Teach Youngsters Fishing, A Lifetime Sport - Here's How It Works

A Great Day of Fishing

EDITOR'S NOTE: Mountain Brook Junior High Physical Education Teacher John Phillips from Birmingham, Alabama, coaches basketball, cross-country and track and field. Phillips realizes that not all children enjoy traditional school sports. So, with the help of the Fisheries Section of Alabama's Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fish, he's implemented a fishing curriculum to show his students they can participate in other sports and enjoy them for their lifetimes.

QUESTION: How did you decide where to go on the fishing field trip?
ANSWER: Well, I had visited Leavellwood Lodge in Greene County, and I knew that the owners and their staff were capable of providing the kids with an opportunity that the youngsters at the junior high wouldn't have if we had just gone to a state park. I knew that they would catch fish and have the chance to probably take one of the biggest fish they ever had caught. Leavellwood has a very safe environment without any trees or anything that would hinder them from being successful. I wanted to go a place where I knew the staff and felt sure the people in charge would take care of the kids and give them a great experience.

QUESTION: How did you plan the trip? How many children did you plan to take?
ANSWER: We didn't have any idea on how many children we would take. We decided make it a two-day activity -- seventh grade on one day and eighth grade on the other. We took about 50 students on each day, which was a large number. We had so many kids that we took several chaperones from the PE department as well as utilized the staff at Leavellwood. We had no problem controlling the kids while allowing them to enjoy fishing and helping them if they had any problems.

QUESTION: What happened when you arrived at the lake?
ANSWER: We left early, about 6:30 a.m. from Birmingham, and reached the lake about 8 a.m. We had an orientation session that lasted about 30 minutes, where people from the lodge talked about safety, the ways to rig the plastic worms and about tackle each student had brought with them. We talked about how to fish properly and how to stay safe. That instruction really helped them.

QUESTION: They fished at a bass-fishing lake, right?
ANSWER: Yes, the lake had been stocked with bass. We went in early March so the fish weren't as active as they probably would have been in the summer. But, they were plenty active enough. Many of these kids had been bass fishing before, but some never had caught a bass. So, fishing was a new experience for some of them.

QUESTION: What kind of tackle did you provide for them?
ANSWER: We worked a little bit extra into our price for the trip so we could come up with tackle that would help them catch fish. We used mostly plastic worms. A guy from Leavellwood did a really good job of showing them how to rig them. We also included a small spinner, a Rooster Tail and a Beetle Spin.

To learn more about the Alabama Fishing and Wildlife Curriculum, call Doug Darr in Montgomery, Alabama, at (334) 242 -3884, e-mail him at ddarr@dcnr.state.al.us, or write 64 N. Union St., Montgomery, AL 36130. You also can visit the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resource's Web site at www.dcnr.state.al.us. To learn the particulars about setting up the curriculum, contact John Phillips at Mountain Brook Jr. High (205) 871-3516, or e-mail him at phillipsj@mtnbrook.k12.al.us.

To contact Leavellwood Lodge, call (205) 372-2323, write PO Box 24, West Greene, AL 35491, or e-mail at info@Leavellwood.com. You can also visit them at their Web site at www.leavellwood.com.

TOMORROW: A VALUABLE OUTDOOR EXPERIENCE