Leo Sheng "Fisherman, College Student, Blogger"
In preparation for this website, a five question interview was sent out to two of my personal friends who fit the idea for a Philadelphia fisherman. These two people are my good friends Leo Sheng and Bryon Lathrop. Leo Sheng recently graduated from Temple University with a Bachelor's degree. During his time there, he would find free time to go fishing whenever possible. This was somewhat of a challenge for him because he worked a part time job as a server while attending classes full time. He tries to go fishing as much as possible. In a short quote, he described how fishing started for him, "My
family was originally from China; however, I was born and raised in Brazil.
Thus, I started my fishing as a kid back in São Paulo, when I was only 8 years
old. My dad would pull me out of bed on weekends and we would spend some good
family time down at the local reservoir." By the time he arrived to America he continued his interest. In the follow up to the previous quote he says, :"Since I came to Philadelphia for my college studies, it was
only natural for me to pursue my hobby here (in the USA). That's how I started
to fish in Philadelphia, back in 2011." He has had a interest in fishing since he was younger.
Leo had an interesting take on fishing as a culture in Philadelphia. He said in the interview, " I believe that incorporating fishing as part of the culture in Philadelphia is definitely a healthy thing to do. As a matter of fact, Philadelphia has a lot to offer when it comes to "Urban Fishing," specially taking in consideration that the Schuylkill River and the Delaware River are both located at its heart. Year after year, more anglers are joining our fishing community and practicing urban fishing in the City of Brotherly Love." Leo writes his own fishing blog called, "Extreme Philly Fishing". In his blog, he details his adventures of fishing around Philadelphia in reports with photos. He offer advice, techniques, and locations for other anglers from Philadelphia to try out while going fishing. He wants to grow the sport of fishing in the city.
Another interesting question I asked Leo is how he approaches fishing. I went for a question worded as, "Do you approach fishing as a double lifestyle?" The question was worded in the way that is fishing more than just fishing to you. The answer Leo gave back was, "Yes, I do. I take fishing very seriously and my passion for the sport is not weak. For example -- I am not only a recreational angler, but also a conservationist and an activist angler. In other words, I am constantly trying to improve the quality of the local angling community, the environment and watersheds that surround us, and the quality of our fishes. Summarizing...fishing takes a good amount of my life time, in a good way." Leo is taking his own take on fishing and shaping for others to enjoy.
Leo had an interesting take on fishing as a culture in Philadelphia. He said in the interview, " I believe that incorporating fishing as part of the culture in Philadelphia is definitely a healthy thing to do. As a matter of fact, Philadelphia has a lot to offer when it comes to "Urban Fishing," specially taking in consideration that the Schuylkill River and the Delaware River are both located at its heart. Year after year, more anglers are joining our fishing community and practicing urban fishing in the City of Brotherly Love." Leo writes his own fishing blog called, "Extreme Philly Fishing". In his blog, he details his adventures of fishing around Philadelphia in reports with photos. He offer advice, techniques, and locations for other anglers from Philadelphia to try out while going fishing. He wants to grow the sport of fishing in the city.
Another interesting question I asked Leo is how he approaches fishing. I went for a question worded as, "Do you approach fishing as a double lifestyle?" The question was worded in the way that is fishing more than just fishing to you. The answer Leo gave back was, "Yes, I do. I take fishing very seriously and my passion for the sport is not weak. For example -- I am not only a recreational angler, but also a conservationist and an activist angler. In other words, I am constantly trying to improve the quality of the local angling community, the environment and watersheds that surround us, and the quality of our fishes. Summarizing...fishing takes a good amount of my life time, in a good way." Leo is taking his own take on fishing and shaping for others to enjoy.
leo_sheng_interview.docx | |
File Size: | 14 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Bryan Lathrop "Fisherman, Photographer, Father"
Bryan took a different path from Leo in regards to his own life. He is a father of two kids and owns his own photography business. He described his lifestyle around fishing in this quote, " I'm self employed, so if I don't work I don't get paid. That said, sometimes I have the flexibility to grab a quick lunchtime fishing session if it's nearby. I'm also a family man, so I can't just disappear to go fishing whenever I want." He further goes on to say, "Which is often. Fortunately, both my kids are interested in fishing, so that helps me both get my fix as well as spend quality time with my kids, and instill appreciation of fishing and the environment." He did not get serious about fishing until 2014 of Memorial Day weekend. He had always loved fishing his entire but around that time is when I got most serious for them.
