Fish in Schools heads outdoors

Fish & Game’s ‘Fish in Schools’ programme moved into its second phase today with Roydvale School the first to experience a day at The Groynes kids fishing ponds, on the outskirts of Christchurch.

16 students plus parents and teachers turned out for the day, which involved tuition in the 3 main methods of fishing; bait, spin, and fly fishing, along with lessons in how to humanely kill a fish and clean it to take home.

“I think it’s very cool because I like fishing and I get a chance to do it with my friends and you get to catch fish for dinner.” stated year 5 student Lucy Floris, who was the first student to land a trout.

Programme facilitator Peter Robinson believes the benefits of the day out fishing are plenty, from hands on problem solving with knots and tangles, to tying on hooks and casting, which they have been practicing in the classroom in the days leading up to their fishing trip.

Roydvale School is one of around 20 schools throughout Canterbury taking part in the pilot programme of Fish & Game’s youth initiative, and it is hoped once developed it will be rolled out nationally in 2014.

The development of the pilot programme has been made possible through the generosity of ‘Future Rivers’, an environmental sponsorship management agency, who share Fish & Game’s vision of getting the youth of New Zealand back into the outdoors.

Mr Robinson says today’s fishing day was the first of 12 being held over the coming weeks and he feels the stocked ponds “provide the kids with success in as close to a natural environment as you can get, and it gets them hooked on the joys of chasing fresh water fish.”

According to Year 5 student Mathilde Walbom, who also caught a 3lb brown trout, “you need a lot of patience and some strength to pull them out of the water.”

Also worth noting on the calendar is the upcoming family/kids high country fishing day at Lake Lyndon on December 8th and the release of the ‘Fish in Schools’ salmon, which have been grown by the students since early June. Releases are taking place on rivers around Canterbury up to Nov 29th.

ENDS

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