In 1994, Alberto Rey and Mike Conley attended Sportfishing and Aquatic Resource Educational Programming (S.A.R.E.P.) through the Cornell Cooperative. The seminars provided training for teachers and future instructors who would provide educational conservation experiences to children. Shortly afterwards, S.A.R.E.P. Youth Fly Fishing Program was founded after a grant was received from Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency.  The program has continued to grow over the years as enrollment has steadily increased and the program has provided new services to the community. In 2016, S.A.R.E.P. /4H Youth Fly Fishing Program’s name was changed to Children in the Stream/4H Program.

Children in the Stream is an educational program that provides children with information and experiences related to aquatic resources, conservation, ethics, and fly fishing. Fly fishing has a long history of integrating these elements into the core of the sport. The ethics of the program promotes “catch and release” as well as respect for fellow anglers and the land on which one fishes. It is our goal to protect the species and the land for future generations. Our program closely ties together the importance of understanding nature with the rewarding act of fly fishing.

Children in the Stream is a volunteer organization that relies on the generosity of the fly fishing industry and of public and private donors. It provides programming to middle and high schools students as well as college students at the State University of New York at Fredonia and to community members in the area. Children in the Stream provides workshops to an average of 200 children a year.

Here are the elements of the program:
Weekly Fly Tying and Rod Building Sessions
Monthly Fly Fishing Field Trips
Canadaway Creek Conservation Project
Conservation Days Workshops 
Brook Trout Restoration Project
Children in the Stream Conference: An Interdisciplinary Fly Fishing Conference

For more information on our efforts you can look at this episode by a national television show, Aqua Kids, who documents the Children in the Stream’s Canadaway Creek Conservation Program and Brook Trout Restoration Program.

Here’s are also some recent articles and blogs written about the program and the Children in the Stream Conference;
http://buffalonews.com/2016/11/17/bill-hilts-jr-fly-fishing-program-gets-anglers-ages-involved/
http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/outdoors/will-elliott-helping-fly-fishing-take-flight-20150321
http://www.fishhound.com/blog/bringing-brook-trout-back-great-lakes
http://www.fishhound.com/blog/when-you-live-and-love-fishing-possible
http://www.orvisnews.com/FlyFishing/Children-in-the-Stream-Conference.aspx
http://www.orvisnews.com/FlyFishing/Children-in-the-Stream-Conference-a-Success.aspx
http://www.flyfishergirl.com/

You can also see recent pictures, movies and information from our recent projects in the blog section of this site.

For more information about our home waters, check out our history of Canadaway Creek link.

If you would like more information on the program please contact me here.