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TEACH A BOY TO FISH
And You Feed Him for Generations
This week campers at the Great Smoky Mountain’s Institute at Tremont (Tremont) are packing more than sleeping bags and bug spray, they are bringing reels and rods to participate in Trout Camp. This is the first time Trout Unlimited and Tremont have partnered to teach young men and women the art of fishing, and how to take care of the rivers and streams they use.
The inspiration for this one-of-a-kind program began when Trout Unlimited’s John Thurman sought to teach good fishing practices to young fisherman, but posed this problem: “We know trout, but we don’t know how to put together a camp.” Tremont responded to that problem, and now, young fisherman are learning stream ecology, fly casting, stream physics, and the concepts of “leave-no-trace” in the great fishing resources provided by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Lessons like these are doing more than helping campers learn to fish, they are helping preserve those fishing places for future generations. That is the hope of Tremont Special Programs Director, Jeremy Lloyd. “I want the campers to come away having gotten to know a particular stream deeply, because when we get to know particular places, we save those places” said Lloyd.
Trout Camp is not the only event in the area that has kids interested in fishing; a stream of other activities in the area –spawned by Tennessee’s annual Free Fishing Day, June 11 –had kids casting in Springbrook Park, Fort Loudon and many other public water ways. All part of a movement that just may have kids sold on fishing --hook, line, and sinker!
Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont provides in-depth experiences through education programs that celebrate ecological and cultural diversity, foster stewardship, and nurture appreciation of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Connecting people and nature summarizes our mission, which we accomplish through providing hands-on learning experiences with the National Park, focusing on developing in people a greater sense of place, a deepened appreciation and awe for the diversity of life and people, and an ethics of stewardship that follows them home.
Trout Unlimited (www.tu.org) is a non-profit organization with more 140,000 members nationwide who are dedicated to conserving, protecting and restoring North America’s trout and salmon fisheries and their watersheds.