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Angler's Profiles
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This is a series of continuing articles introducing RISAA members to the rest of the club. 
This month's profile features JOE ZECCHIN |
Choosing a fishing buddy is a pretty personal thing. After all, you’re
out in a quiet place, maybe a special spot, and it’s just you and your partner
at times. You want someone reliable, maybe someone you can share a laugh
or a story with. So, given all that, would you choose to fish with
a group of ten teenagers, all of whom have been identified as major behavior
problems in school? Joe Zecchin would.“The first time we went, they dropped us off at Lincoln Woods. I was there with one assistant and a cell phone. I was scared witless!” Zecchin recalls. The “fishing buddies” were students from the Northern Rhode Island Collaborative, an alternative school for kids who, for a variety of reasons, can’t cut it in a regular school setting. Joe has spent the last five years there as a special education teacher, often taking students out fishing in the hopes of exposing them to a wholesome hobby. SURVIVING THE MIDLIFE CRISIS
Zecchin came to teaching after what he describes as a “midlife crisis.
I was in my forties, working as a welder and a ship fitter. I realized
that this wasn’t really what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”
Despite having obligations like a family and a mortgage, Joe decided to take
the plunge and returned to school for education. “It was scary for a couple of years,” he says of his work as a full time student. Going to school, generating no income, changing jobs. Still, the worst is behind him, and Joe seems very happy with his choice. The decision to take his students on a fishing trip was born of a memory from his own teenage years. “I had fished for a while with my dad when I was a kid, but I got out of it for a while as a teenager. It was the usual thing, I was off doing other stuff, and I lost interest. After a while, I started to head off in the wrong direction. My buddies and I made some poor choices, and things weren’t getting any better.” Finally, senior year arrived. On a whim, Joe and a friend decided to do some fishing. “We just went out one day. I don’t even remember whether we caught anything, but when I came back, things had changed for me. I began to really reflect on my life and where I was heading.” Joe found that the relaxation of fishing provided him with the peace of mind to sort out his life. It was an experience he has sought to pass on both to his students and his children. SHE GOT GAME
“When my oldest daughter Sonya was about three, I decided to take
her out fishing. I packed up her and all the girls in the neighborhood,
and we all went out to East Greenwich. We had a great time!”
Blessed with three daughters, Joe saw no reason not to involve them in fishing.
Sonya is now grown and is busy with children of her own. Daughter
Vanessa, a recent RIC graduate, still loves fishing with her
dad, and wife Cheryl, though not especially a fishing fan, enjoys
spending time out on the Zecchin’s 23-foot Hydro Sport. Still, it seems
the real fishing champ at the Zecchin house is eight-year-old daughter Emma.“She won a fishing rod at a RISAA meeting a couple of years ago,” says Zecchin. “She started 
going out in the back field and practicing her casting. In no time,
she was casting a hundred feet!” Dad’s pride is obvious as he describes
her prowess. “She’s a natural. Last year she took third place in the
RISAA catch and release tournament. She got 74 scup! The boat
was a bloody mess!” he laughs. “What a great time she had!” IF IT’S NOT FISHING, IT’S ABOUT FISHING
Zecchin’s devotion to his sport has led him to fill his time with other fishing-related
activities. For the last few months, he’s penned a column for the RISAA
newsletter focusing on charter boats. “I like doing that a lot,” Zecchin
says. “It’s fun talking to guys who do that for a living.” Another pastime has sometimes brought mixed reactions from fellow fishermen: Joe occasionally works doing the Marine Recreational Fishing Statistical Survey. “ A lot of people don’t particularly like the idea,” he says. “But the data we get is important to fishing.” Zecchin says sportsmen have expressed doubts about the accuracy of the statistics, since they are based on a relatively small sampling. “You can get amazingly accurate results from a small survey,” Joe says. “I took some statistics courses in college, and you really can get good results.” Nevertheless, some fishermen are openly hostile to the idea of participating in the survey process. More than once, according to Zecchin, charter captains have instructed customers and crew not to talk to him. Even noted captain Frank Blount recently told Zecchin to leave when he attempted to gather information from his boat. Zecchin’s belief in the importance of the data keeps him going out there, despite the occasional prickly reactions. “If it turns out (the data says) we need to take action, let’s do it and protect our natural resources.” PAY IT FORWARD
“Mr. Z”, as he is known at the Collaborative, has organized many fishing
trips since that first one in Lincoln woods. Despite the seeming risks
of taking a tough group of teens out in the woods, Zecchin describes the
kids’ behavior as “outstanding when they’re out there.”“These are kids who need to be out in the community. Without a hobby like fishing, they’re looking at wasting their time playing games in front of the computer screen.” Remembering his own high school experience with fishing, Zecchin hopes some of his students will gain a similar insight to the life choices they’re making while enjoying the sport. “If you take a little kid out fishing, he may or may not stay with it. But if you can get a teenager out there, if it ‘takes’, it will be something he’ll do his whole life long.” |
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ANGLER PROFILES
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