Gone fishin'

father, daughter bonding:
Jordan Asnicar poses with her dad, Paul Asnicar, after catching a fish during her school’s field trip on April 9.

Eighth-grade students from Pacheco School had the opportunity to trade in their pencils and papers for fishing rods and bait during a school trip on April 9.

A field trip to Antelope Creek Ranch was the culminating event of a three week unit designed to teach students about fly fishing, including the parts of the rod and reel, fly tying, casting, entomology, parts of the fish, and more.

Physical Education teacher Lora Fox first designed the lessons in 2006, after obtaining a $5,000 grant from the Future Fishermen Association.

"I got a lot of equipment when I was accepted for the grant," Fox said. "I have 32 rods, reels and lines. I have fly tying vices - all the equipment for fly tying that you could ever want."

Designing lessons about fly fishing was an easy fit, Fox said, in part because her husband, Tim Fox is a manager at The Fly Shop in Redding.

In fact, her husband came into the classroom to teach students how to tie flies, and another shop employee, Justin Miller, taught casting to the eighth-graders.

Fox said she enjoys teaching the fly-fishing lessons because it introduces her students to something new, and takes them away from the status-quo.

"Sometimes PE teachers get so caught up in the normal activities - volleyball, softball, and baseball units - and the kids don't see the recreation part of physical activity," Fox said.

"If I could hook a kid on fishing, and he would rather go fishing than go cause trouble or go make poor decisions, that is my goal," She said.

After the students got all of the fly-fishing basics down, they got to go on an all-day field trip to put their skills to the test.

"This year we went up to a privately-owned ranch. It's owned by the owners of The Fly Shop," Fox said.

About 74 students went on the all day trip to the ranch, which features a classroom, two ponds and a stream.

Fox set up 6 stations for the field trip. The lessons integrated science and physical education, and included activities on tree identification, entomology, photography, and of course, fly fishing.

"For a lot of them, it was their first time ever seeing a fish up close," Fox said.

"I got so excited for them because they were so excited that they caught a fish," she said.

The Pacheco School teacher said she was grateful to fellow teachers, parents and the community for stepping in to make the fly-fishing lessons and field trip a success.

"It takes so many people to put this together and make it good for the kids. And it was so good to see how many people wanted to be there for them," Fox said.

"I hope that this makes a difference in one of the kids' life," she said.