WRITING ON THE FLY
By GEORGE LISET
The University of New Hampshire Fly Fishing Club held a free fly casting clinic on the lower field which bordered the UNH student recreation field. It was a beautiful fall afternoon. The leaves were starting to turn and there was a little nip in the air as the sun began to go down.
Club president Chris Chase put out the call to members of the Great Bay Trout Unlimited Chapter to lend a hand.
Chris, who hails from Somers, Conn., is a Marine Biology major. Chris honed his fly fishing skills on the Farmington and Swift Rivers in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Chris refined his skills fishing the rivers and streams of Mount Washington Valley. Chris invited New Hampshire and Maine Guide John McKernan to help lead the clinic. McKernan, who was a longtime Dover, NH public school educator, also teaches the fly fishing course at UNH.
John was a student favorite at Dover High School. John started the Outdoor Pursuits class where he also taught fly fishing. After John fixed my casting he invited me to chaperone the class field trips to the Cocheco River in Dover. I asked John what was wrong with my casting? John mentioned something about “Raw Hide” and wrangling cattle.
There were about fifteen young men and women that came to the clinic. After a brief introduction, those that needed fly rods and reels were given them and small groups spread out around the field to work on the finer art of fly casting. I had a group of three, two young ladies and a young man. Grace is a Biology major from Maryland who was mostly fished for Stripers on the Maryland shore. Teagan is from Chester, NH, and had fly fishing experience. Teagan has fished the Kennebago River in Maine which is a classic fly fishing river. Scott is from Bedford, NH and was eager to learn.
When I started fly fishing, I was trying to teach myself. YouTube was not a thing back in the day, so it was off to the library or bookstores to get info. If there had been a Fly fishing Club in college I would have saved a lot of time and money, and definitely would have caught more and bigger fish.
I asked my group if they knew the right way to join a fly rod. Teagan asked if there was a wrong way. I replied that there probably is not a wrong way, just a better way. Most people start putting their fly rod together from the bottom (butt) up. The better way is to start from the top down. It is easier and it balances better in your hand.
Then I showed them the better way to string up the line on the fly rod. When I first started I tried using the end of the tippet to thread through the guides. The problem with that was that if you let go of the end of the tippet, the line would fall back all the way through the guides and you would have to start again. Then I was shown the correct way which was by taking the fly line above the leader and doubling it over and passing that through the guides which prevented the line from falling all the way back through if you let go.
My group had a lot of fun and sore arms casting. I emphasized patience. I explained to Grace, who was used to bait casting, that casting is like building a house. The bait casters are like the carpenters who frame the house. There is a definite skill required. Fly fishers are like the finish carpenters, a little more patience and time are required.
The afternoon ended with a casting competition for those who wanted to participate. The prize was a new reel. As we were finishing up and putting the equipment away I mentioned to the group that if you learned to fly fish you would never go hungry, but I qualified that by telling them that through my experience, you have to catch a lot of minnows to make a meal.
If you would like to support the UNH Fly fishing Club, you can contact Chris Chase at christopher.chase2unh.edu.
George Liset of Dover is an award-winning outdoor writer and avid fly fisherman who shares insights of his time on the water exploring New Hampshire streams and rivers as well of those around New England. George is a graduate of Wheaton College, Illinois, and the University of New Hampshire. His column Writing on the Fly has been honored by the New England Press Association and the New Hampshire Press Association.