 "Photo:")
|
Snyder teaches a Lake Erie sport fishing workshop at Ohio State's Stone Laboratory in Put-in-Bay, Ohio. The class instructs 10 students on fishing techniques and ecological concepts of catching fish on Lake Erie.
"Lake Erie offers a very world-class fishery," said Fred Snyder, associate professor at Stone Laboratory.
The one week course teaches students everything from how to tie knots and lures to preserving and cleaning the catch.
"I learned how to tie up homemade lures with the best of them," said Kelly Riesen, a graduate student in agricultural and extension education and a teaching assistant for the class last summer.
Snyder, a lifelong fisherman and fishery biologist, developed the class four years ago. He teaches the art of hook and line fishing called angling. Students go on six-hour boating trips each day targeting a specific fish, such as smallmouth and white bass and the most common fish on Lake Erie: walleye.
"Lake Erie holds many of these species coveted by anglers, but you have to know where to be and what to do," Riesen said.
The boating trips allow Snyder to teach techniques on how students can catch these fish.
"I teach them how to fish different types of areas," he said. "Fish behave in different ways; they feed in different places."
The lectures in the class also provide students with information on how to become better anglers. Lecture topics range from the aquatic ecology of the lake to the use of marine electronics, such as GPS and sonar.
One lecture describes what Snyder believes is the most valuable piece of fishing equipment.
"The Internet nowadays is full of just every kind of information a fisherman can use," he said.
Real-time storm tracking and wave and wind reports can help guide a fisherman to the best areas for success. Another handy tool is online message boards, where fellow anglers around Lake Erie, including Snyder, post hot spots and what techniques and tackle they used to catch fish.
The three credit hour physical education course is condensed into one week to allow students to come to Lake Erie and not be tied up the entire summer, Snyder said.
"Spending a few hours a day on a boat catching fish isn't a bad way to earn three credit hours," Riesen said.
Snyder said regardless of skill level, any student is welcome to sign up for the class.
"We will have them pulling in walleyes by the first or second day," he said.
The class will be held this summer from June 8 to June 14.
Tyler Gillespie can be reached at gillespie.113@osu.edu.
Be the first to comment on this article!