What an awesome week of fly fishing! Not only did these kids learn and hone in on their fly rod casting skills but they caught 9 species of fish! Each day we targeted different fishes on different water.
Everybody started the week-long Fly Fishing Camp by learning how to cast a 5 weight fly rod. Each day we advanced instruction to include shooting line, roll casting, and hauling. We also had daily casting competitions, always with a different goal: distance, accuracy, or technique. Other activities included snorkeling, Tenkara fly fishing, reading water, and of course, fly tying.
Our first fishing adventure was on a pond with self made poppers. Large mouth bass, crappie, and bream were caught by everyone. The second day had us exploring a high elevation stream for southern Appalachian brook trout...which everyone also caught! The next two days we spent on the New River fishing from rafts hammering the smallies, red eyes and sunfish. Our one rainy day was spent on a wild trout stream catching rainbows and browns nymphing with pheasant tails and hare's ears standing in frigid waters taking a beating by the rain. Cold and soaked to the bone, these kids were never discouraged or gave up!
They met the challenge of creating an imitation fly, casting to a specified target and setting the hook on a number of species in different bodies of water.
