Fishing camp passes down knowledge and experience

Captain R.C. Gilliland began fishing with his father Gary Gilliland at about 3 years old and never looked back.

“I had my dad tell me how to run the coffee pot, so I could wake him up easier in the morning, so we could go fish,” he said.

For close to a decade, he has been the owner of Sarasota Fishing Camp, and in the summers, enjoys sharing the knowledge and experience he gained from his father with other young people. 

“With technology and video games and all sorts of stuff, it’s very important for the kids to go outside and see what else is out there,” he said. 

He hopes kids will come away appreciating the details of fishing, like how factors such as the tides or the time of year can change the prime locations for catching fish. 

"Paying attention to the smaller stuff is definitely what makes the biggest difference, I would say,” he said.

Campers target snook, trout and redfish, sometimes also catching other fish like small tarpon snapper, grouper, barracuda or small sharks. 

He said although some days have been a little slow lately, the summer has been "very successful" and campers can sometimes come away "a little spoiled" by the experience. 

Registration is available for the camp’s upcoming July 29 to Aug. 2 session.