Isaac Rodriguez fondly remembers learning to fish when he was very young and fishing with his family at their lake house in upstate New York throughout his life. His father’s job often took the family to live overseas, and Isaac says that he has fished wherever they lived, including Greece, Albania, the Netherlands, and Uruguay.
He comments that people who fish for their survival rather than for sport have a greater respect for the environment and maintaining the sustainability of fishing than many sports fishmen he meets here. Isaac says that he was taught to fish with a respect for the local environment and sustainability. This means respecting private property and only fishing in regulated waterways, not fishing during spawning season, not disturbing the fishing area or leaving trash, and practicing catch and release. Isaac has a deep love of fishing which he wants to share with others and is moved by the personal, inner peacefulness of the sport. “Fishing is peaceful. You don’t worry about anything. You are in the state of mind that nothing else matters and the world is a good place.”
Isaac’s love of fishing and respect for the sport when done with attention to the environment motivated him to establish the Oakton Fishing Interest Club in his junior year to share his passion with fellow students so that they too may experience the calm and inner peace that can come in practicing the sport. Isaac is currently the club President. The purpose of the club is to bring students together to fish and learn to fish with attention to the best practices of the sport, respect for the environment and sustainability of fishing stock and habitats. The club has 35 members – half of whom are active fishman now - and nearly 60 followers on Instagram. The club’s Instagram page shows a picture of a solitary fisherman silhouetted by the setting sun while casting his line into a calm lake at the golden hour of the day.
Conversations he has had with other fishermen on Fishbrain, an app like Instagram for fisherman, gave Isaac the idea to start collecting donated equipment for use by students. The club is currently collecting donated fishing equipment, including rods and reels, for use by those interested in learning to fish. They also are considering a fundraiser in the future to buy equipment for the club’s local fishing outings. The next event will be a free fishing class and a day of fishing at the ponds in the Franklin Farm, Oak Hill neighborhood. The club will set up boxes, rods and reels, and conduct a class in how to fish, how to use lures, and how to identify, target, and catch specific types of fish. Isaac tells us that the Franklin Farm ponds contain largemouth bass, bluegill, catfish, and the invasive snakehead fish.
Club members plan to post signs near the fishing ponds encouraging attention to the environment as they have done at other local ponds. Signs that they have used in the past include “Peace is beautiful. Our waters should be too.” “Pick up trash.” “No keeping fish.” And “These are our waters.”
Isaac hopes that the club will encourage other students to fish and experience the inner peace that can come from fishing and being outside on the water.