‘Scholarship fish’ elude students

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UNITY – All but two of the 100 specially tagged fish in Lake Winnecook laid low Sunday.

The two that didn’t and decided to bite on an angler’s lure did not deliver the grand prize.

In the first such promotional event, Unity College was host of a Fishing for Scholarships contest Sunday in which students “angled” to win four years of free tuition, and a host of other cash scholarships and donated prizes.

Earlier this month, with the help of the state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, 100 fish were electrically stunned, captured and tagged.

College spokeswoman Kathy Jo King said several fish were caught by locals during the week and released, but most were hook-shy on Sunday, even though 106 students were in pursuit.

The anglers took to the waters at 9 a.m., but just one had caught a fish bearing a tag by the time the contest ended at 4 p.m.

Actually, Mike Bradford caught two tagged fish. The numbers matched a free sea kayaking tour donated by a local business, and a $50 tuition voucher.

Sunday evening, college officials drew raffle tickets for all but the big-ticket scholarships, and awarded $1,000 scholarships to Matthew Schofield of Coventry, Conn., and Matthew Gileau of Rocky Hill, Conn.; both are incoming freshmen.

Even though the big prize eluded hooks, students, their families and friends seemed to judge the event a success.

The rules required that only students fish, using lures, but friends and family could row the hand-powered-only boats.

Event organizer Joe Saltalamachia, the college’s assistant admissions director, counted about 80 boats at the launch – canoes, kayaks, rowboats and even rubber rafts.

Saltalamachia, who conceived of the event, hoped it would garner the small, environmental college media attention, foster community among new and old students, and bring family members to the campus.

By those standards, it was a success.

Including family members, about 250 participated, he said.

Colleen Corey, 18, a sophomore from White Creek, N.Y., fished from the front of a canoe paddled by her father, Gordon Corey. She never had fished before, but was hopeful. “Everybody keeps saying, ‘beginner’s luck,’ but I don’t know,” she said.

Corey used a fishing pole that had been her late uncle’s, a serious bass fisherman who suffered a fatal heart attack while fishing.

Despite an early downpour, both she and her father seemed to be having fun.

“Even if you don’t get anything, you get out” on the lake, he said, while she added, “It’s great to catch up with people.”

Glenn Lucas, 17, an incoming freshman from Bridgewater, N.H., also relied on his father for paddle power. Lucas fished from the bow of a cedar-strip canoe father and son had built.

By midmorning, Lucas already had caught a bass, a yellow perch and a shiner, but none bore tags.

Lucas appeared to be serious about fishing, using a lure designed to mimic a wounded fish. Before trying another spot, he studied a map of the lake, showing its depths.

He was having fun, and said he wouldn’t be disappointed if he didn’t catch a tagged fish.

“Just Dad will be disappointed,” his father chimed in, joking.

“It’s good camaraderie,” he added. “You get to meet nice people.”

Meghan Bursey, an incoming freshman from Voluntown, Conn., fished from her kayak, which tended to limit the strength of her casts, she said.

Still, she had one or two fish “hits,” though she confessed, “they could have been the bottom.”

Her father, Charles Bursey, enjoyed the event, his first visit to Unity. He, his wife and their son stayed in the dormitory Saturday night.

“The kids were sharing fishing tips,” he said.

Not everyone pursued fish. The college also offered a “geo-caching” event, in which students used GPS devices to locate boxes containing tags – some matched to prizes – around the campus.

Coming into the admissions office to take shelter from pouring rain, Brian St. Laurent, an incoming freshman from Athol, Mass., said he was having fun.

“It’s great,” he said. “I love it. There’s nothing like trying to find money.”