(located on Sagehen Creek about 10 miles north of Truckee, California) for the first annual Sierra Trout Camp. “This is the most accessible and technical youth fly fishing camp in California,” says David Lass, TU’s northern California field manager. “The camp provides students with hands-on experience fly tying and fly fishing, and creates awareness, appreciation and understanding of the importance of our nation’s aquatic resources with an emphasis on conservation, protection and restoration of coldwater ecosystems.”

Participants also learned about stream ecology, cutthroat trout restoration, stream physics and chemistry, fishing etiquette and aquatic entomology – with time set aside for hiking and swimming. The annual camp is the result of a strong partnership between Trout Unlimited, UC Berkeley Sagehen Creek Field Station and the California School of Fly Fishing -- one of the oldest and most respected fly fishing schools in the world. Special thanks to Smith Optics, Suncloud Optics, Hendricks Outdoors, LL Bean and Truckee River

Outfitters

for sponsoring the camp, and to Kevin Mather, JJ Plank, Dave Stanely, Dan LeCount, Mike Caltagirone, Kate Blubaugh, Haley Cutter, Ralph Cutter and Lisa Cutter of the Sac-Sierra, Truckee River, Sagebrush and Feather River Chapters of TU for generously volunteering their time and expertise. The Sierra Trout Camp not only provides kids with a fun, adventurous and informative weekend, but helps ensure we have a new generation of “complete anglers” to carry on a critically important legacy of protecting and restoring wild trout, salmon, steelhead and their watersheds.