Ron Wong Legacy Foundation
All Female and Youth Brushpile Fishing Academy
March 26-28, 2026
Holmes Bend Marina
Green River Lake
The 2026 Focus Event of the Ron Wong Legacy Foundation will be the All Female and Youth Brushpile Fishing Academy. Youth participants must be at least 14 years of age at the time of the academy. As far as we are aware, this is the first fishing academy that has specifically been offered for women and youth. Fundraising is currently underway for this focus event. We anticipate offering scholarships to all participants to offset the registration fee for the academy. Participants must register for the academy; scholarships will be awarded to the participants during the actual event. The scholarship amounts will be determined by the success of the fundraising between now and the event in March 2026.
A Brushpile Fishing Academy is an environment where fishing meets fellowship and fun. Tuition covers meals, lodging, and an astronomical amount of both on and off-water instruction. Over the course of three days, participants will learn from some of the most well-known names in the crappie fishing industry. Additionally, participants will receive a ton of top-of-the-line products from all the sponsors who make the academies possible.
Not only do academy instructors take the time in the classroom to break down different techniques which they have perfected throughout years of fishing all over the United States,attendees have the opportunity each day to put their knowledge to the test on the water. Weather depending, Thursday and Friday are split days with a half-day spent in classroom followed by ahalf-day on water, whereas Saturday consists of a full day on water with two different instructors. In other words, participants get quality on-the-water time with four different instructors over the course of three days. This opportunity isn’t available anywhere other than a Brushpile Fishing Academy, a setting in which attendees have the opportunity to learn and practice what may or may not be a new technique of fishing.
The experience doesn’t stop at catching the fish however. Instructors are more than willing to take the lesson one step further in demonstrating proper fish cleaning, and then, of course, the experience comes full circle with the community fish fry where folks get to chow down on some truly tasty eats including the fish caught by attendees paired with the famous Ron Wong hush puppies. If the harvest is overly abundant, there may even be an opportunity for attendees to snag a bag of fillets to take home for a family fish fry.
Most folks sign up because they want to learn how to be better fishermen; however, all the academy alumni would testify that learning different fishing techniques is truly only a fraction of the takeaway. The fellowship discovered at the academy is what keeps alumni coming back as perpetual students. Not only are there opportunities to rub shoulders with some of the best crappie fishermen in the industry; there are opportunities to create quality friendships that last a lifetime.
Registration is open for the All Female and Youth Brushpile Fishing Academy. For questions regarding the academy, please contact Buz Meyer by phone at (256) 490-5289 or by email at pmeyer1@nktelco.com.