Let's Talk Recruitment Scouts for sports teams are always on the lookout for new talent to join their team. When a scout finds a new player, that is called recruitment. You can be a scout too! Even though fishing is fun to do on your own, it is always more fun to bring along a friend. If you ask your friends to join you on a fishing trip, you are recruiting them. But what would happen to your favorite team if no one was ever recruited? If there were never new players to join the team? Would it be successful? Probably not, after a while. The same thing is true for fishing. If there are no new anglers to join the sport, it could lose support. The best thing that you can do for sport fishing is to share your love of fishing with someone else. This is called being a mentor. A mentor goes beyond merely introducing someone to the sport of fishing. A mentor takes the time and effort to teach new anglers the basic skills needed to enjoy the activity. After you get new anglers hooked on fishing, then it is time to find new and interesting ways to keep them on the team. And that leads us to retention. 48 Pennsylvania Angler & Boater * September/October 2020 www.fishandboat.comhttp://www.fishandboat.com