Winter Fishy Fun with East Gippsland Primary School students
The local schools, Lakes Entrance Primary School and Toorloo Arm Primary School engaged Fishcare East Gippsland to conduct educational fishing workshops to the Grades 3, 4, 5, 6, as part of Fishcare EG Winter program.
Lakes Entrance Primary School commenced with rain and windy conditions cancelling the first outdoor fishing workshop which all the Grade 3 and 4 students back into the classroom for an incursion class. In the classroom, each student was given a copy of the Victorian Recreational Fishing Guide where they learnt about identifying local fish species and their size and bag limits. Also included in the incursion class was the best practice in handling and releasing undersize fish back to the water to maximise their survival rate. Discussion also included introduced pest species such as European Carp and the invasive pest, Northern Pacific Seastar and to inform students what should do if they catch or see one in the Gippsland Lakes. This incursion session finished with the students being broken up into groups, each given a giant fish puzzle which they had to put together with each group delivering a presentation to the rest of the class about how the fish functions from the information under each puzzle piece. All groups did very well with their presentations with a great deal learnt on how each part functions to assist the fish’s movement.
The next week saw weather conditions improving with the Lakes Entrance, Grade 5 and 6 students able to walk to a local waterway to undertake an outdoor workshop before going fishing. These “FishRight” workshops include fish identification, size and bags limits, how to measuring fish, how to release fish properly back into the water , hook removal and how to tie the appropriate fishing knots. Then the students participated in a casting clinic and then go fishing for over an hour to put all the newly acquired skills into practice in the waters behind the Lake Entrance Angling Club rooms.
In September, the Grade 5 and 6 students from Toorloo Arm Primary School walked to Fisherman’s Landing on Lake Tyers to take part in perfect spring conditions in a morning and afternoon “FishRight” educational fishing workshops.
Fishcare East Gippsland have previously had students from both these schools on-board with their fishing programs and great to see that students had retained learnt knowledge and quickly answered all the questions in regard to the fishing regulations and sustainable fishing practices.
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