This class is off the hook

For 20 years, Costa Mesa resident Scott Matthews has been passing on his love of one of the more simple summer pastimes ? fishing.

Matthews teaches a basic fishing class offered by the city of Newport Beach, and the class, held only once each summer, fills up quickly. Matthews gives young boys and girls, most of whom have never fished before, a chance to experience fishing. “That’s what I did every day. I think it definitely kept me out of trouble,” said Matthews, who grew up fishing in Newport Harbor.

The class, a joint effort between the city and the Balboa Angling club, meets first at the club on the Balboa Peninsula, where the kids are taught how to tie their lines, and the rules about which fish they are allowed to keep.

Then, they walk from the club to a small pocket of sand near the entrance to Bay Island, where they can apply some of the skills they’ve learned.

Fishing is a fun activity that gets kids outside and doesn’t require expensive equipment, Matthews said.

“I’d just rather see the kids doing this than sitting inside watching TV,” Matthews said.

On a recent morning, this summer’s class of 19 kids put their fishing poles in the water on a narrow channel in the harbor. With their poles sticking in the sand and their feet partially submerged in the water, most of the kids sat and patiently waited for a tug on the end of their line.

Siblings Kristin, Michael and Kate Allen were signed up for the class by their mom, said 11-year-old Michael.

“It’s fun,” said 7-year-old Kristin, the first of the family bunch to catch a fish.

Next to her, Kristin’s sister Kate, 10, was still waiting for a bite.

“It is [boring] while you’re waiting, but not actually when you’re reeling in the fish,” Kate said.

But not all the kids were as interested in the fishing prospects in the bay ? the bait bucket onshore was equally as exciting. Matthews goes out the day before the class and catches enough bait for the kids to use.

Eight-year-old Madelyn Davis hadn’t caught anything that day, but she was still having a good time.

“It feels good,” Madelyn said as she picked up a small smelt fish out of the bucket.

Suddenly, the silence was broken when one boy yelled that he had one. Matthews ran across the sand to help the boy reel in the catch. He reeled in the end of the line as the kids crowded around to see the catch of the hour: a halibut. The squirrelly fish squirmed away before the class got a good look at it. But it didn’t matter ? all the fish were catch-and-release, Matthews said.

In addition to the fishing lesson, Matthews gave the kids a map of all the good, secret fishing spots in Newport Harbor.dpt.21-water-2-CPhotoInfo0V1T5FTA20060721j2q65vncCredit: JAMIE FLANAGAN / DAILY PILOT Caption: (LA)Madelyn Davis, 8, baits her hook. dpt.21-water-1-CPhotoInfo0V1T5FT720060721j2q67qncCredit: JAMIE FLANAGAN / DAILY PILOT Caption: (LA)Ten-year-old James FitzGibbon, left, and other students learn how to fish Friday during lessons given on the Balboa Peninsula.