When looking for different personalities around the Lawrence fishing community, you’ll typically find people who enjoy nature and relaxation.

Every now and then you’ll find a 6-year-old who catches a fish on the spot at Clinton Lake; a 32-year-old who used to catch sharks along the Mediterranean; or a woman who simply shows up the guys when she fishes.

Here are a few local citizens who happened to be fishing when we randomly visited four lakes last week. Now polling the audience:

Clinton Lake (Wednesday, July 5, from 5-6 p.m.)

1. Trish VanTerschKearns, 42, Lawrence

Eric Sorrentino: What’s your favorite part about fishing?

TV: Eating. We have a fish fry every year with all our friends. Most of the time we save all the fish that we catch throughout the season.

ES: Is this a big event?

TV: There’s anywhere from 50 to 100 people.

ES: Not a bad turnout. Fishing during the summer here in Lawrence, the temperature gets warm. Does the 100-degree heat bother you at all?

TV: Absolutely not. I don’t like air conditioning. Actually, I’d rather it be 100 than 70. I’m an outdoors person. I like landscaping, fishing, boating, camping. I prefer to be outside.

ES: What’s your favorite sport?

Julia Munson, 6, shows off the fish she caught at Clinton Lake. She said her dad, Eric, recommended live bait worms as a secret weapon to catch fish.

TV: Living. Life in itself is my favorite sport. I’m up for anything.

ES: Do you have any crazy fishing stories?

TV: Two years ago for Fathers Day, we brought all the dads out to go fishing. We spent about two hours on the flats. There were fish everywhere all over the locator. The guys didn’t even get a nibble. And we were just letting the guys fish. So we decided to go along the dam and I decided I was going to cast out and just troll, and I caught an almost-15-pound catfish. I was the only person who caught a fish that day, so the guys were freaking out.

ES: And you didn’t even think you’d be fishing that day.

TV: No! And I just cast once. We’d been out there all day. Probably about four hours.

ES: What were the guys’ reactions to you showing them up?

TV: They were very happy for me. You’re always happy for the person who catches fish. It’s a great team effort. But it was Father’s Day, so the guys were supposed to catch the fish, not the girls.

2. Eric Munson, 41, Lawrence

ES: Is there a secret weapon that you guys use to catch fish?

EM: Worms seem to work very, very well.

ES: What do you guys usually catch out here?

EM: Crappies and catfish are what we’ve been catching lately.

ES: How long do you usually stay out here?

EM: It varies, but usually for about 3-4 hours.

ES: Do you have a proudest catch?

EM: Nah, not really. I did catch a catfish about 18 inches long this summer, though.

Note: The worms proved to work as a source of live bait. No more than two minutes after the interview, Munson’s daughter Julia caught a fish on the spot. Not bad for a 6-year-old.

“Now you need to take a picture of my catch,” Julia said.

Mary’s Lake (Wednesday, July 5, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.)

3. Antonis Stylianou, 32, Lawrence

ES: How’s your luck been today?

AS: I’ve caught five catfish, so I can’t complain.

ES: I hear catfish are prevalent around this lake. Do you eat the fish at all?

AS: I grew up near the ocean, so I like seafood, but I usually release them all.

ES: Where did you grow up?

AS: I’m from Cyprus, actually.

ES: How does the fishing compare there as compared to in the states?

AS: It’s completely different. You fish for big stuff out there. Back there usually, you look for tuna, swordfish … sharks. We don’t keep them, it’s just the fun of catching them.

ES: Have you ever actually caught a shark?

AS: Oh yeah. It’s fun most of the time, except when they’re six feet and above. This is exciting too, but I’m pretty much coming out here to enjoy the nature.

ES: Any crazy fishing stories from Cyprus?

AS: Well, I had a shark that tried to take my arm off. It was probably my stupidity too. I brought him next to the boat, and the smart thing was to just cut him loose, but I actually tried to unhook him. So I cut it a little too close.

ES: So nothing really fazes you now …

AS: Nah. Nothing around here.

Perry Lake (Thursday, July 6, from 2 to 3 p.m.)

4. Michelle Kelly, 44, Topeka

ES: How often do you come out to fish?

MK: A couple times a week. Especially when the crappie are biting.

ES: Had any luck lately?

MK: Actually, it’s been kind of bad lately because there’s been too many people out here. Too many boats. The fish go down deep.

ES: Do you have a secret weapon when fishing?

MK: Patience. Usually I go out all morning with my boys. They’re 24 and 22 now.

ES: Any odd fishing stories from when you’ve been out on the water?

MK: One time, my son Christopher had a fish coming in on his pole, and his brother Jordan had one on his. One of Christopher’s fish fell off the pole and was bouncing around on the dock, and my dog grabbed it and ran off with it.

ES: What happened to the fish?

MK: We kept it, but we didn’t eat it. Another time, I was out by the pond and I caught a catfish – and a snake too. I was reeling in the catfish, and I reeled in a water moccasin too. The water moccasin was trying to strike at me, so I ran up on the top of my car and I had the fishing pole and the snake biting and everything. It was quite exciting.

ES: What happened with the snake?

MK: We ended up having to kill it. There was nothing around the pond to kill it with, so we had to pull up a stick out of the barbed wire fence. I was still on top of the car screaming while my husband killed the snake.

5. Cole Elliot, 14, Overland Park

ES: Do you usually fish out here at Perry?

CE: I have a creek around our house where we go fishing.

ES: What’s your favorite part about fishing?

CE: Catching the big ones. We usually catch 2-inch blue gills in the creek, but catching the big stuff is fun.

ES: What’s the biggest fish you’ve caught?

CE: We caught a catfish out on the bridge. It was probably a couple pounds.

ES: Where was this?

CE: Deer Creek. We were fishing on a golf course and we had to get the golf crew to come help us pull it off the bridge.

Lone Star Lake (Thursday, July 6, from 5 to 6 p.m.)

6. Nancy Kelley, 56, Lawrence

ES: What are you catching out here?

NK: We’ve been catching bass. It’s just fun. We don’t do it for the keeping and the eating.

ES: Any secret weapon to catching fish?

NK: We use minnows.

ES: What makes minnows effective in catching fish?

NK: Well, they move around. And you can put them on a cork or a bobber and watch the bobber go down.

ES: Any interesting fishing stories that come to mind?

NK: We found a goose that had a lure stuck to it. So they captured it, held onto it, and cut it loose. It had the lure underneath its wing.

ES: So the 100-degree heat doesn’t bother you when you fish?

NK: That’s when we put the kayaks in.