The USA Youth Fly Fishing Team held a successful National tryout and clinic on Fishing Creek at the Sieg Conference Center in Lamar, PA. on May 8 through the 10th with 33 kids in attendance from across the United States.

The members of the traveling team are:
Weston Reynolds, Harrisonburg, VA
Danny Marino, West Cornwall, CT
Matt Rose, Largo, FL
Zach Bearden, Gore, OK
Spenser Miller, Lewistown, PA
Will Travis, Dana Pt., CA
Noah Thompson, Austin, TX
Stephen Salwocki, Danville, PA

The Rest of the Team are:
Robbie Wirth, Moraga, CA
Cody Burgdoff, Lafayette, CO
Peter Sheetz, Mt. Joy, PA
Owen Welch, Lewistown, PA
Kyle Winey, Mifflintown, PA
Nick Denardo, McMurray, PA
Austen Randecker, Mill Hall, PA

Team USA Announces August Tryouts in Montana for the 2010 Team.
The USA Youth Flyfishing Team, Inc will hold the second tryout on the Stillwater River in Montana, August 7, 8, and 9. This will be the first of two tryouts for the 2010 team.

I tend to do a huge trip once or twice per year to cabela's. Other than that, part of taking a fishin' trip to a new location is hitting the local fly shop. It's just something I've always enjoyed. I usually end up grabbing local patterns, plus a leader or two, and maybe a spool of tippet or wheel of shot. In the end, I spend more at the local shops.

Well off to the PaFlyFish Jamboree for the weekend. We are looking forward to a great weekend of friends, sun, fun, bugs and trout. The forecast is Sulphurs, BWO, Light Cahills and chance of a passing storm late Saturday afternoon. All to be expected.

I hope anyone who can make it takes advantage of this opportunity to put a face with the names you see on the board. Every Jam for the past 10 years have been friendly and fun experience.

Hemlock Acres Campground
Sigler-Mainheim Pike
Coburn, PA 16832

Many of us catch and release our fish. Photography is the one way we can return home with those sporting memories. There are so many good quality waterproof digital cameras today and there is no reason you can’t keep one accessible with you while on the stream. A few tips can really help show off that time on the water.

Read Your Manual
Learn your camera and read the manual. Your camera won’t make you a photographer, but has many settings that can help improve your pictures. Learn to move your settings out of the automatic mode and try some of the portrait, landscape or other programs depending on your subject. These settings offer many qualities that improve the lighting and focus of your pictures based on specific conditions.

Check The Lighting
The time and temperature of the light can play a key role in your photography. The early morning and evening light is often regarded as the best time for photography and referred to as the “golden hours.” The sunlight during these times is softer and does not provide the harsh contrast of mid-day shadows. When you are taking a picture of a friend at noon with that ball cap try adding the flash to fill in those shadows.

Have A Subject
We are talking about fly fishing so that includes people, water and fish. If you can get two or more of those subjects in your picture you off to a good start. A picture of a trout in the mud, next to your foot does have all three qualities, but is not going to land your photograph on a trout stamp. When taking a picture of a stream include an angler in action. Also, try moving your subject to one side of the picture or even adjusting your angle of view.

Be Sure To Focus
Nobody should have to question if that was a brown or brook trout in you pictures. Take advantage of the sensors in your camera that allow you to auto focus you shots. Most cameras visualize a...

Tom Skerritt, who starred in Robert Redford's "A River Runs Through It," returns to fly-fishing as the narrator of "Rivers of a Lost Coast." The documentary explores the rise and fall of fly-fishing in California from its inception at the turn of the 20th century to the 1980s, when salmon and steelhead began disappearing from the state's waterways.

The film is being shown in limited venues across the west and is still undetermined if it will be released out East just yet.

Here is the trailer.

On a recent multi day trip I had a chance to see the Boat Buckle Rod Bunk Deluxe in action. This is a great way to transport up to seven rod and reel combinations in your SUV or long bed truck.

There is nothing more important and annoying than taking your rod and reel apart moving from stream to stream during a trip. The Rod Bunk Deluxe was an easy way for use to leave our gear intact and move around on our three-day trip.

It can be quickly set up and taken down as it attaches to your vehicles coat hangers. We ended up using some plastic ties on the coat hangers to secure the snap hooks. The adjustable strap fits into most all trucks and secures your gear down with Velcro straps.

Quick, easy and just darn convenient!

We found ours at Cabela’s for about $30.00.

Author: Bob Bastian
No one really knows when fly fishing first began. It is believed that it existed long ago in ancient times. One of the earliest written references to fly fishing was made by Claudius Aelianus. In 200 AD he wrote of people that were fishing in a river with a hand made fly. He described how they attached red wool and feathers to a hook. The rods they used and the sting attached were each about six feet long. These people were the ancient Macedonians. Throughout history from Aelianus to the present people have been writing about fly fishing, and many thousands of others have been enjoying the sport.

