Fish & Fishing Session Outline For the Outdoor Skills Program th th 7 & 8 Grade Lessons I. Welcome students and ask group what they remember or learned in the last session. II. Fish & Fishing Lessons A. Activity: Attract a Fish B. Activity: Lures and Knot Tying C. Activity: Tackle Box and Fishing Plan III. Review: Ask the students what they enjoyed most about today’s session and what they enjoyed the least. (Another way to ask is “what was your high today, and what was your low? As the weeks progress this can be called “Time for Highs & Lows”.) The Outdoor Skills program is a partnership with Nebraska Games & Parks and the UNL Extension/4-H Youth Development Program to provide hands-on lessons for youth during their afterschool time and school days off. It provides the opportunity to master skills in the areas of hunting, fishing, and exploring the outdoors. This educational program is part of the 20 year plan to recruit, develop and retain hunters, anglers, and outdoor enthusiasts in Nebraska. Inventory Activity: Fishing Lures Curriculum Level: 7-8 Kit Materials & Equipment Feathers Waterproof glue Fish anatomy poster Pliers Fish models (catfish, bluegill, crappie, Tackle box with “filling your tackle & bass) box” components ID/habitat cards Laminated copy of “Awesome Lures” Lures displays Cabela’s Fishing Catalog Supplies Instructor Provides (15) Nebraska Fishing Guide Paperclips (15) NGPC Fish ID Book Pop cans Trilene line Scissors Knot tying cards Masking tape Knot tying kit (6 shark hooks & 6 lengths of rope) Copies of “Plan Your Trip” worksheet (15) Knot-testing weights Treble hooks Duct tape Materials to be Restocked-After Each Use (15) Nebraska Fishing Guide (15) NGPC Fish ID Book For information on restocking items contact Julia Plugge at 402-471-6009 or [email protected] All orders must be placed at least 2 weeks in advance. Session: Fish and Fishing 1 Activity: Attract a Fish Grade Level: 7th & 8th Materials Needed to Conduct Objectives: Participants will Activity: Identify four Nebraska sport fish Copy of lures matching worksheet species for each student or student Describe habitat preferences workbooks Identify appropriate bait and fishing Pencils techniques. Method: Students will match the fish Background: models to the corresponding habitat card based on an identification key on FISH ID & HABITAT: Identification of the front of the card. They will review fish species and knowledge of habitat is the food and habitat preferences for important to consider when planning to each species and then match each go fishing. Fish species respond species with the appropriate tackle differently to baits and methods of based on the habitat cards. fishing depending on their natural diets. Fish also occupy a variety of habitats within a body of water, so in order to Field Day Activity: Students will target a specific kind of fish, knowledge fish for a species of their choice during of the preferred habitat for that species the outdoor skills day. is a key to fishing success. Materials Contained in Kit: Fish species you are likely to catch Fish anatomy poster when fishing from shore: Fish models of catfish, bluegill, crappie, and bass Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus): ID/Habitat cards Identification: Lure displays Deep bodied (body depth is less than 3 Cabela’s fishing catalog X the length of the body) Nebraska Fishing Guide Small mouth (mouth does not extend back to the eye) Duration: 30-45 minutes Dark spot near the base of the soft dorsal fin Group Size: 12 students, in groups of 3-4 Dark spot on the ear flap of the Setting: Indoors or outdoors operculum Vertical bars on sides of body Key Terms: habitat, dorsal, nymph, Olive-green with emerald and brassy sedentary, cartilaginous ray, barbel reflections SET Abilities: Observe, Compare Breast and belly yellow or reddish orange Fair Project: Lures display board Rarely over 8 inches in Nebraska reservoirs. A 10-inch bluegill is 2 considered a “master angler” catch in Dorsal coloration is dark-olive, with Nebraska. The state record bluegill silvery white sides weighed in at 2 lbs. 13 oz. Dark markings on sides either arranged Habitat: in vertical bars or in irregular blotches Prefers clear water; because a bluegill’s Spots on anal, dorsal, and tail fins primary diet is aquatic insects that are Anal-fin is nearly as long as the dorsal often associated with submerged fin vegetation, clear water that can support Adult crappie are often larger than 9 plant life is important. Submerged inches in Nebraska’s reservoirs, and a vegetation also provides cover for healthy adult can be well over a foot bluegill to hide from predators. long. A 15-inch crappie is considered a Warm water species “master angler” catch in Nebraska. The Seeks submerged vegetation and can largest crappie caught in Nebraska on be found near underwater structures