As the leaves start to change color and summer fades to fall, App State’s Fly-Fishing Club’s season is just beginning.
After the COVID-19 pandemic caused activity to dwindle, the FlyFishing Club saw a resurgence in 2022.
Graem Hargrove, a senior from Greensboro, serves as the club’s honorary president. Hargrove is a biology major with a concentration in ecology, evolution and environmental biology.
“I am definitely wanting to work with wildlife or fisheries or with the state and federal government doing some kind of conservation work,” Hargrove said.
Hargrove got into fly fishing in a unique way. “I used to watch a lot of video games, and I ran into a group of YouTubers that bass-fished a lot,” Hargrove said.
He eventually got his own fly fishing rod as a Christmas gift and brought his passion with him to the High Country.
The App State Fly-Fishing Club hosts fly tying nights and river cleanups each month to connect group members and do their part in taking care of water in the surrounding area.
“At the meetings, we try and make it as little structured as possible so that people can talk amongst themselves,” Hargrove said.
Fly fishing has a unique style where fishermen cast a weighted line into the water with a type of lure made out of natural materials used to imitate prey for a fish.
“It is a very delicate way to catch fish comparatively,” said junior electronic media and broadcasting major Charlie Ventura.
Ventura joined the club his freshman year of college with no real fly fishing experience under his belt.
“Graem is who I began fly fishing with here; he taught me the ropes in trout fishing,” Ventura said.
The High Country is home to many bodies of water, including creeks, rivers, tributaries and ponds.
“You can go on Google Maps, and anywhere you see blue, you can try,” Hargrove said.
The High Country primarily hosts cold water species including types of trout and small mouth bass.
The South Fork New River, the Watauga River and the Elk River located closer to Banner Elk are the main three bodies of water near to Boone most visited for fishing.
“There’s plenty of people in the club that have touched every piece of blue on the map,” Hargrove said. There are many species of trout native to the High Country, including rainbow, brown and brook.
“Big fan of fishing on the parkway, and what we fish for is Southern Appalachian brook trout,” Ventura said.
Brown trout are more distinctive due to their larger size and their predatorial abilities.
“One of my favorites is brook trout. They are the only native species of trout to the area; you will only find them in high elevation and cold water streams,” Hargrove said.
Mixed in among the trout population are smallmouth bass that primarily live in larger rivers. Smallmouths are particularly active in the summer time.
Rock bass, sunfish and redbreast sunfish are the smaller fish found in tributaries during these months.
The Fly Fishing Club is partnered with a portion of Trout Unlimited called Costa 5 Rivers.
Costa 5 Rivers holds four nationwide events called Rendezvous. The goal of this event is for members to do their part in conservation work while also connecting fishers from schools in the southeast such as the University of Georgia, West Virginia University, University of Kentucky, and University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
“We had a fishing tournament that weekend against all other schools, and we destroyed them,” Hargrove said. “Some App State pride there.”
The App State Fly-Fishing Club invites everyone to apply on Engage and attend a meeting. A fly tying night may result in a fishing partner for life. “I would say it’s a lot more than just fly fishing and emphasize the sense of community that we have here,” Ventura said. “Everyone is on their own trajectory, and there is no shame in learning.”