Bryan has a different outlook on fishing in Philadelphia. He says, "I think fishing as a culture in Philly is similar to just about any other activity about which people are passionate. Since fishing overall is a very popular past time in the US it's bound to draw from a wide spectrum of social strata and also have subgroups within the culture." He then follows this up by saying, ". I've fished along side rich and poor guys in the city, and along side virtually every culture. I dig that. I wish more Philly anglers showed concern for the fisheries that we have here. But more often than not they don't, which is frustrating and maddening. They treat fishing spots like garbage dumps." He loves the idea of fishing with different people from a variety of cultures. However, he does not like how some anglers leave their trash at fishing spots. Bryan would like to a deeper reverence for these fishing spots like he has.
Bryan's take on fishing being more than just fishing is interesting as well. He said in his answer, "If you've got what I call the fishing "virus" you're going to fish no matter where you are, city, suburbs, country side or coast. I've always loved fishing and never really had the chance to fish as often as I wanted to." He continues on by saying, " I was at a friend's place in NH and caught my first game fish (LMB and pickerel) on lures and that changed everything. I brought that excitement (and obsession) back to Philly, and try to wet my lines whenever possible. Whether in Philly proper or the surrounding area. There is definitely good fishing to be had here. Our waterways may not be pristine, but whose waterways are these days. Even if I'm doing dawn patrol on the non-tidal skuke, it still gives me great pleasure being outdoors and taking it all in." Brian's deep passion for fishing came at a later age. He had always loved as stated before but the "virus" he is speaking of didn't happen until 2014. Now, Brian goes fishing as much as possible and he gets to sped time with his kids.
Bryan has a different outlook on fishing in Philadelphia. He says, "I think fishing as a culture in Philly is similar to just about any other activity about which people are passionate. Since fishing overall is a very popular past time in the US it's bound to draw from a wide spectrum of social strata and also have subgroups within the culture." He then follows this up by saying, ". I've fished along side rich and poor guys in the city, and along side virtually every culture. I dig that. I wish more Philly anglers showed concern for the fisheries that we have here. But more often than not they don't, which is frustrating and maddening. They treat fishing spots like garbage dumps." He loves the idea of fishing with different people from a variety of cultures. However, he does not like how some anglers leave their trash at fishing spots. Bryan would like to a deeper reverence for these fishing spots like he has.
Bryan's take on fishing being more than just fishing is interesting as well. He said in his answer, "If you've got what I call the fishing "virus" you're going to fish no matter where you are, city, suburbs, country side or coast. I've always loved fishing and never really had the chance to fish as often as I wanted to." He continues on by saying, " I was at a friend's place in NH and caught my first game fish (LMB and pickerel) on lures and that changed everything. I brought that excitement (and obsession) back to Philly, and try to wet my lines whenever possible. Whether in Philly proper or the surrounding area. There is definitely good fishing to be had here. Our waterways may not be pristine, but whose waterways are these days. Even if I'm doing dawn patrol on the non-tidal skuke, it still gives me great pleasure being outdoors and taking it all in." Brian's deep passion for fishing came at a later age. He had always loved as stated before but the "virus" he is speaking of didn't happen until 2014. Now, Brian goes fishing as much as possible and he gets to sped time with his kids.
bryans_interview_answers.docx | |
File Size: | 17 kb |
File Type: | docx |