Cabela’s School of Fish, recognized by many as the leaders in kids fishing education, recently completed their 6th-year of hosting fishing classes for kids, their parents, and other adults, and did so in record-breaking fashion! School of Fish taught 30 open-water Schools in 2018 graduating 707 “water-ready” kids and had 287 adults attend as well! The 30 classes and 707 kids are records for the organization.
“This is the first time we’ve taught 30 schools and we’ve never graduated over 700 kids before,” said Mike Frisch, one of the organization’s co-founders. “We’re very excited about the continued growth of the program!”
Started in Alexandria, MN in 2013 as an open-water fishing class, School of Fish was very well received and, due to requests, added School of Fish ON ICE that fall. Since then, a rod building class and Walleye School offering have been added to the curriculum offerings as well.
Cabela’s School of Fish has now taught 183 Schools in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, North & South Dakota, Nebraska and has graduated 3,890 kids and over 1,000 adults have attended in its existence!
“We had another awesome year with our open-water Schools, returning to several locations we have been to in the past and also expanded to our communities as well, including our first-ever Nebraska event,” stated Frisch. “As always, our goal continues to be to provide kids and adults with the knowledge, skills, and equipment they need to get their fishing careers started. And, just as importantly, we try to do that in a fashion that excites them about our sport!”
Frisch also lauded the program’s sponsors in helping grow Cabela’s School of Fish. “Our supporters, many of which have been with us from day one, see the value in exposing kids and their families to fishing and the great outdoors. Their great support allows us to provide quality education and good fishing equipment to help our students get their fishing careers off to great starts,” Frisch concluded.
In addition to Cabela’s title sponsorship, other sponsors include Larson FX Boats, Northland Fishing Tackle, Soderholm Insurance, KLN Family Brands, Shearer’s Snacks, Raymarine, Strike King, ShoreMaster, Fish On Kids Books, Distinctive Cabinet Design, Hannay’s Marine, CORE ICE, Artie’s Bait and Tackle, and Fishing the Midwest.
In addition, the National Professional Anglers Association and Future Angler Foundation teamed to provide rods and reels for each School of Fish graduate this year!
To learn more about Cabela’s School of Fish visit fishingthemidwest.com and select the “School of Fish” icon to be directed to the webpage. Once there, visitors can see the upcoming schedule as well as view an information video to learn more about the program.
Cabela’s School of Fish is currently adding ON ICE classes for this fall and winter and, is also scheduling 2019 open-water classes. Contact schooloffish@outlook.com for more information.