TAKE A KID FISHING. PLEASE!!

When I was a young man my dad took me fishing or hunting all the time. I now know how much he worked back then and how much of an effort it took for him to do that. So I am forever grateful that he made that effort. Being in the outdoors every weekend was the best medicine for whatever was ailing me from my week of school or little league baseball. It allowed me to recognize and appreciate what our good Lord had created for us to enjoy. And it provided a way for me to grow and gain confidence in who I was as I grew into a man. The hours, days and weeks that we spent in the woods together could never be replaced by books or T.V. And the value of the memories we created in the outdoors is unmeasurable and everlasting.

So as sportsmen it is incumbent on us to pass along our love of the outdoors to the kids of today. In fact if we don't then the outdoors as we know it will no longer exist. Progress and development will strip us of our green spaces and clean water to fish in. I know progress is something that we can't stop. And as our population grows and cities expand, we have to make room for more housing and development. But we have to do so in a strategic way and protect what our parents turned over to us to watch over. But our time as stewards of the Earth and her environment will eventually end. And it is the kids of today that we must pass the baton to and encourage them to do the same. Like everything else these days, the environment and the natural beauty outdoors is being highly politicized. And I don't want to get into any of that today. But there are some things that both sides can agree on. And on those things we must move forward and do so fast. I think we can all agree that the climate is changing. And it has been for the life of our planet. It does not matter if those changes are man caused, or what God had planned from the very beginning. Either way the great outdoors will be different if we don't protect it and leave it better than we found it. Better than the way it was handed over to us. There are a lot of things that we can't change. But we can't sit back and let that affect our actions of today and tomorrow. One thing I know for sure is that politicians will argue and fight over what is the best way to handle these problems. Because that's what politicians are good at. And they will try to divide us and keep us from moving forward together. But we can't let that happen. Our beautiful planet can't wait for them to come to an agreement. We need to all make a difference anyway that we can. When I was a kid, I was taught to pick up my trash behind me. unfortunately, now that's no longer enough. We must pick up our neighbor's trash behind them. That's what we've let happen in our time as stewards.

But perhaps the most important thing that us anglers can do is to take a kid outdoors and show them the beauty that surrounds them. And show them how much fun they can have with a fishing rod in their hands. If we can replace the video game joystick with a fly rod then hopefully they will understand the value in protecting our great outdoors. It's not enough to talk to them about the value of nature. Or show them articles about how fragile our environment is. We have to immerse them in it and be their escort as they experience it. My generation has done a poor job of protecting the outdoors and ensuring that it's there for our children. So now it will be their sweat and dollars that will have to save it from the politicians and developers. So the next time you go hiking or fishing PLEASE consider taking a child along. Even if that child is not yours. You never know how a few hours outdoors might affect the life of a kid. Maybe the life of a kid that grows into the Governor who signs the bill to create a state park on the site that your dad took you fishing when you caught your first fish.