Washington County, WI – The Slinger High School Outdoors Club Fishing Team has been selected as the Wisconsin Interscholastic Fishing Association “Team of the Year.” The award goes beyond the waters and looks at the total involvement and impact the teams have made in their communities and the lives of others.
The 2023-2024 open water and ice fishing season was filled with many memorable experiences for all students involved with the Slinger High School Fishing Team.
The team competed in several fishing competitions through the Wisconsin Interscholastic Fishing Association.
Throughout the course of the season the team proudly provided a fishing opportunity to over 60 Slinger High School students.
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The Slinger team competed in 12 high school fishing tournaments in this past year and had a great experience.
Slinger hosted nine open water fishing tournaments, not only in person but also virtually, allowing students from across the Wisconsin to compete.
When hosting tournaments Slinger provide a great opportunity for hundreds of students from 6th-12th grade to enjoy fishing with their friends and family.
The Slinger team has been fortunate enough to have success in many of our tournaments.
Highlights include:Â two 1st place finishes in WIFA sponsored tournaments, a 3rd place finish in the open water state championship tournament, and podium finishes in three state qualifying tournaments.
T Slinger team strongly promotes conservation and invited the local DNR conservation officer and wildlife biologist to visit Slinger High School before the gun deer season to talk about safety and ethical hunting practices. When fishing, our team promotes a catch and release philosophy, and we discuss the importance of protecting our lakes from overharvesting.Â
Our mission as a fishing team is to get as many students as possible involved in the outdoors, especially hunting and fishing related activities. We have implemented a “gear rental” program, which allows students to borrow equipment for ice and open water fishing as a way to remove the financial burden that comes with the sport.Â
Students have access to tackle, augers, poles, safety equipment, and much more. This helps students to develop a skill set in fishing at their own individual pace and encourages them to get others involved in the sport. We continue to work with our middle school students through our high school student mentors. Through the help of parent volunteers, our Outdoors Club is now available for middle school students. We also have a “Pass It Along” program to encourage our experienced anglers in our community to donate any unused equipment to younger students. This program has benefited many students who do not have access to their own equipment.Â
Our students have created a unique opportunity that allows them to make their own plastic baits for ice and open water fishing. This is done through a plastic injection process. Some of our Technology and Engineering students are even working to create custom molds for these plastics. Students can control every part of this process from the design to the creation of these plastics. As a team, we have become efficient enough to produce baits in large bulk quantities, and because of our production, we have been fortunate enough to host a booth donated to our club through the Wisconsin Fishing Expo in Madison the last four years. At the expo, students can sell their baits that they created.Â
It has been a great learning experience for the team and has helped to offset costs throughout the season. In the past year, we have expanded our efforts into other fishing areas as well. We purchased a fly-tying kit where students make their own flies and use them during the spring salmon run. We have recently made purchases of tungsten jigs and the equipment needed for students to paint their own jig designs. For our students, there is nothing more satisfying than catching a fish on something they created! Â
We encourage our fishing team members to be role models not only in our school but also our community.
They have volunteered for several waterfowl seasons by cleaning birds at the Horicon Marsh Veterans Hunt, are often seen running concession stands at our school’s sporting events, helping with the event set up for our annual community wide school year kick off, and have even helped park cars at the Wisconsin Ice Fishing Expo. Many on our team also stay active as peer tutors for younger students who struggle academically or behaviorally. Our goal as a team is to make an impact in our school and community, even when we are not on the ice or in a boat.
We are honored to be recognized as the 2023-2024 WIFA team of the year. We are proud of what we have accomplished in competitive fishing tournaments and, more importantly, what we have done to promote youth involvement in the outdoors. We greatly appreciate the support from our local businesses that sponsor our club and to all the members of our Slinger community that support our cause. We are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to be part of WIFA and will continue to develop young outdoors people to grow and protect the outdoor resources we have for years to come.
Thank you to all members of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Fishing Association and those that support it.
