Trout Unlimited holds annual youth camp

by Greg Seubert Harlon Meade is only 16 years old, but he’s already a seasoned veteran when it comes to trout fishing. The Antigo High School senior attended Trout Unlimited’s annual youth camp, held Aug. 17-20 in Waupaca and Waushara counties. Linn Beck, president of TU’s Central Wisconsin Chapter, helped organize this year’s event, which was based at Pine Lake Camp near Waupaca. “Wisconsin Trout Unlimited started the youth camp in 2014,” he said. “We try to bring in 20 kids each year, boys and girls ages 12-16. Then, we have our volunteers come in fall all over the state and join us. We pair each youth with an adult mentor and teach them every aspect of fishing: spin fishing, fly fishing, bait fishing. We do knot tying and fly tying. We do safety instruction, like what to do if you fall in the water.” Meade attended the camp four years ago as a 12-year-old and returned this year as a youth mentor. “This is my third year and I love this camp,” he said. “I was starting to get into trout fishing. I knew some of the local TU guys and they were talking about the camp. They said they would sponsor me to go there.” TU chapters around the state sponsor campers, according to Beck. “Every youth that comes is sponsored by one of our chapters,” he said. “Some local chapters don’t have enough funding, but we have other chapters that more than happy to pick up the cost of that youth to come to camp.” “I wanted to get into tying flies and there are so many great people here with a bunch of knowledge to talk to,” Meade said. “A big thing was I learned about the opportunities of Trout Unlimited and what it has to offer us. There’s so much information just waiting for everyone.” Beck said most of the campers have fished before. “There’s usually about 70% that have done at least one type of fishing,” he said. “We’ll have kids stronger in fly fishing, others stronger in bait fishing. We take the kids and develop what they want to do. We don’t force anything on them. We let them which way they want to fish. We make them use the skills we taught them.” Campers fished on the Waupaca River at Riverside Park in Waupaca on Aug. 18 and returned to Waupaca the following day to fish the river at Rotary Riverview Park. Campers are also matched up with a mentor. This year’s group included Levi Traucht, 12, of Jackson. He attended the camp with his dad, Ben, who mentored another angler. “I’ve learned a lot about bugs and fly tying,” Traucht said. “I didn’t know that much to begin with because I just got started. My mentor’s name is Bill and he’s a really nice guy. He’s taught me some techniques about fly casting and fly tying. He’s really helpful.” Traucht’s biggest trout is a 20-inch rainbow he caught on a family vacation in Missouri. “I like fishing in general, but trout are high on my list,” he said. “They’re harder to catch and it’s more challenging.” The camp offers more than fishing. The group spent most of Aug. 19 at Bird Creek Park in Wautoma working on a stream restoration project on Bird Creek. “We have a crew from that DNR that’s going to do a stream shocking,” Beck said. “They’re going to explain why they do it. The DNR has done a lot of work here at this park in the last three or four years making fishing opportunities: cutting down buckthorn and making paths so you can get from one end of the park to the other. Today, they’ll give a lot of tips on the habitat they’ve created, why they created it. Trout Unlimited’s mission is to protect, conserve and reconnect coldwater fisheries. All of this habitat work is really to develop and keep the water cool and fresh for trout because trout need colder water to survive.” “We get to work on streams and get other kids into this,” Meade said. “Even though the little kids just want to fish, they really like seeing the shocking. That’s important because they get to see the fish and where they’re living. Right now, we’re faced with an older generation that is part of Trout Unlimited, but we don’t have this new generation at all. There has to be someone there.” Beck said the camp is beneficial to participants, mentors and volunteers. “Too many times, kids go out by themselves and they’re not taught the right way,” he said. “When we bring everything together on Sunday morning, we take them out, them and their guide. They’ll do everything they learned from tying a lure or a fly on the line to learning how to fish that particular bait. It makes their next adventure safe and effective.”