Acree Outdoors & The Cleanup Crew From Cedar Creek Lake (Local Leader Spotlight)

The Catch Co Local Leaders program is a new initiative that connects our growing community of anglers from the Fishing Free For All Facebook Group to real-world fishing events. We're taking the local approach and working with community ambassadors to help create fun fishing environments where anglers with different backgrounds and skillsets can gather to learn and grow the sport. Justin Acree, aka AcreeOutdoors, facilitated the first gathering: a clean-up event at Cedar Creek Lake, a local lake near his hometown.

Here is more about Justin, the Local Leaders program, and how the event played out.

Catch Co. Local Leader Spotlight

Follow Justin: @acreeoutdoors

Justin is a swimbait enthusiast who has started exploring different types of fishing styles like Tenkara. He's based out of Kentucky but has his fishing roots in Florida. If he's not sharing a new bait he's going to throw at the bass pond, he's sharing a new fish species he caught in a creek and stream. He's open to talking to anyone about anything, which helps people open up about things they deal with and think about when they go fishing.

About Catch Co. Local Leaders

Catch Co. Local Leaders are brand and community service ambassadors that are active and vocal leaders in the fishing community. They are ambitious anglers who come from all walks of life and have a passion for learning, teaching, and mentoring.

In addition to being passionate anglers, community ambassadors are fans of Catch Co.’s products and services. They have a deep understanding of who we are as a company and what we create to entertain and support our customers. Community ambassadors embody our values and above all else, these individuals believe everybody can fish with us!

Ceadar Lake Clean Up

Cedar Creek Lake is a 784-acre reservoir located in Lincoln County, KY. It was created by damming Cedar Creek in late 2002 and filled by 2003. It’s a trophy bass lake and has been ranked 30th in the nation by Field & Stream for Bass Fishing. Over the years, it has unfortunately been littered with trash, the fishing isn’t what it once was, but it’s not too late to turn it back around.

Trash is a huge problem in KY waterways and waterways worldwide, in 2019, a group of 700 volunteers pulled out over 6,500 pounds of trash from the banks of the Kentucky River in a single day, almost 1000 bags of trash from 1 River system! Imagine the impact we could all make if we simply pack out more than we packed in.

At our cleanup, we found 6 pairs of underwear, multiple socks, gloves, diapers, food bags, and most disheartening of all, a ton of fishing lures, line, bobbers, and other fishing supplies. We also found a human skull… a .plastic Halloween decoration, and a brand new machete.

Overall, we had a very successful day cleaning up the beautiful banks of Cedar Creek Lake. The attendees and I were proud to be able to make a difference, even in the chilly winds, cleaning up used diapers, we all had a good time and a lot of laughs. I look forward to being able to better my community as much as I can, and bring more people into the world of fishing and nature conservation.

A Special Thanks To Justin And All Of The Volunteers

Credit to Justin and the volunteers who took time out of their day to pick up someone else's litter. It's not a job anyone wants to do, but their efforts are appreciated and a prime example of how anglers can help make a difference.

More shots from the Cedar Creek Clean-Up: