Competitive State High School Fishing on Horizon
8/23/2010 at 5:45am
With the national championships of both college and high school fishing having been held in Arkansas in July, it’s only a matter of time before competitive fishing is offered to high school students within the state.
In fact, Mike Bonds, the assistant chief of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission education division, hopes to see a competitive fishing event involving Arkansas high schools within the next 18 months.
“For us, fishing is probably next up on the agenda,” Bonds said of the commission’s next competitive endeavor. “We’re still bouncing ideas around, but we’re trying to get some framework.”
The groundwork has definitely been laid with officials of the two national championships choosing Arkansas as a site. Plenty of locations for a tournament are available within the Natural State.
“We’ve got all the pieces in place, they’ve just got to ask for help,” Mark Ginert, the National Youth Program Coordinator for Bass Federation, said. “We would like to make [Arkansas] a destination like the Little League World Series [in Williamsport, Pa.] and come back every year.”
Bass Federation was responsible for the national high school competition on Lake Dardanelle, while College Bass organized the collegiate finals on the Arkansas River. Both events were held in July.
Despite the national draw, starting a local competitive fishing program isn’t as simple as giving out rods and bait. Dawn Cook, the Hooked on Fishing Not on Drugs program coordinator for the Game & Fish Commission, thinks the program will see several challenges before getting under way.
“If we did something like that we’d have to have a lot of help,” Cook said of starting a program. “With shooting sports and archery, the guns and the arrows are predictable, but the fish aren’t predictable.”
Tagged: fishing, Mike Bonds, Mark Ginert, National Youth Program Coordinator for Bass Federation, Lake Dardanelle, Arkansas River, Dawn Cook, Hooked on Fishing Not on Drugs, Arkansas Game & Fish Commission
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