WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:01.969 --> 00:00:05.540 The way I always say it man, growing up on the beach and fishing, when I'm on the water 00:00:05.540 --> 00:00:06.569 I didn't have to worry about home. 00:00:06.569 --> 00:00:08.580 I didn't have to worry about issues. 00:00:08.580 --> 00:00:10.630 It clears your mind, you know, being on the water. 00:00:10.630 --> 00:00:12.670 It's just so much clarity, it's like at peace. 00:00:12.670 --> 00:00:14.850 It's some therapy that money can't buy. 00:00:14.850 --> 00:00:20.189 There's just something about being out in the elements man that do it for fishing. 00:00:20.189 --> 00:00:23.419 Hello I'm Kevin Brannon, founder of the Reel Guppy Outdoor Program 00:00:23.420 --> 00:00:27.300 here in Port Hueneme, California, coolest place on the planet. 00:00:29.810 --> 00:00:35.020 By 5th grade I got from living with my aunt and uncle, my mom got out of drug rehab, 00:00:35.030 --> 00:00:37.460 my brother got out of YA, so we're kinda almost like a family again. 00:00:37.460 --> 00:00:40.960 You know my dad overdosed when I was six, my brother's dad's doing life in prison. 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:44.280 So that's just kind of way we grew up. You kind of learned how to adapt to it. 00:00:44.280 --> 00:00:46.980 By the time I moved out of my mom's house at 15 years old, 00:00:46.990 --> 00:00:49.170 I wasn't gonna live on a motel room floor any longer 00:00:49.170 --> 00:00:50.440 and she was living in here with my brother. 00:00:50.440 --> 00:00:53.800 15 years old, I think I just had about enough of that at that age. 00:00:53.800 --> 00:00:55.430 I just always knew there was something more for me to do, 00:00:55.430 --> 00:00:57.970 something bigger for me to do, inside I knew that 00:00:57.970 --> 00:01:00.960 and I just been I've been living that grind ever since. 00:01:04.360 --> 00:01:06.320 I've loved fishing my whole life. 00:01:06.330 --> 00:01:07.520 Next to my house is a creek; 00:01:07.520 --> 00:01:09.671 the brown barrels behind the motel that we 00:01:09.671 --> 00:01:12.390 used to fish in for crawdad and carp and stuff like that 00:01:12.390 --> 00:01:14.710 That's how I started fishing out here about seven years old, 00:01:14.710 --> 00:01:19.440 out on the Port Hueneme pier using a drop line with a hook I found on the floor and 00:01:19.440 --> 00:01:22.960 a little piece of bait out of the filet sink and start fishing and 00:01:22.960 --> 00:01:25.880 they just kind of escalated from there. 00:01:25.880 --> 00:01:29.240 The Reel Guppy Program is a program that I started here locally knowing that 00:01:29.240 --> 00:01:32.920 our neighborhood needed something positive for kids to do, something free 00:01:32.920 --> 00:01:34.300 in our own backyard, in our community, 00:01:34.300 --> 00:01:37.280 a way to show kids and expose them to the outdoors and fishing 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:39.780 that they might not normally get an opportunity to do. 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:43.700 It's a way to teach them about the ecosystem, about being stewards, 00:01:43.700 --> 00:01:45.159 most of these kids don't even go to the beach 00:01:45.159 --> 00:01:49.420 and without our Guppy program a lot of them wouldn't get this kind of exposure to adventure. 00:01:49.420 --> 00:01:53.619 Where we started five years ago before we were a non-profit to where we're at now 00:01:53.619 --> 00:01:57.340 It's definitely grown bigger than we imagined and it's even getting bigger. 00:01:57.340 --> 00:02:00.440 More people caught a memory with us in their first fish than I think anywhere else. 00:02:00.440 --> 00:02:04.590 We've taken over 1600 kids out fishing, catching a memory that lasts them a lifetime 00:02:04.590 --> 00:02:06.760 and also starting new adventures for families. 00:02:08.780 --> 00:02:11.860 The Reel Guppy Outdoor program basically all started with family. 00:02:11.860 --> 00:02:15.480 Dad has this idea that he wants to start a fishing club that takes kids out fishing, 00:02:15.480 --> 00:02:16.910 so started with the kids. 00:02:16.910 --> 00:02:19.660 All my kids started fishing at a young age, working on fishing boats 00:02:19.660 --> 00:02:22.460 as soon as they could come out and walk and and come out with Dad, 00:02:22.460 --> 00:02:24.380 they were on the boat, all my kids. 00:02:24.380 --> 00:02:25.380 And it's a family organization. 00:02:25.380 --> 00:02:28.601 All these kids come out and give back and they're part of the Guppy program 00:02:28.601 --> 00:02:32.550 so they get a chance to learn about being volunteers through again their dad's vision 00:02:32.550 --> 00:02:36.470 and it's it's heartwarming you know my kids have been in it gung-ho since the 00:02:36.470 --> 00:02:38.700 beginning and I could see them now getting older taking 00:02:38.700 --> 00:02:42.530 part and the things that they do leading by example and getting hands-on and 00:02:42.530 --> 00:02:44.440 helping out more because of what we instilled with them at 00:02:44.440 --> 00:02:46.670 a young age as far as what our jobs are here on Earth 00:02:46.670 --> 00:02:51.360 is to help and give back so by them seeing their father give them true 00:02:51.360 --> 00:02:54.200 testimony to what one's vision and dream can bring 00:02:54.200 --> 00:02:56.640 and letting them be a part of it I think it's great you can ask for something 00:02:56.640 --> 00:02:58.130 better than that. 00:02:58.130 --> 00:03:02.040 And they work for hugs so you know that keeps the cost down. 00:03:04.050 --> 00:03:09.200 Fishing does have different things that it teaches you besides just catching a fish 00:03:09.200 --> 00:03:13.970 and it's proven so we're teaching these kids to fish so they can eat forever and ever 00:03:13.970 --> 00:03:19.069 and teach their kids how to fish so fishing, it's not just about catching a big 00:03:19.069 --> 00:03:20.840 trophy fish you can put on the wall. 00:03:20.840 --> 00:03:22.920 It's about learning some of life's lessons as well. 00:03:24.200 --> 00:03:27.560 Part of Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary is again the wildlife. 00:03:27.560 --> 00:03:29.500 When we take the kids into the channel and 00:03:29.500 --> 00:03:31.680 you can see dolphins coming around the boat 00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:34.340 the kids get a chance to see dolphins riding the waves 00:03:34.340 --> 00:03:35.970 and again getting to experience that to see 00:03:35.970 --> 00:03:38.569 this with their own eyes and to hear them jumping up and down on the 00:03:38.569 --> 00:03:43.220 boat excited to see this makes even our volunteers get teary-eyed. 00:03:43.220 --> 00:03:47.640 Our program is educating the kids on how all this stuff works – healthy ecosystems, 00:03:47.640 --> 00:03:51.650 stewardship, how we all play our part and again exposing them to this nine miles 00:03:51.650 --> 00:03:54.200 off in their own backyard in Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. 00:03:54.200 --> 00:03:57.240 It’s just it's wonderful. 00:03:58.420 --> 00:04:01.100 Living my dream every day with my family what 00:04:01.110 --> 00:04:03.629 I love to do fishing for our industry, teaching people 00:04:03.629 --> 00:04:05.670 about the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. 00:04:05.670 --> 00:04:08.140 I get to do everything that I want to do I'm like a big kid. 00:04:08.140 --> 00:04:10.860 I get to share that with my kids and then they'll share with their kids 00:04:10.860 --> 00:04:12.709 and that's basically what fishing’s all about right?