By Barry Engelhardt

Jasper County senior Ian Fehrenbacher connects strongly to the land, especially Newton Lake. He shares that his family once farmed seven hundred acres of farmland, including part of the land that would become Newton Lake. With such a strong connection, it isn’t surprising that his competitive spirit manifests through fishing. “I’ve been fishing ever since I could walk,” shares Ian.

“Dad had a boat he’d purchased in college sitting in the shed. It hadn’t been out in twenty years. He just asked me one day if I wanted to get the boat out. We fixed it up, put a new battery in it, and that’s the boat that my fishing partner, Lain, now runs. He bought my old boat.”

Ian shares that years ago, he fished with his father at the Rob Street Memorial, and while I’m not sure whether he intended it as a pun, he says he was hooked. Ian says that Newton competes in five tournaments hosted on Newton Lake yearly. The Rob Street Memorial Tournament brings ninety-plus students onto the lake, with the tournament doubling as an IHSA Sectional event.

“It’s fun to get out there, just to fish for fun. But there’s also something about competition, especially the high school team. You want to do good when fishing against your peers—especially me and Lain. Everyone in high school knows we like to fish. We’ve got a little target on our back, so I do a lot of pre-fishing, a lot of homework, even on those home lake tournaments,” says Ian.

While Ian maintains a home lake advantage competing for Jasper County, he shares that you still must do the work. “We have a lot of history of the lake so that we can fish off history a bit, but you also have to look at the day-to-day, pay attention to current temperatures, things like that.”

When not fishing for Jasper County, Ian competes across the state through ICAST and across the country through Major League Fishing (IMF’s) high school division. He shares that his commitment to fishing, especially the travel required, has forced him to narrow his focus to one sport.

He’s in touch with Wabash Valley’s fishing coach and hopes he can attend Wabash Valley on a fishing scholarship. Eventually, he hopes to land a trade job, such as a heavy equipment operator working through a union. He currently spends his summers pouring concrete for Smith Henry Construction. He’d also love to stay in the area to continue to help on the family farm.

While Ian quickly admits that he’d rather be on a lake than in a classroom, he finds great enjoyment in gaining real-life experience at the intersection of Agriculture and business. He says he has two classes that focus on creating small businesses; one focused on fire pits and the other building displays in front of stores. He’s the acting CEO in one class and loves to learn by doing, gaining functional, real-world experience. Like in his fishing tournaments, enjoyment and success come from doing the homework.