like record was a black crappie that weighed flooded timber and brush piles in at 4 ½ lbs. Prefers shallow water habitat where light Habitat: penetrates Rocky areas Diet: Coves with brush piles Aquatic insects and aquatic nymphs of Flooded trees terrestrial insects (example: caddisfly, During spawning in the spring, dragonfly, mayfly, damselfly) adults are found in shallower Also will prey on small fish, crayfish, water snails After spawn, adults can be found Activity: in deeper water Fairly sedentary; sunfish spend much of Diet: their time hovering quietly near Primarily small fish submerged cover or in the shade of a Also feeds on aquatic insects and tree or structure. crustaceans (especially when young) In mid-day found in deeper water or in Activity: shade of overhanging trees or under Congregates in loose aggregations docks about submerged trees, boat docks, and In morning and evening, feeds in other cover shallows Fairly sedentary Feeds by sight by foraging at the Active feeding in the evening and surface, in mid-water, and on the morning, sometimes near the surface substrate Will feed during the day in deeper water Crappie (Poxomis annularis [white Largemouth bass (Micropterus crappie] & Poxomis nigromaculatus salmoides): [black crappie]): Identification: Identification: Slender-bodied (body depth is 3 X or Deep-bodied, slab-sided more the length of body), streamlined Large mouth extends to middle Very large mouth (mouth extends well of eye, but not beyond eye past the back of the eye) 3 Dorsal fin almost completely separated Olive-brown to slate-blue coloration with into two parts: spiny dorsal and soft white bellies; smaller fish have black dorsal (soft dorsal has only cartilaginous spots on sides rays and no spines) Habitat: Dark horizontal stripe on the mid-side of Occupies a variety of habitats, but can the body be located underneath structure (fallen Dorsal markings are green, lower sides trees, cavities in rock piles) and belly are white Relies on taste rather than sight for Adult bass can grow larger than other feeding, so is tolerant of turbid (murky) sunfishes (the Family Centrarchidae water includes, among other species, Diet: largemouth bass, bluegill, and crappie). Diet is varied depending on what is most A 20-inch largemouth is considered a available, includes fish, insects, crayfish, “master angler” catch in Nebraska. The state record largemouth weighed in at mollusks, and plant material 10 lbs. 11 oz. Most food is taken from the bottom Habitat: Will feed on decomposing organic Flooded timber matter (dead fish, dead plants, etc.) Brush piles Activity: At the edge of underwater ledges and Primarily active at night drop-offs into deeper water During daylight hours, will hide in natural Largemouth bass are sight feeders, and cavities or remain sedentary in deeper are most successful at finding prey in pools. clear water Diet: BAIT: The purpose of the bait is to Primarily feeds on other fish attract the fish to your hook using (piscivorous) movement, vibration, color, and/or scent Also feeds on crayfish, large insects, to catch the fish's attention. Lures are frogs, anything that falls in the water or designed to resemble and move like swims and will fit into its mouth prey, and often mimic fish or aquatic invertebrates. Even if they don’t look Activity: like fish or critters to our eyes, their color Spends the day in deeper water, lurking patterns, reflections and movements in about logs, drift piles and other cover the water as they are cast and retrieved Moves into the shallows in morning and are designed to mimic living things. evening to feed. Lures in light, natural prey colors like Will feed during the day in deeper water silver and white are useful for clear- water conditions. In murky water, Channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus): brightly colored lures can be a good Identification: choice. Some baits are designed to Elongate, slender bodied attract fish with the scents and tastes Smooth, scaleless skin they release into the water. These are Sensory barbels around the mouth very effective when targeting fish like Small, fatty tissued adipose fin near the catfish that don’t feed by sight. tail fin Deeply forked tail fin 4 The rigging and design of different baits A common jig and body combination is a and lures determine how they move in ball head jig with a twister-tail the water, and at what depths. grub. This jig can be used to lure just Movement and depth of the bait can be about any sport fish. The curled tail manipulated by the angler to target fish undulates and emits vibrations when the effectively. jig is hopped up off the bottom, and it resembles a baitfish when reeled in. Jigs Tube jigs, soft-plastic hollow bodies with tentacles at the hook-end, are also widely used. On a slack line these baits slowly spiral in a tight circle.