The way I always say it man, growing up on the beach and fishing, when I'm on the water
I didn't have to worry about home.
I didn't have to worry about issues.
It clears your mind, you know, being on the water.
It's just so much clarity, it's like at peace.
It's some therapy that money can't buy.
There's just something about being out in the elements man that do it for fishing.
Hello I'm Kevin Brannon, founder of the Reel Guppy Outdoor Program
here in Port Hueneme, California, coolest place on the planet.
By 5th grade I got from living with my aunt and uncle, my mom got out of drug rehab,
my brother got out of YA, so we're kinda almost like a family again.
You know my dad overdosed when I was six, my brother's dad's doing life in prison.
So that's just kind of way we grew up. You kind of learned how to adapt to it.
By the time I moved out of my mom's house at 15 years old,
I wasn't gonna live on a motel room floor any longer
and she was living in here with my brother.
15 years old, I think I just had about enough of that at that age.
I just always knew there was something more for me to do,
something bigger for me to do, inside I knew that
and I just been I've been living that grind ever since.
I've loved fishing my whole life.
Next to my house is a creek;
the brown barrels behind the motel that we
used to fish in for crawdad and carp and stuff like that
That's how I started fishing out here about seven years old,
out on the Port Hueneme pier using a drop line with a hook I found on the floor and
a little piece of bait out of the filet sink and start fishing and
they just kind of escalated from there.
The Reel Guppy Program is a program that I started here locally knowing that
our neighborhood needed something positive for kids to do, something free
in our own backyard, in our community,
a way to show kids and expose them to the outdoors and fishing
that they might not normally get an opportunity to do.
It's a way to teach them about the ecosystem, about being stewards,
most of these kids don't even go to the beach
and without our Guppy program a lot of them wouldn't get this kind of exposure to adventure.
Where we started five years ago before we were a non-profit to where we're at now
It's definitely grown bigger than we imagined and it's even getting bigger.
More people caught a memory with us in their first fish than I think anywhere else.
We've taken over 1600 kids out fishing, catching a memory that lasts them a lifetime
and also starting new adventures for families.
The Reel Guppy Outdoor program basically all started with family.
Dad has this idea that he wants to start a fishing club that takes kids out fishing,
so started with the kids.
All my kids started fishing at a young age, working on fishing boats
as soon as they could come out and walk and and come out with Dad,
they were on the boat, all my kids.
And it's a family organization.
All these kids come out and give back and they're part of the Guppy program
so they get a chance to learn about being volunteers through again their dad's vision
and it's it's heartwarming you know my kids have been in it gung-ho since the
beginning and I could see them now getting older taking
part and the things that they do leading by example and getting hands-on and
helping out more because of what we instilled with them at
a young age as far as what our jobs are here on Earth
is to help and give back so by them seeing their father give them true
testimony to what one's vision and dream can bring
and letting them be a part of it I think it's great you can ask for something
better than that.
And they work for hugs so you know that keeps the cost down.
Fishing does have different things that it teaches you besides just catching a fish
and it's proven so we're teaching these kids to fish so they can eat forever and ever
and teach their kids how to fish so fishing, it's not just about catching a big
trophy fish you can put on the wall.
It's about learning some of life's lessons as well.
Part of Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary is again the wildlife.
When we take the kids into the channel and
you can see dolphins coming around the boat
the kids get a chance to see dolphins riding the waves
and again getting to experience that to see
this with their own eyes and to hear them jumping up and down on the
boat excited to see this makes even our volunteers get teary-eyed.
Our program is educating the kids on how all this stuff works – healthy ecosystems,
stewardship, how we all play our part and again exposing them to this nine miles
off in their own backyard in Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary.
It’s just it's wonderful.
Living my dream every day with my family what
I love to do fishing for our industry, teaching people
about the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary.
I get to do everything that I want to do I'm like a big kid.
I get to share that with my kids and then they'll share with their kids
and that's basically what fishing’s all about right?