Fish in The Water
story: Jon Lewisphotos: Bret Christensen
Shasta Trinity Fly Fishers
By its nature, fly fishing is a solo sport. It’s one angler pitting his or her casting and fly-tying skills against a trout that can be maddeningly discriminating at times. It’s a quiet, contemplative, timeless contest that anglers live for.
Get a couple of fly fishers together, however, and they’ll quickly make up for lost time, swapping stories, sharing tips, comparing flies and talking about the ones that got away.
Dick Recchia, president of the Shasta Trinity Fly Fishers, is looking forward to that scenario unfolding on Saturday, October 8, when his club presents the second annual Tri-County Fly Fishing Fair at Redding’s Caldwell Park.
Some 300 attended the first Fly Fishing Fair, and Recchia says his group is expecting more than 500 this year. The free event, scheduled for 8:30 am to 2:30 pm, will feature everything related to fly fishing, including demonstrations and workshops on entomology, casting, tying flies and building rods.
And that’s just the beginning. The more than 30 exhibitors will include the Department of Fish and Game; Casting for Recovery (a program offering fly fishing retreats to breast cancer survivors); wildlife artists like Redding’s Dave Allred and Robert Jensen; The Fly Shop; fishing lodges; and boat manufacturers.
Anglers not attracted by the vendors, displays and workshops are sure to come sniffing around the huge swap-and-sell area where they can choose from tackle, flies, rods, line, nets, waders and everything else associated with fly fishing.
Recchia has one more ace up his sleeve when it comes to predicting success for the fair: “This is the heart of Northern California fly fishing,” he says. “Hat Creek, the upper Sac, the Trinity for steelhead, Fall River, Baum Lake… within two hours drive of Redding, you have some of the best fly fishing in California.”
The Shasta Trinity Fly Fishers has 208 members and Recchia expects another 30 to 40 will sign up at the fair. Recchia hopes the club continues to attract younger members—even those whose parents may not be interested in fishing.
Recchia says the club is starting a junior program for fly tying and offers scholarships for kids to attend The Fly Shop’s five-day fish camp in Siskiyou County. “We’re expanding our program to provide them with opportunities. A lot of them come back and have nobody to take them fishing. The focus at the fly fair is to show them that they don’t need parents who fly fish to get involved.”
Earl Johnston, a 20-year member of the club, gets the younger set excited by setting up aquariums in classrooms so kids can watch trout hatch. Once the fish reach an inch in length—usually in about five weeks—the elementary school students release the fish in the Sacramento River.
“The kids really get involved in the program. It’s amazing; at their young age they take a lot of that home with them, about what’s going on in the fish tank. Especially when they start hatching. They’re really inquisitive about life in general. It teaches conservation,” Johnston says.
When he isn’t working with kids, Johnston likes to take part in the club’s “fishouts” that happen two or three times a month. Volunteer “fishmasters” scout out regional waters to learn what the fish are feeding on and then lead the group on an outing.
“It’s a great way to get guys involved in the thing. We try and fish different waters, new lakes and streams. We generally have a lunch if it’s feasible and we’ve always got coffee and donuts to start,” Johnston says.
The club started in 1974 as a small group of mostly retirees who shared a love of fly fishing, and it began to grow in numbers “because of the inclination of residents in this area to be more involved in the outdoors, camping and fishing,” Recchia says. “Once we opened up the opportunity for people to get involved with free casting and tying classes, more and more people got involved and the ages started going down.”
The classes are held at the club’s new classroom on Buenaventura Boulevard, next to the former Bobba Lou’s sandwich shop. Meetings are held on the second Wednesday of the month at the Redding Library.
Recchia, 72, says he started fly fishing when he was 15 “and I’ve enjoyed every second of it.” A native of Detroit, Recchia now makes his home in Palo Cedro on the banks of Cow Creek. He fly fishes for bass in the creek and has had luck with the “Killer Bugger,” a fly developed by club member Jan Hale.
Hale, a retired aerospace engineer who caught the fly fishing bug in the 1990s while living in Southern California, joined the Shasta Trinity Fly Fishers four years ago. She will be tying flies at the fair while her husband, Bill, gives pointers on casting.
An artist and a seamstress, Hale says fly-tying has emerged as her singular obsession. “It’s a total passion. I tie seven days a week. I try to get it at its best. You have to tie a lot until you get to a point where you feel comfortable in what you’re doing. I don’t think I’ll ever stop learning.”
Hale’s days are filled with chartreuse wire, Mercer dubbing, flashback rooster tails, amber wings, grizzly hackles, silks, tinsels and myriad feathers. “I have hundreds and hundreds of recipes for flies. Every person ties different. It’s kind of like a fingerprint,” she says.
Jim Jensen, who retired in San Jose and moved to Redding to be closer to the good fishing, says the fishouts also provide a lot of camaraderie. “It’s fun to go out with people. When you’re done, there are lots of fish stories.” •
