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Hills-Beaver Creek Secondary students spent Thursday afternoon, May 6, at The Rez, testing the handmade rods they made in ag classes with teacher Cloey Anderson.
Thirty students spent two weeks following kit instructions that included adding handles and fishing line guides to the bare poles.
The junior and senior students said they used a template to correctly space the guides along the poles. Each guide was then wound with colored nylon thread and epoxied to repel water.
Anderson acquired the poles using classroom funds, but the students purchased their own reels. They also learned how to load the reels with fishing line.
“It is really good to get kids out and try a new hobby — a new way to spend their time,” she said.
Anderson, along with Beaver Creek Sportsman’s Club member Arlyn Gehrke, supervised the catch-and-release of the small bluegills several students caught with their handmade poles.
A special fishing waiver was granted to the group for the educational lesson.