PREP ANGLING CLUBS: STILL JUST A SMALL SPLASH : BUT PARTICIPANTS FIND SATISFACTION AT END OF A LINE.

Byline: Matt Purdue Special to the Daily News

Jason Gumaer was wrangling with one of those sticky teen-age dilemmas. It had nothing to do with girls, parents or acne. No, this was something really important.

``Our last fishing trip was scheduled for the same day as the academic decathlon,'' said the senior at El Monte's Arroyo High School, a member of that team and the treasurer of the fly-fishing club. ``The adviser said to me, `You aren't considering missing the decathlon, are you?' I was - until the team captain gave me the evil eye.''

Spoken like a true angler.

Gumaer is one of a few dozen area students, including teens at Agoura and Channel Islands high schools, who have gotten hooked on fishing through campus clubs. They are an enthusiastic cadre of beginners and veterans alike in a region where there's ample opportunity. Not only is the Pacific Ocean the local fishin' hole, but trout-filled mountain lakes and streams abound. Yet, prep fishing clubs are almost as rare as salmon in the Los Angeles River.

The reasons for joining are as varied as the members. Some kids have always loved to fish. Some are curious to try a new sport. Some join because their friends fish. Others just want to get out of the house.

For many, angling offers them an important opportunity to bond with each other and nature, even if they appear as outcasts by some of their peers.

Agoura junior Justin Medeiros, who became treasurer of the school's 20-member fishing club when ``no one else volunteered,'' spent a recent lunch period planning the January trip out of Oxnard.

``It's kind of a `togetherness' experience,'' he said. ``All fishermen understand each other,'' especially when no one else does.

Non-anglers have a hard time fathoming such a fraternity.

``People are like, `A who? A what? A fishing club - what's that?' '' said Medeiros, who recently appeared with the club in a photo published in Western Outdoors News.

``Thirty years ago, it was the same way,'' said Agoura angling club adviser Alan Perry, an English teacher who was president of his high school fishing club in San Bernardino. ``People would say, `You're in a fishing club?' and look at you like you had leprosy.''

But so what, says Arroyo's Frank Kuhn, a science teacher who started his school's fly-fishing club last year. Through angling, he has seen kids form ties stronger than 50-pound-test line.

``Special education kids, Asians, Latinos and Caucasians who would just walk by each other in the hallway and not say anything are planning trips together,'' he said. ``When they're fishing, you ask them how it's going and they say, `Just all right.' But on Monday they come to me and say, `When are we going again? When are we going again?' ''

Gumaer had only fished twice before a friend talked him into joining the Arroyo club last year. Now he ties his own flies in an eight-week, after-school class and dangles them on the end of tippets whenever he gets a chance.

One recent morning at King Harbor in Redondo Beach, Gumaer and fellow club members went trolling with their ``bonito magic'' flies and hammered dozens of the feisty, silvery bonies, shouting and laughing with each hookup.

``We see each other at lunch, before school, after school,'' said Gumaer, who plans to continue fishing in college at Oregon State. ``It's a big family.''

Kuhn oversees 19 active members who pay dues of $5 a year, $3 of which goes to fishing conservation groups. Kim Rhode of El Monte, the 17-year-old Olympic trap-shooting gold medalist, is a member, although she usually has ``somewhere more elaborate to go'' than on fishing trips, Kuhn said.

A lifelong angler, Kuhn has arranged to have thousands of dollars worth of tackle donated to his club but last year still had to dig $2,000 out of his own pocket to support the organization.

``When they join, 70 to 80 percent of the kids don't know anything about fishing,'' he added. ``Most of my kids have never been out of state. I say, `We're going to Mammoth.' And they say, `What state is that in?'

``It's kind of like when I was a kid. I loved to fish, but I didn't catch anything for the first six years. A lot of kids just like to go outdoors and be with friends.''

Unfortunately, such opportunities for students in the state are minimal. California is not on par with much of the rest of the country when it comes to youth fishing programs, according to the American Sportfishing Association.

The Alexandra, Va.-based organization's Get Hooked on Fishing Not Drugs project boasts participation from 500 schools and recreation centers in 26 states, yet only one in California.

``We've tried to get California up and running a couple of times but without much success,'' said Joe Starinchak, ASA's national program coordinator.

Ron Sado, an auto shop teacher at Channel Islands High, drew a few incredulous stares last year when he took his 20 fishing-club members out to the football field to practice their casting. His club even competed against Agoura's on one trip.

This year, however, the group has shrunk to nine members who still haven't taken a trip. Sado chalks up the decline to various factors - his busy schedule, fickle students, fishing costs.

Fishing advocates say it is vital to lure prospective anglers to the sport when they're young, and high school clubs provide a promising introduction.

``I really believe the future of the resource is at stake, and we're losing the battle in a big way,'' said Phil Genova, who heads youth programs for the National Federation of Fly Fishers. ``The angling population is aging and we're not filling in the blanks. Once young people get intimately involved with the resource, they have a compelling reason to protect it.''

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3 Photos

Photo: (1-2--color) Not only do the members of the Agoura High School angling club battle with the big one, but they must battle the perception that they are outcasts. Said adviser Alan Perry, an English teacher who was president of his high school fishing club in San Bernardino: ``People would say, `You're in a fishing club?' and look at you like you had leprosy.'' But that's hardly the case for the Arroyo High members, who enjoy their field trips, like this one, left, to Perris Lake.

Evan Yee / Daily News

(3) Members of the Agoura High School fishing club display their catches.

Special to the Daily News