2014 camp essay contest -- runner-up Andrew C

Andrew C is our runner-up this year.  We really appreciated how well he wove his personal stories with the need for conservation work everywhere.  In response to our standard questions, he says "I went to the Tri-State Conservation and fishing camp, in Virginia at graves mountain lodge.  I am in the Jefferson Chapter, my favorite stream is the Rapidan River in Va, and my favorite thing about being outside and fishing is being with my dog, and how peaceful it is."

---

TROUT UNLIMITED CAMP IS . . .

by Andrew C.

Until a couple of years ago, I had only fished a couple times at the lake by my grandmother’s house. When I started a new school in sixth grade, two of my new friends were avid fishermen. After hearing them talk about fishing, I purchased my own rod and reel and hit the water. I live near a river with a fairly good smallmouth bass population, so that is where I started. What I did not know at the time is that bass are not very active in the winter, making them hard to catch. Despite my attempts, I did not catch anything for months. There are no fishermen in my family and no one around to help me, but I kept fishing. After several months of cold fishing outings, I did it. I caught a sunfish. I thought I was ready for the Bass Master Classic! I was so happy and felt so fulfilled. This was about two years ago, and ever since then I have been hooked on fishing.

I think my parents realized I was going to need some help if I was going to get better at fishing, so for my birthday I was given a guided fly fishing trip on a local trout river. It was one of the most fun days of my life. Soon, I purchased my first fly rod and started casting in my yard.  Slowly and painstakingly, I started getting better. Through a series of YouTube videos and many, many books, I continued to improve. In the summer, I found myself back at my grandmother’s lake.

We had been at the lake for a couple of days and I had caught nothing. Then, I decided to grab my fly rod, tie on a yellow bass bug, and go out at night. It was awesome! I caught fish after fish and did not go in until the mosquitos were so bad I could not stand it. Ever since that night, I’ve loved fly fishing.

Fly fishing is challenging enough that it’s not boring, and it’s more fun than anything else I do. Before I went to TU camp, fishing was just about having fun. I loved catching trout and tying flies. I thought that the rivers, and the fish, were there for my enjoyment. Since going to TU Camp, I realize that the rivers are about a whole lot more than me. They are there for what they give to the habitat around them and for the fish that swim in them. Those rivers were there for thousands of years before me, and they will be there for thousands after me. So, in one way, my fishing in these rivers is very insignificant in the grand scheme of things. But, in another way, my actions can affect these rivers forever. These rivers that we love have been here for longer than we have and if we do not harm them, they could be here forever. It shocks me that the rivers, and all wilderness for that matter, have been there for so long, but it only takes humans a few years to destroy them.

Before TU camp, I did not even think about things like this, and I did not think about how it had happened in my own backyard.  My house used to have a dense forest of trees behind it full of deer, squirrels and many other critters. Then, in just a month, it was all gone. Construction workers had come and clear cut the whole forest, leveled the ground, and left something that more resembles Mars than what was there before. Although this was not a river, it showed me how fragile the wilderness is, and how easily we can destroy it.
One of my favorite parts of TU camp was hearing from speakers about the importance of conservation and what we can do to help. When one speaker came and talked to us about his job restoring streams that had been almost completely destroyed, I realized that I could do something like this when I grow up. After hearing TU workers, park rangers, biologists and outdoor writers talk about the many different things they do and the many ways they help our cold water fisheries, I realized I might want to do something like that, too. It really struck me how many different things there are that can endanger our rivers, from abandoned mines to plastic bottles. We, as humans, need to change our reckless habits. I also learned that I could even volunteering to help out now! Since I have gotten home from camp, I have contacted local TU chapters and planned my volunteer work.

During camp, one of the older counselors taught me how to tie some of the classic old English streamer patterns. Just hearing his stories about what the rivers were like in his childhood, and how they have changed, really put all of what I was learning at camp into perspective for me. Among many things, TU camp taught me to respect the environment.