NON-PROFIT SPOTLIGHT: Fishing's Future

Fishing’s Future is on a mission to connect youth and family with nature through fishing adventures that strengthen family relationships, build stewardship of the environment, and provide positive outdoor angeling education for families. In 2007, Shane Wilson, a thirty-four-plus-year-old educator, decided to combine his professional training and his love of fishing to help parents reconnect with their children, and a new non-profit organization was born on South Padre Island.

The focus of Fishing’s Future is to teach a family how to fish together and enjoy the excitement of catching fish and spending time together. There is no better activity than to go outside, sit on a bank, and wait for that tug on the end of the line while soaking up the sun, feeling a soft breeze, and spending quality time with loved ones.

From hosting family fish camps and children’s fishing events to running educational programs endorsing ethical practices such as ‘Catch and Release,’ Fishing’s Future has blossomed into a transformative platform. Now, with more than 70 chapters across the United States and Great Britain and over one million participants, Fishing’s Future is setting in motion a tidal wave of change, equipping today’s youth and families to be the stewards of tomorrow’s environment.

In 2022, Fishing Future added another branch to the evergrowing tree that focuses on mobility-disabled individuals and families. The “ICAN” initiative is a 26-foot tri-tune vessel specifically designed to accommodate wheelchairs and medical beds with tie-downs suitable for these apparatuses. The boat also has a unique lift that enables individuals to be lowered and raised in and out of the water so that they can enjoy swimming and playing in the water with their family members.

Fishing’s Future is a non-profit that lives on donations, sponsorships, and grants and does not charge for those attending a family fish camp or other outreach educational programs they sponsor.

Fishing’s Future was recognized as the Nation’s #1 Angling Educational Program, and founder and CEO Shane Wilson has been inducted into the Texas Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame, been recognized on the Senate floor as a “Man who makes a difference,” been recognized by Governor Gregg Abbott, and has been inducted into the Rio Grande Valley Walk of Fame.

For more information about Fishing’s Future or about their “ICAN” initiative, visit www.fishingsfuture.org or e-mail them at ffusa@fishingfuture.org.

2216 PADRE BLVD

SUITE B #26

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, TX 78597 www.fishingsfuture.org