The IGFA's Online Angling Education Resources: Educating and Inspiring Anglers Around the World

The resource in reference is the IGFA’s Intro to Fishing course, one of our most accessible resources thus far, designed to introduce young and novice anglers to the fundamentals of recreational fishing. Built in 2018 and released the following year for the IGFA’s 80^th anniversary, the Intro to Fishing course has persisted teaching just shy of 1,500 students from 53 countries!

Packed with educational presentations, how-to videos, and interactive quizzes, the course allows anglers to follow along at their own pace. Now in its seventh year of existence, it was time to update the course content and overall appearance to remain consistent with the IGFA brand, and it was time to translate it into Spanish!

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Updates to the IGFA Intro to Fishing Course

The Intro to Fishing course is a structured teaching course in an online setting, free for anyone to access.  The goal behind this online resource was to provide students with a strong foundation of angling knowledge in a comfortable, virtual setting that would give them the confidence to get out and go fishing in a responsible and ethical way. 

Initially built for youth, families, and beginner anglers, the program attracted most students from a moderate background with some knowledge of fishing. Overall, 14% of students who completed the course were beginner anglers, indicating they had never caught a fish. “It helps give basic knowledge to new [anglers] who are looking to pursue it for a new hobby,” describes Kaenon M. from Hawaii, USA, who was an IGFA Junior Angler (age 11-16 years) at the time he completed the course.

The course covers various aspects of fishing, including:

• The Fish: Understanding what a fish is and how to identify various game fish
• The Habitat: Knowing where fish live and different aquatic environments
• The Basics: Learning various fishing techniques from basic tackle to casting methods
• The Ethical Angler: Emphasizing responsible fishing practices, catch-and-release techniques, and habitat protection
• The IGFA: Introducing students to the IGFA and the great work we do across the organization

 

The appearance and accessibility features of course content have been significantly improved, making it a more enjoyable and immersive experience. Crucial content from educational partners like Keep Fish Wet was added, including a comprehensive video of “Best Practices for Catch-and-Release”, content aligning with the IGFA’s mission to promote responsible, ethical angling practices. 

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Introducción a la Pesca – Translating the Course to Spanish

Even though the IGFA’s Intro to Fishing course has reached students in 53 countries, only 1% of students who have completed the course are from countries in the South America Council and the Central American & Caribbean Council, where many Spanish-speaking countries are located. Because of this, and because of the plethora of opportunities to expand our reach to many Spanish-speaking communities in other regions, the IGFA decided it was time to translate the course into Spanish. With the IGFA part-time Angling Educator, Cristian Gomez, taking the lead in translating the course content and with the assistance of IGFA Trustee Nassim Joaquin and IGFA Representative Julio Castañeda in ensuring content translations are accurate, the IGFA was able to create Introducción a la Pesca. Thank you to Cristian, Nassim, and Julio for their dedication over the past year in making this possible. We are excited to see the expanded reach of this resource and the feedback that follows, again with the ultimate goal of inspiring them to get outside and try recreational fishing for themselves.

 

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Impacting Anglers of All Ages

With quarterly raffle drawings from our Corporate Partners, including Bass Pro Shops, Zebco, Nomad, and Savage Gear, as incentives to complete the course, completion rates are up 48% in one year! The latest winner of the quarterly incentive project was Luca H., an 11-16 year-old angler from Washington, USA, who completed the course in 2023 and whose mother wrote this testament when he received the rod and reel and lures:

“Luca is very excited, you should have seen him doing cartwheels when he found out. Your course was a requirement from a friend of ours before he even considered taking Luca on his boat. My friend Chris has very high standards - a testament that you are providing high-quality content, which is rare these days. Luca has been catching a lot of fish since then. Thank you so much for the education you provide-so important for our youth-we are grateful!

We later learned a little more about the story between Captain Chris and Luca as they ventured out onto the water once Luca completed the course in 2023.

“One sunny morning, my son decided he was ready to catch something legendary. Our friend with the boat, Captain Chris, smiled, but gave one condition: first, my son had to pass the IGFA fishing course. Challenge accepted.

After learning every knot, fish fact, and rule of respect for the ocean, he earned his certificate and proudly held it high. The next dawn, Captain Chris took us out to sea. But hour after hour, the lines stayed still.

