About 50 feet above the ice of the frozen Homer Reservoir, dozens of students from kindergarten through second grade huddle and huddle in twos and threes around holes cut in the ice They each hold a mini fishing rod, baited with shrimp.
Six-year-old Solo Sky Frost sits patiently flicking the line as instructed, waiting for a fish.
“I’m trying to freeze fish, which I’ve never done before, it’s actually my first day,” he said.
The ice fishing event includes local schools and homeschooling families, and is part of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s annual Salmon in the Classroom program to teach children about fish, their varieties and habitats throughout the year.
“So most of these kids that come back into their classrooms have aquaria where they raise salmon, fry eggs and then release them in the spring,” said Holly Dixon, Fish and Game sport fish biologist. “And this is just one of the other events taking place over the winter as part of this program.”
Students from kindergarten to second grade try their hand at ice fishing. (Corinne Smith/KBBI)
The students are fishing for Dolly Varden, which can be found in freshwater lakes like the reservoir or the open ocean, and can grow up to 30 inches or 27 pounds.
“It’s in the middle of winter, so they’re not feeding as actively,” Dixon explained. “But when the kids drop the bait on a jig, it might be the first snack they’ve seen in a long time. A lot of the dollies are pretty long and skinny. So I think they can be voracious sometimes up here. Especially when we show up with a bunch of kids and a bunch of bait.”
Dixon says the outdoor event helps students learn about ice fishing equipment, technique and safety, as well as the limits of catching sport fish and deciding whether to catch or release a fish.
After an hour or so, there aren’t many bites, and some students leave their rods secured in the snow to run around and check on each other, to see who has caught a fish. There are also snacks and hot cocoa to help with the wait.
Erin Pollock is a kindergarten teacher at Fireweed Academy, a charter school based in Homer, one of the classrooms where students experience the life cycle of salmon firsthand.
“In the fall, we go to the Anchor River for a field trip where we harvest the salmon and fertilize the eggs with the milk. And then we bring the eggs back to our classroom and raise them in a tank,” Pollock said. “So we have eggs in the classroom that have hatched into fry. The kids are starting to be able to feed them and record the temperature in the tank every day. And they’re so excited that they’ve each named one of the fish” , he says laughing.
Pollock says that while some students are fishing for the first time, others come from commercial fishing families and are very familiar with them. Regardless, the learning experience also connects students to culture and community.
“A good handful, like maybe a third of our families are fishing families, whether it’s gillnetting or seining, or wherever it is in our community,” he said. “And then we have maybe at least half that have no idea this even existed as an option. And even fishing families didn’t know you can ice fish here in the winter. I didn’t know that! I’ve been having salmon for about seven years, and last year was the first year I came to this show. And I said, ‘What do you mean, there’s fish in the reservoir? I love ice fishing, I had no idea!”
Ryan Lee is a parent volunteer and says his second grader has been doing quite a bit of fishing in the ocean and river. But he says it’s all about having fun outside.
“Whenever they’re out and having fun, that’s learning,” Lee said. “You know, being out in nature, keeping busy, just doing active things outside. If they catch fish, that’s great. And that just adds to the excitement of doing it again. But you know, look at these guys out there making a snow fort. It doesn’t matter if they’re fishing or not, as long as they’re warm and moving around having fun.”
Fish and Game says 675 students from the Kenai Peninsula participated in two days of ice fishing at Soldotna Sport Lake and Homer Reservoir.
There is the promise of taking the fish home and cooking with the families, but only one Dolly Varden was caught and released today. Students will have to wait for more bites another day.
