Competitive ice fishing teams from local high schools will compete across the Valley in the new year

Over 100 students from local high schools will be competing in ice fishing tournaments across the Valley in early 2025. Teams from Wasilla, Palmer, Colony, Redington, Houston, Mat-Su Central and Mat-Su Career and Tech will compete to qualify for the state championship in March.

Colton Connor, drafting, entrepreneurship and marketing teacher at Wasilla High School has been a guide and outfitter for 22 years. Connor, along with fellow Wasilla High School science teacher and ice fishing team coach Josh Wangeman began the program last winter. With growing interest, they began working with other teachers in the Valley to start teams in more schools.

“We started a competitive ice fishing club last season in hopes to get kids that aren't playing basketball or hockey or wrestling out to do something outdoors and teach them a life skill,” Conner said. “Then it kind of caught on like wildfire, and we are getting kids from other schools wanting to be part of the club.”

Connor and his wife Alyssa have a history of competitive fishing. With no real established high school ice fishing programs, Connor developed a program that mirrored other catch and release competitive fishing tournaments.

“All these schools down in the states have these competitive bass fishing teams in the summer,” Connor said. “I was like well, why don’t we do an ice fishing thing? So I started to dig into it a little bit and use some of the catch and release scoring tactics that my wife and I've used and kind of went for it. Just jumped in with two feet and went for it.”

The rules are simple and easy to make ice fishing fun for the students. Two person teams submit their six longest fish per tournament day. Those fish will be measured on measuring troughs and are documented with a photo. Photos will be submitted to coaches at the end of each tournament day. Whichever team has the most inches of the day receives 100 points. The second place team will receive 98 points, third place will receive 96 points and so on.

Each school is required to host at least three tournament days in the regular season. After the regular season, the top three teams from each school qualify to participate at the state championship in March.

Coaches from each school determine which weekends to host tournaments and on which lakes they will occur. Coaches will also set various rules for each tournament day. Connor explained that some coaches may implement size restrictions or species restrictions for final submissions.

Teams meet throughout the season to practice with their coaches. This might include how to read bathymetric maps, bottom density maps or weed maps for lakes they will be fishing on. Coaches encourage their teams to pre-fish and learn about these lakes in their free time.

“We're doing this for the kids,” Connor said. “We're doing this to teach them about our resources, to teach them catch and release tactics and to teach him how to fish and be outside and how to stay warm, all that stuff that goes along with standing on a block of ice.”

Connor said that 50% of his team has never ice fished. Some of the members of his club “ice fish every spare moment they have.” This fosters peer instruction and support among club members.

Connor wanted to teach students about the resources that the Valley has to offer. He hopes that students can understand how special these resources are and the importance of protecting them for the next generation by practicing catch and release.

“I think it is so important to teach these kids you don't have to catch and kill everything,” Connor said. “You don’t have to go out and kill these fish. Go out and fish and have fun and learn and see what the resource is like here in our state.”

Ice fishing teams from around the Valley have received immense support from local businesses, according to Connor. 3 Rivers Fly and Tackle has donated ice rod building kits and taught students how to build their own rods. Companies like Hooks of Alaska and Weaver Bros. Tackle Company have donated gear and equipment.

“You call these guys, and they’re just like, ‘No problem. What do you guys need? This is cool,’” Connor said.

Some schools that are newer to the program still need equipment but are getting by on what they have. People can volunteer their time or donate ice fishing equipment to schools that need assistance.

Students are looking forward to competing when they return from Christmas Break. Connor mentioned how happy it is to hear them so excited to talk about participating in an outdoor activity.

The goal for getting students to participate in the ice fishing program is to share their experiences and love for the sport with their friends and families. Connor said the only way to sustain and expand a sport or hobby is to get more people interested, especially for the next generations coming up. A lack of interested people could mean the loss of a resource.

Connor and the other coaches are looking forward to the rest of the season and into next year. He said he has received a lot of support from the schools, local businesses and the community to make the competitive ice fishing teams a reality.

“We're super excited,” Connor said. “And all the other teachers at the high schools are super involved and getting kids ready to go. Our communities have been huge in support and I know those other schools are getting support from our local businesses. I just want to thank all of our local businesses who have been involved. We wouldn't be able to make it happen so quickly without them.”