Hooked

Just like the smooth cast of a fishing rod on a nice spring day, the 8th annual Virginia Fly Fishing Festival began on Saturday along Waynesboro’s South River.
This year’s two-day event is bringing in visitors from more places than ever.
Northern Virginia resident Wes Kitchens came to this year’s festival after missing last year’s.
“We have fishing shows in Washington, but no exhibits on the water like this,” said Kitchens, who spent part of Saturday learning about fly-fishing in Alaska and better ways to catch smallmouth bass.
Visitors to this year’s event are dominated by mid-Atlantic state residents like Kitchens.
Those mid-Atlantic visitors include people from Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Washington, D.C.
Festival co-chairman Len Poulin said he met one man from Ohio who drove nine hours.
He talked to a couple who were combining the Fly Fishing Festival with a Saturday night trip to the Blackfriars Theatre in Staunton.
“If we can get them to the area for the weekend, there is more than a couple of things to do,” he said.
Poulin said the crowds are motivated by their enjoyment of fly-fishing and the outdoors.
On Saturday, festival visitors could also learn kayaking. The vendor Orvis offered a beginning casting class for women.
And there were more than 60 vendors offering everything from rods and reels to other fishing equipment.
Poulin said the Virginia Fly Fishing Festival shows that fly-fishing can be as much of an economic stimulus as other industries in Waynesboro.
“We have a natural resource right in the middle of town,” said Poulin of the South River.
In addition to fishing vendors and tutors, and food and wine, nonprofit organizations were also a part of the picture.
One of those nonprofit organizations was Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, a group that attempts to help disabled veterans fly-fish.
The group has several chapters across the country and in Virginia, and is planning to start one in Roanoke.
Josh Williams, a veteran of the Iraqi war, suffered the loss of an arm in a traffic accident after his service. He said Project Healing Waters taught him how to fly-fish with one arm.
“It’s a large morale boost,” said Williams of the fly-fishing he does. “When I get down and frustrated, I just go out and relax.”
Today’s events start at 8:30 this morning and include tips on fly-fishing at Harper’s Ferry, W.Va., and on the Susquehanna River.