By Cole Allen and Zachary Chen, Mar. 8, 2022
For Cal Poly Pomona students looking to reel into a new hobby, ASI Campus Recreation has hosted various free fishing workshops throughout the past couple weeks outside of the BRIC with its in-person Adventures Programs.
The fishing workshops currently cover techniques in both modern and fly fishing. Courses in both beginner and intermediate levels are offered, with beginner courses covering basic topics such as necessary equipment and basic techniques like casting and knot tying. The intermediate courses cover a more in-depth range of topics from fishing habitats, safety, regulations, outdoor ethics and the handling of live fish.
Douglas Hayes, Scuba Dive Center manager for Campus Recreation, shared that leading the fishing workshops serve as an interactive way to introduce students to activities outside the scope of school and work.
“We’re trying to give students a base knowledge that they can grow and develop if they so desire,” said Hayes. “We want to give students experiences that they might not otherwise get, and this is one of the best ways to interact with the outdoors and enjoy it.”
Since the beginning of the pandemic, fishing has been one of the many outdoor activities that people have been able to engage in safely throughout the duration of the COVID-19.
Being on a “learn by doing” campus, CPP students are given opportunities like these classes to explore and learn about different hobbies. Fishing is one of the active hobbies that might interest many because of its relaxed nature while being immersed in the surrounding world.
“It allows one to dive into the ecology and natural elements of your environment more,” said Ian Navarro, Adventure education manager for Campus Recreation and Adventures. “Fishing really allows you to develop a relationship with plants and animals because you’re figuring out what the fish are doing, what their food source is, so it allows you to become part of the natural surroundings. We have a lot of local bodies of water near Cal Poly, so it made sense to introduce this to students.”
With the classes typically being around two hours long, Hayes and Navarro teach and demonstrate the basics of fishing, a sort of how-to. With each class typically having less than ten people, the class setting is intimate and formatted to be interactive, open for questions and help students fully understand the material. Once the participants acknowledge the information discussed, the fishing poles are brought out and students learn to cast their own fishing rod.
“They gave me some tips on catching freshwater fish, which I’ve been wanting to learn because I go to this local creek around here,” said Lucas Ponte, an agriculture student. “I see carp a lot, it’s in that clear water, and I can see them but just don’t know how to catch them. So, they gave me some tips on that, and I’m excited to go back and try it out.”
Ready to hit the waters after taking this class, students can go out with their newfound knowledge of which spots are best for catching fishes in different body of waters, the technique and ethics utilized during fishing and the different types of casts: overhead, sidearm, back-hand and the flick.
ASI Campus Recreation looks to continue hosting these free fishing workshops in the upcoming semesters. Currently, there are no more available workshops for this current spring semester. To keep up to date on future events offered by Campus Recreation, visit their website.
Feature image courtesy of Gen Dalton.