LAPLUME – Northeast PA Fly Girls.
Trout Unlimited.
Casting for Recovery.
These are a few organizations that share a common bond — supporting the art of fly fishing. They came together at the Brooks Theatre of Keystone College on Saturday, Nov. 23 for the Women’s Fly Fishing Film Tour and Expo.
This conference was hosted by the National Trout Unlimited’s Diversity Initiative. Trout Unlimited is a national organization, which focuses on the conservation of coldwater habitat. It promotes recreation in fly fishing and protecting our natural resources. NEPA Fly Girls, a grassroots organization for women interested in fly fishing, is a part of the Pennsylvania Council of Trout Unlimited. “I think it’s important to know what’s out there for us women and to meet another person with the same interests,” said Rosangela Freitas Charlesworth, president of the NEPA Fly Girls.
Another member of the NEPA Fly Girls mentioned how more inclusive fly fishing, a sport that was once male-dominated, than it was before. “Before, it was a small group of women,” she said.
“But because of Rosangela, because of events like this, it’s growing. So the reason for that, some people think, is that sport is not physically limited. A very small person could cast and fly fish the same as someone who’s a bodybuilder. It’s very inclusive.”
Next year, NEPA Fly Girls will do two fishing retreats – one at the Delaware River in May and the other in South Holsten, Tennessee in July. Casting for Recovery was also at the conference. This organization provides an opportunity for women, who have been affected by breast cancer, to gather in a natural setting with women in similar circumstances. Cathy Beck, of Benton, makes a living of fly fishing with her husband Barry. She believes that other types of fishing dwarves fly fishing. “In fly fishing, you are constantly moving and changing flies and looking for fish,” she said. “It’s very different from other types of fishing where you may sit on the bank and wait for something to happen. You’re constantly observing and exploring and moving covering water looking for the next fish. So it keeps your mind busy.”
Cathy and Barry make and use flies that resemble crabs, beetles, mayflies, shrimp, minnows, and crayfish. They are both trip leaders for Frontiers Travel in Pittsburgh. Fly tyer/instructor Jennifer Kakusian, of Vestal, N.Y., demonstrated how to make some of her flies using a rotary vice. She makes a hare’s ear nymph with a here’s mask, red wire, and a pheasants tail feather. This lure imitates scuds, sow bugs, and caddish larvae.
“The secret is red wire,” she shared.
Before a video presentation, former president of PA Council of Trout Unlimited and Rosangela’s husband Charles Charlesworth, dressed as an English nobleman, taught the audience that fly fishing began in 400 years before it came to America. He introduced Dame Juliana Burners, whoied the very first fly used for fishing. Rosangela showed a video presentation called 50/50 on the Water, which revealed that half of the fly fishing population is men and the other half is women.
