Evanston’s Free Youth Fishing program will begin its 2001 season Saturday morning, giving kids the chance to fish for free every Saturday through June 30.

The city will provide kids with free fishing equipment and bait from 9 a.m. to noon at Lovelace Park, which is at Gross Point Road and Thayer Street in northwest Evanston.

Representatives from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, which co-sponsors the program, will be there to help kids improve their fishing technique, said Martha Logan, a public information specialist with the city’s Parks/Forestry and Recreation Department.

Children will be allowed to take home the fish they catch, but the program leaders will not encourage it, Logan said.

“They encourage the catch-and-release method because they’re ecology-minded people,” she said.

Parents are encouraged to come to the park with their kids, Logan said. Children 16 and older must bring a fishing license.