A Fresno high school’s fishing club has Central Valley students reeling in success
Sometimes you stumble onto a story that is so powerful that it needs to be shared. High school and middle school bass fishing clubs have been popping up throughout California, but most of these clubs are established in communities with a wealth of resources. It takes extraordinary effort to create opportunities in an urban school in a community experiencing high levels of poverty.
But this is what’s happening at Fresno’s Roosevelt High School. Students need a connection to some aspect of a school to persist through the gauntlet of modern-day public education. The connection could be athletics, the arts, or an inspiring faculty member. Since 2012, the RHS Bass Fishing Club has provided such a connection through their community service along with participation in group camping trips and tournaments.
The club has had a very busy past few weeks with a Trunk or Treat on Halloween, a two-mile candy wrapper cleanup down Huntington Boulevard, a neighborhood cleanup as part of Beautify Fresno’s Youth Service Day and the 42-boat Big Valley High School Student Angler’s open tournament at Millerton. This followed a fall filled with a camping and fishing trip to Hensley on National Public Lands Day at the end of September, a camping trip to Millerton in October, and a camping trip to San Simeon State Park this past weekend.
Club adviser, Michael Spencer, an Advanced Placement English teacher at Roosevelt, understood the necessity of providing opportunities for the school’s students, and he was the primary individual involved in the development of the club.
“Our mission is to provide the opportunity to experience the outdoors along with giving back to the community,” he said. The trips and other activities have a positive effect on students.
“I started this club with one central belief - that offering student’s quality outdoor recreational activities will improve the quality of their lives and the quality of the community. I still believe it. And I know many other people do too,” he said.
Recently added to the Roosevelt Bass Fishing Club was the Big Valley High School Anglers (BV HSA) to open competitive opportunities for all high school students in the southern San Joaquin Valley.
“We will take any student from Bakersfield to Merced into the club since our primary focus is to build the sport and be inclusive,” Spencer said.
Building connections and relationships in the fishing community for students and the club providing them an incentive to remain in school are among the most powerful aspects of the club, he said.
Club members Jaese Moua of McLane High School and Adonovan Moua of Hoover High School participated in the Millerton tournament.
Carlos Frias and Touger Xiong was Roosevelt’s top team with a 9th place finish while fishing with volunteer boat captain Dan Marshall.
It takes a community effort to create these opportunities, but the rewards are priceless.
Organizations such as the Roosevelt High School Bass Fishing Club help lift students to possibilities that they may never have imagined.
Anyone interested in supporting the club can contact Spencer (559) 261-5296. The club can be followed on Facebook at facebook.com/RooseveltHighSchoolBassFishingClub.
Dave Hurley is a longtime educator, fishing writer and member of the California Outdoors Hall of Fame.
