It's all sunshine at Reel Weather Youth Fishing Clinic in Greene, NY!

Sunday was a beautiful day for fishing in Upstate NY, and over 30 families came out to participate in my youth fishing clinic. Some anglers were more experienced than others, but none of them lacked any enthusiasm. With my personal weather station on site, we began by first stressing the importance of keeping our parks and waters clean. I wanted everyone to understand how vital it is that we protect our environment so that we can continue to enjoy this great sport for many years. Once children understand that the lakes and rivers and streams are bedrooms and homes to aquatic wildlife, it is easier to establish motivation to keep those areas clean and free of pollution. After that we got right into fish behavior and weather conditions. With my personal weather station on site, I gave very basic information to the entire group about how bass relate to the various weather conditions like sunlight, wind, rain, barometric pressure, and temperature. Once we had covered that and answered some related questions, we broke into two groups based on skill level.

The older, more experienced group was given more detailed instruction about structure, how to locate fish, how to provoke them into biting when they don't appear to be hungry, and how they migrate based on seasonal changes and weather patterns. The one thing I heard repeatedly was "I never knew that, or that it was so scientific!" I showed some of the parents how I use my weather station, what I look for, what information is most important, how I document it, and what my journal entries look like. I showed them ways they can do the same thing and still benefit from the information they get without having to invest the same amount of time, so that they can improve their catches without having to devote hours of research like I have. If all you do is keep a small notebook in your tackle box, and jot down some basic notes, you'll be able to establish patterns that will help you for years to come.

Keep your kids at the lake, and away from video games. You'll be really glad that you did. If anyone has any questions about my weather journal or would like help starting their own, please don't hesitate to email me. I would love to share my knowledge. I'll post a video soon that shows how I do it.

Special thanks to all our sponsors for helping provide free food, gear and apparel: Weather Underground, Citizens Bank in Greene NY, Roma's Pizzeria, Dobyns Rods, Bill Lewis Lures, Shimano Fishing, Cook Park for being such great hosts and allowing us to use the park, Anthony Lorefice for helping out, and to all the parents and family members who took time on their Fourth of July weekend to relax by the water with their kids.

See you next year!