Learn to Fly-Fish in Shenandoah!

OVERVIEW

Hey hey hey

The club got a ton of new fly-fishing gear this semester, and lots of bugs are starting to hatch with all of this warm weather we’ve been having, so let’s get at it!

If you have no idea what fly-fishing is, check out this cheesy but well-made short video that gives a pretty good taste of what it’s all about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tfIL-HRSBI

I personally think fly-fishing is super cathartic and try to go pretty regularly, but even if you have no plans of making any sort of longer term commitment to the art, I think its a really unique skill to add to your repertoire.

With all of the rain we got early last weekend, streams down in the valley have been filling up quickly, so we’ll be headed up to the mountains in hopes of some more favorable water conditions. And we wont be headed just anywhere up in the mountains, but to President Herbert Hoover’s historic fly-fishing retreat on the Rapidan River in Shenandoah National Park! The cabin served as Hoover’s retreat from the Capital starting in 1929 and has a ton of really cool history you can read more about here: https://www.nps.gov/shen/learn/historyculture/rapidancamp.htm

This trip will be beginner-friendly, but all skill levels are welcome!

Logistics:
We’ll plan to meet at Echols at 8:55am and be on the road by 9:00am. The drive is about an hour, so we should be getting to the parking lot circa 10:00. From there, we’ll hike about 2 miles down to Rapidan Camp and start learning / fishing around 11, fish until we’re ready for lunch probably around 12:30, then keep on fishing until 2 or so. At that point, we’ll break down our fishing rods and hike back up to the car, and we should be getting back to grounds no later than 4pm with plenty of time to get any weekend schoolwork you’ll have done.

*IMPORTANT* – Legally speaking, a freshwater fishing licence that costs $23 annually is required to fish, but that said, I have never been asked to show my license in several years of fishing since I tend to stick to less trafficked areas, so I will not require attendees to have one. I think that it is a great investment and that the funds go to really important conservation efforts if you do choose to invest, but, just know that in the unlikely event that you are asked to show a licence, you assume full responsibility for any fine you may receive for choosing to fish without one.

What you need:
-sturdy shoes and clothes to hike in (you won’t need to get wet)
-packed lunch/ snacks/ 1L+ of water
-fly fishing rod and flies (I can bring for you if needed!)
-clothes to swim in if you feel so inclined
-good tude and eagerness to learn