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How serious are you about fishing? Serious enough to plunk down $1,000 for three days of on-the-water instruction from three top pros?

During late July, 14 people (13 guys and one gal) did just that, learning from the likes of walleye professionals Mark Martin, Mark Brumbaugh and Mike Gofron.

And the students did not fish from the pros' boats — those attending the school were expected to trailer their own boats to Michigan's Grand River and supply all their own tackle.

"The idea of the school was to have the students learn to be proficient catching walleyes using their own equipment," said Martin. "So for two days, the other pros and I continuously hopped from boat to boat, looking over the students' shoulders and instructing them in the nuances of everything from jigging, live-bait-rigging and trolling to basics, such as boat control."

On day three of the school, students had a chance to take the controls of one of the pro's boats, experiencing what it's like to fish with all the latest equipment. Donna Lodoen of Vicksburg, Mich., was the only woman attending the school.

"It was just great. Awesome — worth every penny," she said. "There was definitely a lot of information to absorb and techniques to learn, but the pros were very patient and the other guys attending the school were all helpful and friendly, too."

Lodoen was surprised by the age make-up of the students: Middle-aged herself, she was anticipating mostly younger fishermen to attend the school, but most were her age or older.

"I'd do it again, and I'd recommend the school to other serious walleye anglers, or those wanting to be," she said.

Jim Richards of Okemos, Mich., had similar positive impressions of the school. "Just being around the pros for three days and watching how they approach various fishing situations was helpful," he said.

"And I was surprised at how laid back, relaxed, patient and down-to-earth they were. At times, I'm sure the pros were tempted to take the rod out of our hands and show us how they would do it, but they didn't. They made us learn the various techniques for ourselves."

As a parting shot for the school, the pros offered their services to the students in the future. "We are willing to give advice on fishing questions, potential equipment purchases and even have you pre-fish with us for a day before an upcoming tournament," Mark Martin told the students.

"Just shoot us an email with your questions. Your learning doesn't need to stop when you leave here."

Jim Richards summed up the experience, saying, "That kind of access and opportunity with the pros is invaluable to me. In my opinion, they more than went out of their way to make us feel comfortable, help us learn and become better anglers. It was worth the money." This is the first time walleye pros Martin, Brumbaugh and Gofron have held an open-water school, but they are already planning to offer it again in 2009.

If hard-water walleye fishing is more your style, the same trio conducts a three-day, annual ice-fishing school during February on Saginaw Bay of Lake Huron.

But you don't have to be a serious walleye chaser or put down $1,000 to attend fish school — there are species-specific courses in various price ranges available all over the country.

What you have to decide as you do your homework is what finny critter you're most interested in pursuing, and how much time and money you're willing to spend. (Keep in mind some schools are strictly online or classroom only, while others are held on the water; many are a combination.)

One West Coast school is Salmon University, owned by Tom Nelson. A previous charter-fishing captain originally from Seattle, Nelson now lives and fishes from Washington's Kitsap Peninsula. He also fishes the Washington and British Columbia coats, and has made several trips to Alaska, making him well-qualified to teach.

"Salmon University, the Web site has been around for five years or so, but I've been teaching salmon-fishing classes for 25 years at community colleges, continuing education programs, and sport shows up and down the West Coast," Nelson said. "I've had more than 6,000 people go through the classes."

A spinoff of Salmon University is Steelhead University, operated by Terry Wiest, who provides steelhead fishing instruction both online and in formal classroom settings.

"In 2004, many people attending Salmon University started asking for similar fishing information and instruction about steelheading," Wiest said. "In looking back on it now, that makes sense, as most of the anglers who fish for salmon in the Pacific Northwest also fish for steelhead. They usually fish salmon during the summer months and steelhead in the winter."

Fish go to school, and maybe you should, too. It's guaranteed to be more fun than your high school algebra class. And as a bonus, you'll catch more fish.

W. H. "Chip" Gross is a professional outdoors writer/photographer and walleye enthusiast from Fredericktown, Ohio. For more information about him, visit his Web site, www.chipgross.com.