FWP AT WORK Dave Hagengruber, Angler Education Coordinator

FISHING FRONTMAN

DAVE HAGENGRUBER

Here I’m putting on a Fishes of Montana clinic at the department’s Montana WILD Education Center in Helena. Statewide and throughout the year, FWP staff and volunteers put on dozens of these clinics, open to kids and adults. The biggest aquatic education program we have is called Hooked on Fishing, aimed mostly at fourth- and fifthgraders. I was hired by the department almost 20 years ago to launch the program. Today it’s in nearly 250 classrooms across Montana, each with six to ten different lessons throughout the year, taught by teachers, fisheries biologists, game wardens, and volunteers. The lessons include topics such as water quality, fish identification, insect identification, and fish dissection, and provide at least one opportunity for students to fish, either in open water or through the ice. Some teachers even incorporate math and writing lessons into the programs. Students use math and science to run population estimates, or they keep journals on their scientific investigations. We want Hooked on Fishing to inform all kids about the fish where they live and how their local aquatic systems work. When these kids become adults, they’ll be the ones making decisions on how the state’s lakes, rivers, and fisheries should be managed. We want this program to get them hooked on enjoying and valuing those resources at an early age.