The Princess of Soapwell, English, was an avid fly fisherman. Her name was Dame Juliana Berners and she was a master at her sport. At the time Columbus was searching for the New World, Dame Juliana was publishing an extensive treatise on the art of fly fishing. In her treatise she described the twelve styles of fly and included extensive instructions on how to tie them. She patterns were put into categories by the month that they were used most often.

She also described the rod that was used for fly fishing during that time. It measured about 18 feet long and was very flexible, The rods were made of several different types of wood which added to their flexibility. Their lines were short, by today's standards, and were made of hand braided horse hair. The general rule of the time was that the line should not be longer then the fishing rod. The line was tied to the tip of the pole.

Many fly fishermen of today have used her patterns for the fly. They say they are just as effective today as they were more than five hundred years ago. Several of the more popular patterns include the Black Gnat, the Wooly Worm, the Stonefly and the Whirling Dun.

In the mid 1600's Isaak Walton published his book "Compleat Angler." Throughout history from then on, Izaak...

Results from a Fish & Boat Commission (PFBC) stocked trout cost study (appendices) show that the agency spends approximately $2.17 to produce an average adult trout, an amount less than that charged by commercial trout hatcheries. Overall, the Commission spends approximately $12.4 million per year to provide more than 6 million of the popular game fish, including fingerlings and adults. ...more

With the family in tow, I was already behind on my schedule to get to the grannom hatch on the Little J. When I finally arrived, there were bugs everywhere…every fly fisherman’s dream scenario. The girls were hanging out the sunroof trying to catch as many grannoms as they could. As I got in my waders and went to grab my wading boots, I realized that my felts were no longer attached to my boots and nowhere to be found!!! Even with bugs flying all around, I was not about to wade the wide, strong “J” with a smooth hard plastic sole. So off we went to Spruce Creek Outfitters for a new pair of boots.

With the mental image of all the rising trout I should already be casting to, I made a quick decision to go with the Chota's STL Plus boots. They were expensive, but time was wasting. Back to the stream, on with the boots, and up the trail…

The first thing I realized was that these were very comfortable boots. There was a little WOW! factor when I first put them on. They were very cushy hiking up the path at Barree, but still gave very good support.

The second thing I realized was that these felts seemed to grip better than felts I’ve had in the past. Having arrived at the stream so late, I mentally debated time vs. traction (cleats come unattached and must be screwed into the “Pivot Holes”). In lieu of the added safety, I decided to forgo the addition of the cleats to get on the water quicker – wouldn’t you? The polypropylene felts more than kept me upright…even in heavy water. My only precarious situations came from me tripping over rocks rather than sliding off them. Traction will only improve with the addition of the cleats.

As the rain began to move in and the day drew to an end, I got out of the river to start the hike back to the car. Even wet, the boots were lightweight and did not retain much water. That cushioning kept the long walk comfortable...

John Gooderham gives a short fly-fishing lesson on a section of LeTort Spring, one of the 13 Pennsylvania Designated Scenic Rivers.

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) will hold its spring quarterly meeting on April 20-21 at the Seven Springs Mountain Resort in Champion, Pa.

Commission committees will meet beginning at 8 a.m. on Monday, April 20, and again at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, April 21. Formal consideration of the agenda by the full Commission will begin at approximately 1:15 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21. All committee meetings and the review of the agenda are open to the public and attendance is encouraged.

Many of my first years fly fishing were spent following a few good friends around many of the notable streams in western and central Pennsylvania. Ron, Greg and a few others would take me along and were kind enough to teach me quite a bit along the way. Incursions to Spring Creek, First Fork, Yellow Creek and Oil Creek proved to be very productive. I soon became very fascinated with the sport and realized some of these guys actually knew what they were doing.

As my interest increased I would listen to them explain the importance and characteristics of hatches. Blue Winged Olives (BWO), Red Quills, Sulphurs and Green Drake were much the fan fare to a neophyte like myself. With some experience and a little book work over the winter my fly fishing prowess began to grow.

After a few years I really felt I had mastered this fly fishing thing and truly knew quite a bit about many aspects of fly fishing including hatches. That was so I thought.

One May evening I started to see a hatch take to the air on Penns Creek. With my now vast experience I confidently announced to all that a Sulphur hatch was beginning to take shape. A silence fell over the stream. That in itself was very unusual because peace was usually left back at the side of the road with quiet when I fished with this gang.

Ron then shouted over that this was not an Ephemerella dorothea hatch and wasn’t sure what was coming off the stream just yet. Now it was my turn to pause. Who da whaddity? Ron was a teacher, but it wasn’t science. Ron normally spoke in barley and hops not foreign tongues. Could it be I was I not paying attention to our secret assault plans for the evening when I was filling the cooler with ice?

Greg, the real science teacher, could see I looked a little confused and chided in that there are thousands of different types of mayflies, caddis and stoneflies in the streams and each species had...