A new angle on afternoon sports
By Joe Blondia
Sun contributor
Students at The Leelanau School have taken advantage this spring of the unique outdoor opportunities in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore surrounding their campus. The “Field and Stream” sports group has fished many local lakes in the evenings after class. They have also taken a charter fishing trip aboard the Mariah with Captain Bob Smith of The Sportsman Shop.
As their coach, I have enjoyed teaching students over the years about my passion for hunting and fishing. But finding the time has always been difficult. So several years ago fellow coach Bob Sonnenberg and I made “Field and Stream” an official after-school sport so that we could guarantee time for our trips.
On the two most recent charter trips, 10 students caught eight lake trout and three salmon. A trip with five students last fall yielded six more lake trout and salmon. The students learned how to clean and cook the fish, and served them for lunch at school.
“It is great to go out with someone like Captain Bob,” says Junior Scott Thompson. “We learned how to find fish on the graph and about water temperature and dissolved oxygen, and how these affect where fish are in a lake at different times of the year. We have also learned fish anatomy and how to cook them.”
Scott added that, while the students ate some of the lake trout and salmon, they release all of the trout from the Crystal River and bass from the lakes.
That’s because Sonnenberg and I stress awareness of the unique resources we have and the need to protect them by ensuring that all of the kids have licenses and know the regulations. A highlight of each year is having Leelanau County Conservation Officer Mike Borkovitch come talk to our classes about conservation.
Junior Conner Madison has fished on Otter, Little Glen, Shell, Little Traverse, Bass and South Bar Lakes.
“I have been pretty lucky because I have caught fish on all of the lakes we have been to. Even if we didn’t catch fish it would be fun to go out, because the lakes are beautiful and we always see wildlife besides fish. I am really looking forward to doing this again my senior year.”
The students have not just fished. In the fall they participated in several hunting trips in the National Park and several target shooting trips to the Cedar Rod & Gun Club.
“Some of the kids did not want to hunt but wanted to go along and see what it was like,” says Bob Sonnenberg. “We sat in tree stands and Ameristep ground blinds and had great wildlife sightings nearly every time we went out. Brett Wehner of Ameristep was really supportive of the class and helped get us some great equipment.”
Junior Kip Zanardi from New Jersey remembers one outing in particular. “We were in our stand for about two hours and had seen a few does, some turkeys and an owl … and then a bobcat ran right by us. I will always remember that.”
Sonnenberg shot a deer with his bow and the students learned to process the meat.
In addition, the students have learned fly-tying, arrow making, shotgun shell reloading, mushroom hunting, knot tying, and have learned to place game cameras on the trails around campus.
As the sport continues to grow in popularity, we coaches plan to add the National Archery in the Schools Program to the offering as well as possible competitions in both fishing and shooting.
The Leelanau School is a private boarding school located just north of Glen Arbor that offers individualized learning in a beautiful setting. Learn more at www.Leelanau.org.