When I started fly fishing with my father, we used a Fenwick “Curt Gowdy Signature” glass rod.  Attached was a Pflueger Medalist reel with level line.  A hand-tied knotted leader and a few wet flies and a smattering of drys for good measure completed our gear.  I started with a pair of rubber hip waders with lug soles.  Lots of wool socks helped keep my feet warm in these boots.  Dad wore a tan vest with a couple of old fly boxes tucked inside.  

In college I bought my first fly rod for myself.  It was the latest technology, a graphite rod.  I also went with a double taper line, which was much superior to the older level line.  I also upgraded my wading apparel to a set of neoprene waders and felt soled boots.  The four millimeter waders helped keep me nice and warm during my winter fishing excursions, but they were awful to wear in the spring and fall when temperatures were not frigid.  In the summers, we would go without the waders and wet-wade the streams.

I always saw what I call the “real fly fishers” on the trout streams of the eastern Appalachian Mountains.  The real fly fishers were a bunch of gray-haired, ill-tempered, curmudgeons who would not hesitate to tell you to “get off my river, out of my hole and go back to the city.”   Most had worn, torn, stained fly fishing vests, old beaten up hats and bamboo rods.  A few had made the switch to glass but none had made the jump to graphite rods.  They were happy fishing the cane or glass rods, level lines, knotted leaders and lots and lots of dry flies.  The rivers of Appalachia are best fished throwing a dry fly due to the prolific hatches in the area.  I was not good at dry fly fishing, so I threw nymphs and streamers.  These men were true artists with a fly rod.  Rarely, when one of them would be leaving the river, they might stop and offer me a dry fly that might actually work, but usually they just scowled at me.  

Also while I was in college, I began to tie my own flies.  My fly tying mentor was a friend of mine working on is Masters at Eastern.  His Bachelors was in Journalism with a minor in Entomology.  Brett was known for his Atlantic salmon flies which many people bought and framed for their offices or homes.  Brett agreed to teach me, but I had to learn his way of tying.  His way consisted of a minimalist approach to tools.  A bobbin, a pair of scissors and a bodkin (actually a sewing needle from a piece goods store) was all he ever used.  I was taught to tie knots and whip finish by hand, and that my scissors will never be set down during a tying session.  I was taught to dub flies first by a dubbing loop and then by applying dubbing directly to the thread to form tighter bodies of flies.  Brett was taught to tie in Europe, so most of the first fly patterns that I learned were European in origin.  

After I had been tying a while, I mentioned that I would like to tie some patterns for local trout.  At the time, I thought this was a terrible mistake because Brett took it upon himself to relay ALL of his undergraduate classes in entomology to me within the course of a summer.  That summer, the majority of our fishing trips turned into on-stream lectures and insect identification.  I think we flipped every rock over in the Daniel Boone National Forrest looking for bugs.  I learned a lot about insects and my fly tying really improved.  

Looking back, I am very grateful for the fly tying instruction with a minimalist approach and for the lessons in entomology.  Fly tying has been a wonderful hobby for me.  Most of the materials we used then were fur and feathers.  Synthetic materials were just gaining popularity.  Today, I have accepted the majority of the synthetics, but most of my patterns still rely on plain old fur and feathers.  I am old enough to remember when you would buy a package of one hundred hooks, at least three or four would not be bent into shape or the eye of the hook was never formed during manufacturing.  The hook making quality control processes have certainly improved over the years.

Another change that I have seen is the increase of women into the sport of fly fishing.  As mentioned earlier, most of the early fly fishers I encountered on the trout streams were men.  The trend has certainly changed and now you are just as likely to see a woman fly fishing anywhere you go.  

The fly fishers of today are almost a part of the jet set club.  Saltwater fly fishing has exploded and fly fishers are traveling to distant locations.  Today, people are fly fishing for exotic species all over the world.  Fresh or saltwater, fly fishers are fishing in places like Mongolia, Midway Island, New Zealand and the Amazon just to name a few.

Fly fishing is prominent on television today with shows dedicated to fly anglers.  My memories of fly fishing on TV consist of the re-runs of American Sportsman on ABC from the 1960’s.  There are fly fishing and fly tying “how to” videos and DVD’s available nowadays, and even several fly tying programs on local public broadcasting stations.

For today’s youth just getting into fly fishing or tying, an exciting new world is open to them.  Rods are being made with Boron and other new materials.  Fly lines are super slick so that they fly far and float high in the water.  Leaders are fluorocarbon and waders are breathable.  More and more young people are discovering this wonderful sport which is a benefit to all who fish.

Coincidentally, glass rods are making a comeback.  A new generation is discovering the older glass rods.  Maybe it is time for me to break out my dad’s old rod and go fishing.  I will see you on the river and I will try not to the old, scowling, gray-haired guy in the future.

- Robert Prytula