Kicking It Old School BY MARLOWE MOORE FAIRBANKS
The idea is simple. Get kids outdoors & teach them the old-fashioned way—let the older generation lead by example. “It was my grandpa. He noticed my interest in fishing, got me my first rod and reel, taught me to cast. He taught me everything he knew.” Kathy Guindon, PhD, one of the foremost tarpon experts in Florida, grew up in Pennsylvania where the fishing bug bit and bit hard. She moved to North Carolina to study fisheries, eventually following through with a master’s degree in fish ecology from NC State, and then applying her knowledge at a new job concentrating on fish community ecology of Tampa Bay. In Florida’s vast marine environments, Kathy eventually met up with the mighty tarpon, a catch-and-release sport fish, and her scientific and conservation curiosity piqued when a handful of Florida fishermen approached the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) with their concerns that fishing techniques might actually be detrimental to the tarpon.
