ARROYO FLY FISHERS TAKES OFF WITH HELP MINER, CONEJO VALLEY CLUB DONATE TO HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAM.

Byline: Bill Becher Special to the Daily News

Conejo Valley Fly Fishers president Eric Miner wanted to do something this holiday season besides asking Santa for a new fly rod. He'd received a newsletter from the Arroyo Fly Fishers, an equipment-strapped fly fishing club at a high school in El Monte and decided to ask his fellow club members in Thousand Oaks to chip in to support the students.

The Conejo club brought fly rods, waders, wading shoes and other equipment to their annual Christmas party and passed the hat for cash contributions. Miner and several other club members delivered the donations to the Arroyo Fly Fishers club's advisor, where they learned more about this unique program.

The Arroyo Fly Fishers is the brainchild of Frank Kuhn, a science teacher for 30 years. It's his attempt to provide an interest and outlet for students at Arroyo High School in El Monte, where three-quarters of the students are on the federally funded lunch program. The city was rated as the third-worst in the nation in which to rear a child.

Kuhn, who also coached wrestling for seven years, says the program grew out of the interest students showed when he was tying flies in the back of his classroom during lunch breaks. He runs the club like a sports program, meaning it takes a lot of time. The club runs all year. He accepts about 30 to 50 students, including seven girls this year. They start off in the fall learning to tie flies, then progress to building a fly rod, and are fishing by spring.

The program has official backing from the school but no money. Funds for the program come from Kuhn, who contributes several thousand dollars out of his own pocket, and from fishing clubs around the country. Tackle manufacturers like Scientific Anglers and Cortland supply some equipment.

Kuhn says most of the kids in the fly fishing club are high achievers. On trips, he operates with a zero-strikes policy: one problem and you're out. Meeting during lunch breaks and after school, the club is a safe haven for the kids and is the principal extracurricular activity for many.

Kuhn says the fly fishing club and the Trout in the Classroom programs are a platform on which to teach students about science and the environment. His ``hidden agenda'' is to teach kids respect for nature and the need to preserve our water resources.

He takes his club members on fishing trips to the Eastern Sierra, and surf fishing for halibut at Belmont Shores. A trip to the San Gabriel River includes hands-on experience measuring stream flows and checking water quality. Also, Cal State Northridge entomology professor Jim Hogue provides instruction on the bugs trout eat. Up to 10 club members who contribute the most to the club during the year get to go on a week-long fly fishing camp in the summer.

Kuhn says many of his students go on to college. But they come back to visit him on semester break, often on their way to go fishing. It's something he hopes will continue to be their passion the rest of their lives, as it is his.