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The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries will launch its exciting new Fishing Course Series aimed at offering ongoing short but informative training sessions throughout the state on a variety of fishing topics that will appeal to both beginner and experienced anglers.

The inaugural offering in the series will be the Intro to Fishing course, which will serve as one of the cornerstone classes of the series. It will focus on efficiently informing both new and rusty anglers alike on simple but versatile techniques for getting started in fishing and give participants the knowledge and experience needed to start fishing on their own.

Schedule for the first three Intro to Fishing courses are:

• August 27^th at the Woodworth Outdoor Education Center in Woodworth
• September 17^th at Laketown Park in Kenner
• September 22^nd at Waddill Wildlife Refuge in Baton Rouge

Each class will be limited to 10 participants 18 & older who will receive an hour of informative, easy-to-understand fishing instruction followed by an hour of actual fishing time with LDWF Fisheries Outreach Biologists. Equipment will be provided, but participants are also encouraged to bring their own gear as well, and all in attendance will take home a package of informative material and starter tackle, courtesy of H&H Lure. Anglers 18 & older must possess a valid recreational fishing license to participate.

The Fishing Course Series will offer an ever-growing number of classes that will provide introductory, intermediate, and advanced level courses specific to many different target species and techniques often used in Louisiana. In addition to regularly occurring Intro to Fishing courses, an Intro to Catfishing will be scheduled later this fall. Several other courses are in development, and LDWF is excited to offer this new resource to Louisiana anglers.

For more information on the Fishing Course Series program, contact Chris Conner at cconner@wlf.la.gov or (318) 487-5336 Or Joshua Porter at jporter@wlf.la.gov or (225) 763-3540.

The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is charged with managing and protecting Louisiana’s abundant natural resources.  For more information, visit us at www.wlf.la.gov, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ldwffb, or follow us on Twitter @LDWF.

The Fishing Course Series is hosted in conjunction with the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Foundation (LAWFF). The LAWFF was formed to help expand and support LDWF education and research programs with additional resources developed through its own facilities. Encouraging support for LDWF programs is the major focus of the Foundation, accomplished by connecting people and businesses with Louisiana’s natural resources. For more information, visit www.lawff.org.

The Fishing Course Series is funded by the Sport Fish Restoration Fund, a USFWS grant program that provides grant funds to the states, the District of Columbia and insular areas fish and wildlife agencies for fishery projects, boating access and aquatic education.