Captain Chris took off his hat, closed his eyes, and began the fisherman dance—a strange, graceful jig that made the waves shimmer as if the ocean recognized the steps. My son jumped in, mimicking the moves, laughing the whole time. Then, as if on cue, the rods bent fiercely. Fish struck in every direction!

The biggest salmon of the day nearly pulled my son overboard, but together they reeled it in, breathless and triumphant. Captain Chris winked. “Told you the sea loves a good dance.”

Ever since, each fishing trip begins the same way—a quick little fisherman dance, a few whispered thanks to the sea, and the magic that always seems to follow.”

 

Congratulations Luca! Continue learning every day and getting out there. We hope the rod, reel, and lures you won help you bend more rods and land more fish!

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Expanding Access to Fishing Education

One international student suggested that we consider incorporating a hands-on training component for the Intro to Fishing course. This would allow participants in areas with access to seas, lakes, or rivers to gain practical experience under the guidance of a local club or organization, and that would greatly enhance the learning experience and provide invaluable practical knowledge. This is already underway through the combination of the Intro to Fishing course and the IGFA Passports to Fishing program. The IGFA has distributed more than 200 educational toolkits since its launch in 2019, the same year the Intro to Fishing course was released, to 50 countries and has become a major contributor to achieving our Education Initiatives and our latest milestone of teaching more than 250,000 youth to fish around the world.

 

Many recipients of these kits have utilized the Intro to Fishing course, simply as that, an introduction to fishing. They then utilize the Passports to Fishing toolkit to go beyond, incorporating practical hands-on activities into their virtual learning. Others go further, taking students to the water, either land-based or out on boats, like IGFA Representative Sally Kurz in California, USA, who works with Sycamore Junior High School (JHS) to teach the basics in the classroom and take them out on the water every year. “Thanks to all our efforts, we are making a difference teaching these young people to respect our ocean resources and enjoy fishing,” exclaims Sally as she informed the IGFA Headquarters that Sycamore JHS already had 30 students enrolled in the program again for this school year, students who will greatly benefit from the translation of the course into Spanish.

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More Resources on the Horizon

The IGFA continues to work on developing online resources and keeping them accessible to communities worldwide. With the recent onboarding of a new Online Education Specialist, Alexis D’Azevedo, within the IGFA Education team, we are working hard to complete resources that have been years in the making. The next resource expected to launch in April is an online training resource dedicated to Fishing National Public Lands, as the IGFA has traveled to various National Park Service sites across the country, hosting Learn-to-Fish events and filming various content for online needs under a grant provided by the National Park Foundation.

This resource will go into more detail about how to fish different bodies of water, how to remain safe out there while recreating outdoors, and will go more in-depth on various topics like natural and artificial baits, knot tying, and ethical angling practices. Beyond that, our plans extend to online resources focused on fly fishing education and advanced sportfishing topics appealing to anglers of all ages, interests, and experience levels. Whether it’s filming macroinvertebrates with Roaring Fork Conservancy to learn about why we choose the flies targeting trout on fly or fishing various techniques on Lake Superior with IGFA Captain Jim Labeske, who proudly displays his certificate for completing the Intro to Fishing course back in 2020, targeting lake trout and walleye to offshore kite fishing for sailfish and dolphinfish capturing content for the IGFA’s School of Sportfishing classes, the camera will always be on capturing these moments for us to educate other anglers who would like to pursue these adventures too.

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Fishing is more than just a recreational hobby. It is a gateway to fun outdoor adventures, whether the fish are biting or not, causing you to dance a jig. It is a unique tool to take environmental education and aquatic biology from the classroom to the water. And it is a means of fostering a lifelong appreciation for the game fish we revere and the places they call home. Whether you are a parent looking to introduce your child to fishing or for a way to inspire them to get them back outside, a captain of a charter looking to advance your novice client’s knowledge, an educator seeking engaging environmental curriculum, or an individual eager to learn more even if you’ve caught a fish before, the IGFA’s Online Angling Education resources are the perfect tools to help educate and inspire you on your next adventure and please stay tuned as we work hard to build more.          

“I just think it's great that there is a dedicated organization and staff devoted to the protection, preservation, and education of the great sport of fishing!”

~ Don M. from South Carolina, USA

For more information about the Intro to Fishing course and more, visit https://igfa.org/learning-modules/.