Sometimes the best way to catch fish is to put your bait in the water, sit back and let the fish come to you.
Similarly, Sodexho supervisor Doc Carr took a quiet approach in his second attempt to start a fishing club at Eastern.
“Word of mouth” is how Carr, the club’s advisor, described the way people found out about the fishing club this semester.
“One person told another person who was interested, and they just said, ‘Sign me up, sign me up, sign me up.’ It worked better than all the publicity from last year.”
Carr tried to form a fishing club last semester, using a commercial and signs to reel people in. However, the interest was so small that Carr was forced to disband the club after its first meeting.
While Carr admitted that there was a slow response to this year’s attempt to resurrect the club, the new fishing club is a success with about ten members currently. So far, they have already had a couple of meetings and even a fishing outing.
Fishing club meetings are held every other Monday in the Dining Commons. These meetings basically consist of Carr dishing out his fishing knowledge to the club members.
“It’s like going to school,” Carr said.
“It’s learning facts, but fun facts.”
At the club’s last meeting, four club members could be seen sitting around a table covered with over a dozen individual containers of innumerable lures and other fishing supplies. Carr explained fishing tactics, terminology and the uses of some of the various items.
“This is more supplies than you guys will probably ever have in your lifetime,” Carr said, “but this is what I use.”
One of the lures was about six inches long and in the shape of a small fish.
“When a fish gets this lure, it stays on. It’s got nine hooks,” Carr said, describing the lure.
Carr also described a lure that contained real amino acids, some of the building blocks of living things.
“A fish will say, ‘Mmm… there’s something to eat,’ until it gets that big ole shank in its face,” he said.
Carr’s collection also contained a titanium hook covered in brass and a homemade lure with a plastic tube with a fiber-optic thread inside, serving to illuminate the lure and attract fish to it.
“I even have small baits to catch small fish to catch big fish,” Carr said.
The purpose of the meeting was basically to show that different situations require different equipment, but Carr purposely focused on the equipment and methods of catching striped bass. This was in preparation for a trip to the New Jersey shore the club is hoping to take to fish for these “stripers.”
The members of the club are excited about the club for a number of reasons.
“I like the fight,” first-year Jesse Aseltine said, explaining his favorite aspect of fishing.
“I’ve always fished since I was a kid,” first-year John Avanzato said. “I’m looking forward to gaining more of Doc’s knowledge.”
“I can’t say enough about the knowledge I’ve gotten from fishing,” Carr said as he was wrapping up the meeting.
“And I’ll give you guys every ounce of my knowledge if you want it.”