Fishing Clinics Hook Kids on the Outdoors

Two free half-day fishing clinics drew hundreds of kids out to during the weekend for a shot at catching a live fish.

Saturday's event was pre-arranged. The Rotary Club of San Jose bused in about 300 students from downtown San Jose elementary schools–Washington, Lowell and Horace Mann.

But Sunday was open to the public, and that meant turning about 200 kids away after the maximum capacity of 150 had been exceeded, according to Ethan Rotman of the state's Department of Fish and Game.

About 50 volunteers, consisting of adult fishing 'docents' and high school fishing 'buddies' came out on Sunday, said John George, volunteer coordinator with the Santa Clara County Department of Parks and Recreation.

The fishing clinic for kids is a "showcase event" for Ed Levin County Park, he said. "In terms of participation, this is one of the most popular."

"What I love most about it is the feel," said Rotman of the families that come out with their kids, "using our parks the way they're designed to be used."

Fishing in the City is the program that Rotman coordinates for the Bay Area along with co-chair Brian Allen, a volunteer. The clinic at Sandy Wool Lake involved park rangers from the city of San Jose and Santa Clara County as well as volunteers from the Rotary Club and Bay Area Sportfishers.

Joann Opp, Bobbie Drescher and Elaine Lockhart are longtime volunteers for the Department of Fish and Game. They come to volunteer with their angler husbands.

"For us, we're seniors," said Lockhart. "We don't have grandchildren [nearby]." The clinics give them a way to interact with a younger generation, she said.

"They get so excited when they catch a fish," she said, "especially the little girls."

The clinic used to take place at Cottonwood Lake inside Hellyer County Park, closer to where kids in the area because of socio-economic reasons had more of a need to learn to fish and have access to the lake year-round.

But a lawsuit that stated the farmed fish trucked to the lake could be released into the nearby stream–and with the existing Steelhead Trout–was the impetus for moving the clinic to Sandy Wool Lake.

As of last Thursday, 1,300 pounds of Rainbow trout were trucked in from Oregon to the lake. And 1,000 pounds of Channel Catfish came in from near Redding, Calif. 

Along with the 750 additional pounds of fished deposited in Spring Valley Lake down the road, the total came out close to $10,000 worth of fish, according to Rotman. Nearly all the funding for the fish and equipment comes from federal dollars–an excise tax placed on fishing tackle and motorboat fuel.

To volunteer for Fishing in the City's South Bay program, visit the website. Each April, the Rotary Club of Milpitas teams up with the organization for that brings 4th graders out from Rose Elementary School.