Oconto Falls High School ice fishing team approved

The new Oconto Falls High School ice fishing team has the approval of the school board.

The board OK’d the team, along with $1,200 in startup funds, during its Nov. 14 meeting, after hearing recommendations from team advisers and Superintendent Dean Hess.

Adviser Jason Ingram told the board that 25 students turned out for a Nov. 1 meeting at the high school to gauge interest in a team that would compete under the auspices of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Fishing Association (WIFA). A Department of Natural Resources conservation warden is expected to attend the next meeting in December to discuss safety and ice fishing regulations with the students.

Ingram has been talking with coaches from the Three Lakes and Bonduel ice fishing teams to get a feel for what is required. After the next meeting, the team will develop season dates when they’ll hit the ice for training and tournaments, with competitions expected each weekend starting in January.

“This year, Shawano Lake is the state tournament, so it’s more local ice for us,” he said.

The WIFA website, studentfishing.com, lists weekly state qualifying tournaments around the state on Saturdays starting Jan. 7, leading up to the state championship Feb. 17-18 on Shawano Lake.

“With 25 students we can have an inside-school tournament, if you will, our own students competing against each other,” Ingram said. The competitions are catch-and-release fishing on inland lakes — no bay activity, he added.

Much of the discussion revolved around the extent to which participating students are allowed to use motorized vehicles, mainly to get to and from their fishing holes. The school board approved a plan similar to Bonduel High School’s policy that students may use snowmobiles, ATVs or UTVs to access the ice, but not full-sized vehicles; further, “recreational” riding is prohibited.

Hess admitted that the issue of motorized vehicles was a subject of much discussion, for safety reasons.

“I’m torn on this one. From a logistical standpoint, it makes sense, because if you’re going to have 25 students it might be challenging to support them all with only the advisers and chaperones being able to operate the sleds or ATVs,” Hess said. “On the flip side, I will tell you that it causes me anxiety to think about young people on motorized vehicles.”

The superintendent said the district wants to set up the team advisers for success, but he knows young people have the potential to put them in challenging situations.

“I think that most of our young people will make good choices regularly, but there will be I would anticipate some situations where you would then have to step in, and I’m concerned about the safety piece,” Hess said, acknowledging that he and the advisers did not reach a consensus on the issue.

Board president Clint Gardebrecht said he appreciates the safety concern but is unaware of any incidents involving Oconto Falls students misbehaving on ATVs or snowmobiles.

“The risk is there, and I totally understand that,” Gardebrecht said, reviewing the proposed team rules. “The logistics of getting everything out there, if you guys have the right precautions in place — I notice in your sportsmanship section you have (rules against) ‘flagrant disregard for ice fishing safety.’ Maybe one recommendation would be put something in that safety section specifically around vehicles or just safety in general, because it says ‘A rule violation can cause a member to be removed from the team.’”

Gardebrecht added that he has “zero tolerance” on misbehaving on an ATV — neglecting ice safety, driving too fast or “doing doughnuts” on the ice — “That’s the sort of thing that advisers can police.”

Ingram said the advisers emphasize safety on the ice as a top priority.

“We stress to them right away, this is a privilege,” he said. “You know, one screw-up, it’s done.”

Bryan Baumler, the board vice president, made the motion to approve the team and said he expects the students to be sensible.

“I’m going to venture to say those that are going to be showing up with those UTVs are going to be probably from backgrounds that have good knowledge about how to use them from their parents to begin with,” Baumler said. “So they’re going to have a good sense of being smart with them.”

Hess said if the first year goes well, administrators would bring the ice fishing team next year as with a full-fledged paid coaching stipend.

“I was going to ask about fillets, but it sounds like the fish go back in the hole,” Gardebrecht joked after the vote.