Kirk Cooper often refers to fishing as a “bug.” Infected at an early age by his father and grandfather, Cooper has had this bug take him fly-fishing in Colorado streams on up to Montana’s Big Horn River and eventually to the lakes around Lawrence for bass and catfish.

A pole-vaulter for Kansas’ track and field team, Cooper, Denver senior, would be forgiven for unwinding between practices and road trips in front of an Xbox 360 or behind the keyboard on Twitter or Facebook.

But he says that 10 times out of 10 he’s got other plans when leisure time presents itself.

“The worst day on the lake beats any day elsewhere,” Cooper said. “Anybody who’s been fishing will tell you that there’s nothing like getting a strike on your line and not knowing what it is until you fight and reel it in.”

YOUTHS DIFFICULT TO KEEP HOOKED

Cooper may be the exception rather than the rule among college students, the most of which fit the 18-24 age group. Cooper said five or six of his friends fish but only two do so regularly.

Of the nation’s nearly 30 million anglers – people who fish with a hook and rod – the second-lowest age group was that 18-24 classification with 2,406,000 anglers – or about 8 percent – according to The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Association’s 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation.

Meanwhile, nearly half of the country’s anglers are between 35 and 54 years old and another 25 percent of the fishing population is aged 55 and above.

“A lot of people don’t participate in outdoor recreation once they hit high school and college,” said Chuck Bever, regional fishing supervisor for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. “Students are busy with a lot of other things and that’s expected. The key is getting more of them to come back once they graduate.”

Bever said the majority of fishermen are like Cooper, who are introduced to the sport at a young age. Because of this the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks has amped up outreach in the past decade to youths whose parents may opt for more indoor, sedentary recreation.

A separate branch of the department was devised for this purpose and now thousands of Kansas kids take part in fishing clinics, be it through scout and church groups or summer camps. Parents are also encouraged to join their kids in learning the basics of angling.

“We always promote family outings,” Bever said. “There’s a higher chance that parents will take their kids fishing again that way.”

Cooper theorizes that keeping kids hooked on fishing long term is a question of success. He describes his brother, who is a pole-vaulter at the Air Force Academy, as athletic and competitive, but not nearly as interested in fishing.

“So many times he would fish with the family growing up, not catch anything and lose interest,” Cooper said. “People need to have success. Small ponds are genius for starting kids out because you take a kid there where they’ll catch something and it’s just euphoric for them.”

The patience often required to experience that success is one of the factors working against increased participation by young anglers.

Social networking and instant messaging online, interacting through cell phones and videogames seem to promote shorter attention spans and a higher premium on multitasking.

All age groups younger than 45 spend an average of 8 ½ hours per day in front of a screen, according to a March study conducted by researchers at Ball State University on behalf of the Nielsen-funded Council for Research Excellence.

To keep up with the ever-expanding presence of the Web, Bever said the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks has grown its Web site over the years to where it regularly posts updates on fishing reports, educational materials and videos.

This, he said, helps cut down costs of producing paper publications and provides a more direct outlet for people to obtain information. Bever added that in the next year the department is looking into becoming involved with Twitter and regular newsletters.

Fishing for

preservation

Tom Lang, fisheries program specialist for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, said that fishing can be more than a recreational activity but also a major step toward preserving natural resources everywhere.

“If agencies want to take the task of preserving wildlife by the cajones,” Lang said, “angler participation is the way to go.”

Lang said that excise taxes on fishing and hunting supplies and the money that goes toward purchasing state licenses help preserve resources for future generations. When someone goes fishing, he said, you’re making sure it’s always going to be there.

“And really, catching fish is a small portion of why you’re there,” Bever said. “You’re also getting to know friends, getting to know family and loved ones again.”

The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Park’s Web site lists nine lakes, ponds, creeks and rivers open to the public for fishing. Clinton Reservoir is the largest at 7,000 acres of surface water and 25 species of fish, according to Fishingnotes.com.

Clinton Reservoir has a marina that offers boat rentals and areas for people to bring jet skis. There are several spots for swimming, including a beach. The lake is surrounded by an additional 15,000 acres of land, much of which is open for camping.

“We tell people that it’s their own private lake,” said Susan Postlethwaite, administrative director. “Once they come out they’re hooked.”

The young men and the spillway

The spillway behind the dam of Clinton Reservoir was the site of perhaps Cooper’s grandest fishing tale in Lawrence yet – both in terms of scale and effort.

Cooper and a friend dropped two lines into the water at the top of the spillway in 2007, as Cooper’s freshman year was about to end. Moments later a massive strike was noticed on one of the fishing poles. What followed would be a 45-minute battle that Cooper said left his bones feeling arthritic the next day.

With an audience of growing in number to about 20, Cooper and his friend traded turns reeling the unknown mass in until it finally reared its head after about a half hour: a flathead catfish later to register at 82 pounds.

“My buddy didn’t want to get in the water to take it out and I wasn’t very excited about that either,” Cooper said.

But soon after he had no other choice and, using two hands, pulled the fish out of the knee-deep running water and onto land.

“The pressure and the feeling of adrenaline I had was as high as anything I’ve experienced in athletics,” Cooper.

All of this using a rod and reel with a shad – a small fish – hooked on for bait. Fishing is a hobby that Cooper said he has never had to break the bank in order to be successful.

“People think new hobbies are so expensive but there’s a fine line between being obsessive and knowing how to use what you’ve got,” Cooper said.

— — Edited by Abby Olcese