Take the Bait: The Bass Brigade Leadership Camp for HS students!

Take the Bait: The Bass Brigade Leadership Camp for HS students! Apply NOW!
By Robert Brumbaugh

It will yield a summer experience that will feed an interest that will last a lifetime.

– Lake Havasu

It’s hard to find a camp for high school students that is not just about having fun at an outrageous price. This summer, why not check out the Bass Brigades? It takes you from the basics and beyond!

This camp renders more than you can imagine, and the classroom is the great outdoors (but you do sleep indoors).

This is a wildlife leadership development program for high school students between the ages of 13 and 17. The Bass Brigade is just one of four residential camps: Bobwhite Brigade, Buckskin Brigade, Feathered Forces and Bass Brigade.

Each camp is 5 days of intense, interactive, fun learning from top wildlife and natural resource professionals from around the state of Texas. Subjects covered include everything from biology, ecology and botany, to photography, fishing, angling skills, habitat preservation, communication, critical-thinking and leadership.

The camps are on beautiful private ranches and at environmental camps in different areas of Texas.

The cost is only $300 which includes a polo shirt and cap, great food, a wealth of knowledge and making new friends who enjoy bass fishing. Some partial scholarships may be available.

I found out about the Texas Brigades through the 4-H agent. After looking at the Web site, I decided to apply to the Bass Brigade, and it was one of the best weeks I’ve ever had during a summer.

This program is bass fishing specific, and I learned about anatomy and behavior, nutrition, habitat management for lakes and ponds as well as botany. There were mentors who helped me improve my angling skills. While canoeing, we made observations and learned to take water samples, and there was even a class in photography.
We were placed in groups, and each learning activity was followed by a friendly competition in which your whole team could win really cool prizes. Nobody leaves empty-handed. I won a new rod and reel! Then I won a guided bass fishing trip!

The instructors also reviewed public speaking skills and how to write a news release, as well as handling interviews. Through these activities, I obtained life skills that will help me regardless of my future goals.

The Bass Brigade camp helped me develop leadership skills and taught me that young people can be instrumental in making a change in our communities, our state and in our nation.

We are indeed very fortunate, but we must invest in gaining the knowledge to keep what we have safe and healthy by using that knowledge to educate others to take care of our natural resources, so they will be here for future generations to use and enjoy.

For information and to apply to a camp, visit www.texasbrigades.org or contact Helen Holdsworth at 1-800-TEX-WILD or h-holdsworth@texas-widlife.org .

Applications are online. On the application, tell them you read about it from Robert Brumbaugh.

The Texas Brigades is a 501(c) 3 organization and its partners include Texas Parks and Wildlife, Texas Cooperative Extension, USDA-NRCS, the Texas Wildlife Association and the Mellon Foundation.

– Lake Havasu