There's some bad ones, too. I work at a facility for boys age 10-17, most of whom have been placed there by county juvenile probation departments. The rest are CPS kids who are at-risk.

We took eight who are nearing successful discharge on a camp out to Bob Sandlin State Park. I contacted a couple of TFFers from that area to see if they might come out and speak to the kids. Both of these guys work in fields that have value to what we're trying to impress on the kids.

The first is Heath Taylor, a game warden out of Camp County. He offered to come out Monday evening and speak about what he does, how he became a GW and some of his experiences. After his speech and answering some of the boys questions, he went well beyond the call of duty by volunteering to take the boys fishing the next day in his own boat. He shows up with his own gear, and a bunch of minnows at his own expense, and for about eight hours Tuesday morning, he shuttled out a couple of boys at a time for about two hours each.

They ended up with 54 keepers, and I'm gonna guess TPWD got a better message across than hundreds of dollars worth of flyers they could print up.

Here's Heath up front putting kids on fish:


Here's one of the boys with a bucket full of crappie caught with Heath. The bucket was so full all the fish wouldn't fit in it, so the kid says "I can put some in my pockets." Heath and I got a kick out of that.


Here's the first pile we cleaned yesterday:


Tuesday afternoon, Robert Howell, who runs Crazy Angler Tackle, came out to speak to the kids. Robert also works as a chaplain at some of the prisons in East Texas. Robert shared some of his experiences with the kids to help them see that, unless they become accountable for their actions, there is a path they don't want to go down. He has seen a lot of young men throw away their lives because of bad decisions.

Here's Robert speaking to the kids:


After he spoke, he offered to donate his day's catch to the kids to take back for a fish fry. You'll be glad to know that Heath's efforts took hold, too, because one of the kids quickly asked "Are they all 10 inches?"

From another thread, Robert mentioned pointing me in the right direction on Lake of the Pines. I'll miss the CAT tournament there next month because my daughter has a recital the same day, but I wanted to check out the lake while I was nearby. Here's a couple of nice ones from Monday morning. The biggest went 2.5 pounds:

Thats awesome right there. Kudos to all!!

Nice slabs too!!

Awesome guys! Glad to see so many people trying to help out at risk juveniles.

Great story and y'all are all awesome! I hope the seed planted takes hold!

Kudos to all involved. Nothing better than steering young ones in the right direction. Wish everyone could take the time to do something so beneficial to us all.

Nice to hear something positive for a change !!! Great story !!!

It's a great thing that you are doing there Carl. Glad the Game Warden came to help & what can I say about 'ole Robert "Crazy Angler" except he is one fine feller & a blast to visit & fish with.

Nice job Carl, Robert, and Heath. Kids need more role models like ya'll.

That's incredible Carl! Congrats to you sir and to Heath and Robert. Y'all are doing an amazing job and those kids will never forget it.

Carl, you're going to share those waypoints with me since you're not fishing LOP, right? LOL!

Class act all around, hope those kids learned a few things today about fishin and life.

Couldn't have said it better. You guys have done & are doing a great work.

My wife and I served as houseparents at a home for boys and girls from similar situations and let me say that this is a great things these guys have done for these kids. We had a 2-3 acre pond at the home and me and a few of the boys were regulars there... lots of time and lessons to be taught around the water. Kudos to all who were involved!

great to see and hear people still care, keep up the great work

you dont get much better than heath!he is quality! we are fortunate to have him protecting our wildlife and fisheries!

Great photo's Carl those are some buckets Your holding up there!You always Hope that a word or action stays with these Young Men and changes Their course of travel.It's important for Their future as well as Ours,I could certianly see that You and the other Men had made a major change in these Young Mens lives. I thought it was pretty cool setting out there not 300 yards from Ya'll wacking slabs and They didn't know it,Im glad I haven't lost my stealthness!You doing a great work a task many would never endure,Thank You for Your committment,and yes I believe that they did learn alot yesterday,that was above and beyond they call of duty yesterday by the Warden, I know alot of them and many of them are good Men as well. We must always remember Were not perfect by no means.

P.S. always feel free to give Me a call!