Fishing 101

Classroom sessions focus on gear and topics novices may overlook: river hydrology, insect life, filleting fish, cold water survival and bear encounters.

Mike Todd, an Anchorage surgeon, moved from San Francisco to Anchorage seven years ago. He took both classes with his brother, William Todd-Mancillas.

"I had never gotten out and done this," Todd said as he tied a tapered leader with knots he'd learned in the classroom. "It's such a drag being in Alaska and not knowing how to fish."

His brother, who teaches interpersonal communications at California State University, Chico, cheerfully acknowledged his lack of skills.

"I know nothing about fishing," he said. "I'm starting from the ground up. Even if I retain 20 percent, that will be infinitely more than I knew before."

Jim Whitehurst, of Clearwater, Fla., retired from the marketing department of Exxon, has fished all over the world.

"I'm retired and lucky enough to have the money to fish and a wife that puts up with me," he said. "I'm the king of 'Been there, tried that,'" he said.

He tried fishing roadside Alaska streams on his own. When he heard about the class last year, he and a friend signed up for 2005.

"Alaska streams are so different," Whitehurst said. "It all relates to salmon."

Muse showed students how to detect and imitate mayfly nymphs in the creek but told them that Kenai River trout don't grow to trophy size by eating bugs. When salmon migrate to fresh water, spawn and die, trout and char feast on eggs and bits of carcass that float downriver.

"They'll take salmon eggs over mayflies any day of the year," he said.

Several students had fished, but not with a fly rod.

"It's a lot easier than I make it out to be," said Dan Zelenko, who wanted angling skills after retiring to Wyoming's Jackson Hole this year.

"When we got here, it slowed everything down," said his brother, Ron, who lives in Waukegan, Ill.

The Zelenkos came in expecting to be bored by the 20 hours of classroom time. They were pleasantly surprised by their interest in river hydraulics and entomology.

"It's just amazing what goes on in these rivers," Ron said.

Their bear lessons came in handy when they flew to Upper Russian Lake. The fishermen split into two parties. The Zelenkos were part of a group that heard a squawk they guessed came a strange bird. It turned out to be a grizzly cub, which emerged 50 yards away from the forest and started walking toward them.

The fishermen remembered their training from a day before. They bunched together, raised their arms, made noise - and held their breath as two guides readied shotguns. The bears ambled to within 30 yards, then disappeared back into the forest.

On the Net: Kenai Peninsula College Fishing Academy: http://www.kenaifishingacademy.org/

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