Next week, I’ll have an exciting announcement regarding Casting Across and a partnership with a premier fly fishing organization. I’m looking forward to this opportunity, but I’m waiting for all the ducks (trout?) to get in a row before I come out with it.
That being said, I will say that it has to do with fly fishing, conservation, and the next generation. So, to prepare myself and you for next week’s article, I thought I would share three pieces from the archives that exist within a similar topical sphere.
How do you create an avid angler and conservationist? Wire it into them at a young age. I had the blessing of being in an amazing angling location, having a best friend that fly fished, and attending the premier coldwater conservation summer program. Here, I recount some of the formative moments and concepts that made me the fly fisherman that I am today.
Tomorrow’s Conservationists: The TU Teen Summit
Last year I spoke with Franklin Tate, director of the Trout Unlimited Headwaters Youth Program, about the national education, service, and fishing program that attracts students from across the country. The TU Teen Summit gleans the best and brightest students from the 20+ TU camps in the USA, and gives them an opportunity of a lifetime to learn and fish. These are tomorrow’s leaders, and they are being given a great head start.
So I might not have been the best or brightest when I attended a TU camp (many, many moons ago). However, I did have a lot of fun. And a lot of that has to do with the genuine character of the men and women that invested in my peers and me. One of them just happened to be half of the duo who started this whole Trout Unlimited youth thing. While the classroom and stream time was important, the relationships were vital. That was what made it stick.
***
So check back in next week for the announcement. If you haven’t subscribed, do so in the right hand sidebar to make sure you get word as soon as the article goes live.