FisHW led a lobster fishing trip on the Huntington Beach Pier on March 17. Participants dropped lobster traps and ate a group dinner before fishing off the dock and ending the night by pulling up the traps.

The cost to attend was $10.80 for a license and $5 for bait. The group left the Middle School at 4 p.m. via shuttle and arrived back at midnight.

FisHW Student Leader Ryan Whiteman ’24 said the trip was open to people with any level of fishing experience, and he plans to organize more in the future.

“Most people that went haven’t fished more than two times before, so anyone can join if they have interest,” Whiteman said. “Hopefully in either a month or two, we intend on renting a party boat and doing a trip out in the same area for sea fishing instead of just fishing off of a pier.”

FisHW member Mark Ma ’24 said fishing is a great activity for making friends and relaxing.

Whiteman said while he had limited fishing experience before FisHW Faculty Advisor Aaron Martin approached him about the club, Martin’s excitement about fishing inspired Whiteman to relaunch FisHW and open up the fishing trip to a larger group.

“I was working the lights and sound for a show with [Martin],” Whiteman said. “If you speak with him you’ll see he’s super enthusiastic about fishing. We came together with the idea of booting it back up.”

Martin said he has fished his whole life, beginning in Wisconsin with his dad. He said fishing is more enjoyable when it is done with other people as opposed to doing it alone.

“I find that fishing is a sense of community,” Martin said. “Something we hope to capture in this trip is to not only go out there and try and get lobster and learn how to catch the mackerel and do the things off the pier together, but also to gain that sense of camaraderie.”

Ma said the Huntington Beach Pier is brimming with sea life to catch and he is looking forward to the variety of fish that will be available to catch on the Newport trip FishHW is planning for later in the year.

“We mainly focused on halibut, mackerel and lobsters, but fishermen have said that catching small sharks may also be probable,” Ma said. “We’re currently looking towards another trip in Newport Beach, where we will go on fishing boats into the deep ocean and hopefully reel in some beautiful fish.”

Martin said they were very excited to catch lobster, as the season is just about nearing its end.

“The season closes March 22, which is why we got in the trip now or we’d probably wait out the weather a little,” Martin said. “The spiny lobsters are found all over the rocky shores at night when the water warms, so whoever pulled up the tank with the lobsters in them got to take their findings home in the cooler.”

Whiteman said although he is not the most experienced fisherman, he hopes that outings like this one will improve his abilities.

“I don’t have the biggest background in fishing,” Whiteman said. “I’ve been a few times, but I am not an avid fisherman by any means. Martin is really passionate about it, though, and inspired me to work with him to organize this trip.”