Donna K. Frantz doesn’t just love to fish. She really, really loves to fish.
“I’d rather fish than breathe,” she says.
It’s a passion she’s had since childhood. And over the years, she has done every type of fishing except one: flyfishing, which she is now learning. Following her retirement from a diverse and interesting career, she decided to go into business for herself, and there was never any question what the focus of that business would be.
In January 2021, she launched Fishing 101, which allows her to share her expertise with the young, the old and everyone in between. She offers private lessons, summer camps, fishing fun at every type of party imaginable and classes for the public, veterans’ groups, senior citizens, students at the vo-tech and college levels and more.
“I have 25 different topics I can teach,” Frantz said. “I can teach one. I can teach two. I can teach 20. When I do the boat show in Jacksonville, I’ll teach 100 kids each day for two days.”
As its name implies, Fishing 101 teaches the basics. It gives beginners the information they need to get started. And, yes, there is a lot to know, but Frantz always begins with perhaps the most critical component.
“The first class I teach in any series is about the rules and regulations of fishing,” she told her class recently at River House in St. Augustine. “If you don’t know the rules and regulations, you’ll get into trouble.”
It’s important to keep up with these, because they change. Saltwater fishing regulations are published every six months, freshwater regulations annually.
In addition to her classes, Frantz announces regular open fishing dates in email blasts to anyone who has asked to be put on her list. These are opportunities to learn from her while fishing from a pier or shoreline.
After all, fishing local waters throughout her life, Frantz would know where and when to find the best fishing.
The cost of these two-hour outings actually varies according to the number of anglers who participate.
Frantz supplies all the bait and equipment.
For those who decide to take the next step and buy their own gear, Frantz will go along to make sure they get what they need and not come back with the most expensive — and unnecessary — pole in the shop.
A Varied Career
Frantz grew up in the vicinity of the St. Augustine Lighthouse. As a child, she spent every available summer day fishing from the lighthouse pier with a bunch of neighborhood kids.
In those days, the young anglers would stop by Jake’s Bait Shop and get shrimp from the vat out front.
“We would go in there and get our bait, and we would go, ‘Hey, Jake, we got a dozen today!’” Frantz recalled. “We had an open tab. Our parents would go on Saturday and pay our tab.”
At the end of the day, the children would take their catch home for their mothers to prepare for dinner.
Frantz’s parents ran a day care center in St. Johns County for 35 years. Frantz worked there for a while, but after graduating from St. Augustine High School — the only public high school in the county at the time — she joined the military.
She served in the Florida Army National Guard for the next 20 years, eventually being promoted to lieutenant colonel when she retired.
She next went to work for the county.
“For two-and-a-half years, I gave all the kids in the county their driving tests,” she said.
She eventually worked in the Personnel department and then Parks and Recreation. Her final post was helping to run the gift shop at the St. Johns County Ocean & Fishing Pier.
She’s a life member of the Ancient City Game Fish Association and serves as the point of contact for all county offshore reefs and their placements. She also founded an annual fishing tournament that supports Pink Up The Pace to help those facing breast cancer.
Learn more
Frantz keeps her classes lively and fun, often using games to reinforce information. As with the River House group, she generally allows the class to select the topics they want to study.
“You always pretty much remember the first fish you caught,” she told her class. “And I want to be the person to help you make that memory.”
To learn more about Fishing 101, go to fishing101staug.com or email Frantz at fishingparty101@gmail.com.
