Mike Clifford

You forgot to mention the raffle! Yep.......we give stuff away like crazy for just a few dollars on tickets!

Thanks, Craig! I'll be certain to get an email blast out about this and help promote participation. The ISA has a long history of outstanding service at this event. I'm so very proud to see it continue with your exemplary efforts!

What an amazing thread here. Enjoying every minute of it......

I strive to be a master griller and would have killed to learn from the Chef. That looks awesome. The clean-up photos are golden. You have no idea how timely that is for us in our conservation portfolio. Many thanks to all!!

These future stewards of the outdoors need to be coddled and mentored or we won't have any stewards of the outdoors. The STK motto of "Take It Outside!" is appropriate in so many ways in this day of video games and hand-held devices.So many people come up to me at this event and say "I can't believe you guys do all of this for free! We'd pay just to be here!" It's not free in any sense of the word. This is why organizations raise money the rest of the year... to promote a great cause!

I watched a kid who never fished before in his life catch 10 fish today. What an amazing experience, once again.

Despite the challenge of searing temperatures today, 9 ISA volunteers stepped up to the plate and pulled it off once again. Pictures don't do justice to the efforts of these individuals. Fly-casting instruction, knot tying, a special kiddie section and the casting field were run with a precision unlike any I've ever seen. These folks were here a couple hours before the event's official opening and you could see the excitement on their faces as nearly 300 kids were lining up at the registration tent. The most memorable quote I heard from among them was "We got this! Bring 'em on!" The people you are about to see in this video don't simply hand a child a fishing rod and step back. This is "mentoring" like you've never seen. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Awesome, John! Thanks!

THANKS! I'll be bringing 8 extra rods and a bag of bobbers. One year we had access to some hula hoops. For whatever reason, the targets couldn't be tracked down. I'd like to come up with alternate targets along with the vinyl ones. Any ideas? We'll be doing this "in the round" again to accommodate 3 shifts of 100 kids, so I'm game for something unique to try. Also, I assume the orange cones are with the kit? I'll bring some bigger ones again to separate casting lanes.

Used to catch chubs in the river and cut the heads off for the really big flatheads. Be sure to use a hook big enough to go through the head AND leaving enough left to impale the cat in the mouth. Lost a 28 lb'er by not following that advice. My buddy got her the next night in the same spot. Go figure.

So, it looks like myself, Rich, John L, Eugene, Pat, Mark, Jim W, Stan, Mitchell......could use a few more with everything going on!

Does anybody have a banner in their possession that we can set up? Thanks!! The weather is supposed to be fantastic! Looking forward to seeing all of you on Saturday. Rich- I'll be bringing more rods, so we'll be better equipped for all those kids.

An unprecedented success for this program has caused us to close registration 3 weeks in advance of the event. Sgt. Tommy's Kids Fishing Day hit the mark of 300 registered kids as of last night. That's what the event is built for and is what we planned for. JULY 18th at Herrick Lake. I need your help in the casting field!! PLEASE reply or email, text, or whatever! mikeclifford2@gmail.com 773-771-9042

YEP!!

This is an amazing project, and my hat's off to Quinn for his dedication! I've spoken to those in charge of facilitating these funds several times, and I'm looking forward to a really bright future for these fisheries. Thanks for sharing this, Dan!

Thanks, Bart! Can you put the specifics in the new calendar posting? Here's hoping for spectacular conditions!

On Saturday, July 18th, the ISA will be contributing once again to the Sgt. Tommy's Kids Family Fishing Day with our infamous Casting Field. Anybody that is willing and able to help in this regard (both spinning and fly-casting), please contact me so I can organize in advance. It's our 9th year of participation, with over 1,700 kids getting mentored and taking home a rod and reel from this event alone. As the ISA is concerned, we've mentored over 100,000 kids in the sport of fishing and casting. An impressive number, thanks to all of you!! Reply here or email me if you'd care to take part in this event. mikeclifford2@gmail.com

Thanks, Ed. The Cast and Compare is what I need photos for.

If anyone has a few awesome photos from past events, please post them here in a reply. Need a good one to promote this event. THANKS!

Recently bought an Abu Garcia Orra S30 and found a nice St. Croix spinning rod to pair with it. Had intentions of using it for topwaters (33 inches per turn), but it's inaugural outing included 8 hours of casting at a tournament. Was extremely satisfied with it's performance on countdown cranks and spinnerbaits.

My upcoming article actually does describe several grants. I'll be posting more here as the information is available and compiled. Thanks for all your support, Dick!! We do get a fair number of grant requests each and every year, and money is almost never an issue. If it is tightly focused toward the tenets of our mission statement, it gets our financial support. The ISA Grant page on our website is pretty explicit about what we are looking for. There are instances where we provide for other things that would fall under several tenets like "Education" or "Enhancing" that are not considered "grants", but contribute to the future of our sport. For the most part though, we like to see "smallmouth habitat" as a main focus.

Always enjoy seeing the progress of our grants sent out as a result of our members' generosity and commitment towards stream conservation! Mike- We will begin project as soon as soil conditions are dry and semi - trucks can get back to project site and dump rock along river and contractor can place rip rap. The attached shows 100 tons of rip rap will be placed along the river bank. Thank you and ISA. -Terry Hannan Photo/Map of area where work is to be done.... https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bzfjyy0xIYXZcFY0OFNrOUxRNWk4MHRkS0VoUU10RWZhdVlB/view?usp=sharing Quote of material costs...... https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bzfjyy0xIYXZNlRiRkNHY3RveUFzNWoyUVJaS1lMQUFaVDBF/view?usp=sharing

HA!! "Other than that, what did you think of the play, Mrs. Lincoln?"

Do you guys realize what Tom would demand for an appearance? Not anywhere near what we can pay. Loved the video, BTW. Don't care much for some of his reporting of the news, but appreciate his devotion to conservation.

The video on the FB page is classic. The guy with his kids loading rocks into the little transporter. What the hell are they doing?? LOL. The commenters talking about the guy doing it for "flood control". Wow.