My Journey with Fly Fishing

I was 12 years old when my father bought me my first fly rod. It was a 6-weight, Orvis Clearwater Streamline rod set up, with bright yellow line. I immediately began watching YouTube videos on casting and presentation techniques and educated myself about the art of fly fishing.

I am from a town where many kids fished with bait and lures, but close to none fly fished or even new what fly fishing was all about. When I got my fly rod, I immediately dropped bait fishing and solely focused on fly fishing. In my opinion, it was the purest form of any kind of fishing.

In the seventh grade, I joined Trout Unlimited because I wanted to get more involved in the conservation of our waters. I was really impressed with the leadership of TU and I got to know Jeff Yates, TU's Director of National Operations, and Tony Hill, Mianus Chapter President. They taught me that by just making small, local efforts to make our rivers and streams healthier, we are making a big difference. I learned that fly fishing is more than catching a 25 inch rainbow trout on a size 22 Blue Winged Olive, it's about sustaining our warm and cold water fisheries so that future generations will have the opportunity for superb fly fishing, in excellent conditions.

As I got more involved in TU, I learned about a TU intern, Ben Wood, who devoted his time and energy to many of the important conservation projects for the Mianus TU chapter. After reading an article about him in the TU newsletter, I learned that he had recently passed away at the age of 23, and there was a fund set up in his name that would support the work he started in the conservation to restore our local rivers. It’s called the Bennet Wood Stewardship Fund. Ben inspired me to carry on his efforts and I immediately signed up for my first TU river clean up.

After expanding my knowledge of fly fishing through TU, I wanted to share my passion with others. I decided to create a camp and teach other kids about fly fishing as well as about the importance of conservation. I called it the Rocky Point Fly Fishing Camp. I held my first camp with a handful of kids from my area a couple of summers ago and taught them how to cast, tie flies, all about the gear and equipment, where to fly fish locally, and everything else they needed to know in order to succeed while out on the water. With the money I made from these camp sessions, I donated 50 percent to the Bennet Wood Stewardship, and the other 50 percent to Save the Sound.

A second camp session left me with the feeling that I wanted to do more. I wanted to make a deeper impact on my community and decided to reach out to organizations with kids that don't typically get the chance to fly fish. My idea was to use the previous camp's proceeds to purchase four Orvis Practicasters to use at the Boys and Girls Club for casting lessons and to teach them all about fly fishing. I partnered with the Stamford Boys and Girls Club, Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Westchester, and Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Southern Connecticut. I visited these chapters and presented Fly Fishing 101—an overview of what fly fishing is, the gear, the casts, showed some cool fly fishing videos. I also did a fly tying demonstration. Then, I followed up by taking the group out for a day of instruction out on the water so they could practice casts with a practicaster and then, try casting with a real fly rod. That's how You Can Fly was born.

I loved seeing their enjoyment of being out on the water. The kids were curious about the equipment and were interested in everything from different casting techniques to fly tying demonstrations. It was great to teach both the Big Brother and the Little Brother an activity they could do together on the weekends. One of the best moments was when one of the Little Brothers, named Junior, actually caught his first fish on a fly rod! He was really proud of himself and I’ll never forget how it made me feel to see how excited he was.

Today, I understand that our rivers and streams are all connected, so if you make a positive change to one area, it affects another. Just as when we share our passions with another person, it can make positive changes in their lives as well.

I am grateful to all the directors at these organizations who have allowed me to share my passion for fly fishing with others. Even if they don’t go fly fishing again soon, they now have the basic skills and knowledge to be successful at fly fishing. I am also very grateful to Orvis for donating rods and tippet to my You Can Fly program which made it easier to take larger groups out on the water. Thanks to the Trout Unlimited Teen Summit for the opportunity to expand my knowledge of conservation and become a better leader. Lastly, I am grateful to TU Mianus for giving me the inspiration everyday to share my passion with kids who someday may become the fly fishers we need taking care of our waters. Together, we can teach others to fly!