Volunteers are badly needed to assist with upcoming and future Free Kids Fishing Days in the Redding area of Northern California. What better way to help create a positive angling experience for a youngster and their family?  What better way to share and pay forward the passion you have for the sport? It is often said that the future of the sport will soon be in the hands of the youth. What better way to help share, promote and insure that the future will be safe?

Having personally been a volunteer at these events for around 8 years, and there are a number of folks that have been helping for over twenty years, I can tell you that the experiences are very rewarding. I have assisted in many first-time anglers landing their first fish. Their screams of excitement and shouts of joy, along with the smiles that last for hours, make the time spent at the event very worthwhile.  The core group of volunteers, those who have been assisting for years, are becoming fewer and fewer as many are unable to continue, have moved, or have sadly passed on in recent years. A new group is needed to help keep these events successful.

Volunteers are needed to register youngsters and help rig and pass out loaner outfits and baits, while others are needed to assist anglers in baiting, casting, and offering instruction on fighting and landing the fish. I usually have a net, pliers and extra hooks and bobbers at the ready.

It is a great way to spend a day, and I know from families stopping by the store after an event to invest in their own fishing tackle, that these events do have an impact on the future of the sport. I was raised in a fishing family and some do not have that benefit. It is great to be able to share my passion and knowledge of the sport with others.

The next event will be in Viola, just east of Shingletown at the Lassen Pines Camp off Highway 44, on Saturday, May 19. Contact Monty Currier of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife at 530-225-2368 if you are interested in more information. Or, you can just stop by and check out the event that day. I stopped by to write an article and take some pictures at an event eight years ago, stayed, and grabbed a net. I have only missed one event since. Dare to volunteer at one of these events and your life will change forever!

Gary Heffley has been a valued contributor to MyOutdoorBuddy for over 10 years serving as manager, sales representative and reporter for much of Northern California. He is an avid outdoorsman and loves to fish and write about his adventures. He has a long history in the Sporting Goods field and uses that extensive experience to impart his wisdom in his writing.