, you know, baiting a hook or tying a line, and they can take them and then use them in the summer fishing festival,” Vick said. Fish Hut events also teach catch and release ethics.

As fishermen themselves, the brothers say that their method depends on where they’re fishing. “If I’m fishing on Lake Minnetonka, for example, it’s always going to be catch and release,” Vick said. “But when we were in Alaska, we caught over 100 pounds of halibut, which was incredible. And immediately, when you catch it, they hook it for you, and they bring it onto the boat, and then they fillet it right there. Halibut tastes incredible.”

They also have their own fish stories. “One time I was fishing in Lake Minnetonka, and I hooked on to this, like, huge bass, but then it snapped me off. So that was probably like a personal best,” William said.

Vick’s most memorable catch occurred on Lake Minnetonka as well. “I remember I had dropped this jig, which is a fishing lure,” he said. “I had dropped it beneath a dock, and I could see there was a giant bass there. And I dropped it down, I let it sit for like five seconds. 

“I gave it, you know, a jig up and down like twice, and then the bass bit it, and, you know, I set the hook, and it turned out that was my personal best, so that was my big fish story.” Vick now has the photo of that catch saved as the home screen on his phone.