Byline: Ed Dentry Rocky Mountain News Outdoors Writer
PINE -- Seven talented teens stood in the Colorado sun practicing a time-honored method of fly fishing that hopefully will gain them the gold and keep the Wooden Spoon away.
Three flies on the drift. Tournament trout fisher Davy Wotton came all the way from Cwmbran, Wales, to coach the teens on European fly fishing techniques that score points with trout and judges.
His classroom was a rowboat drifting downwind across the lake at Crystal Lake Lodge. His students were Team USA, a hand-picked group averaging 16 years old with more cumulative fly fishing experience than most anglers log in a lifetime.
The clock is ticking for Team USA. In a little more than a month the young anglers will be in Wales, fishing against stiff international competition in the first-ever World Youth Flyfishing Championship on the River Dee and Llyn Brenig, a reservoir.
``If you win, you get the Silver cup,'' Wotton said. ``If you come last, you get that Wooden Spoon.''
Come Silver or Wood, team coach Duane Hada of Fort Smith, Ark., says he'll remain proud of his kids, each of whom he selected after lengthy searches and interviews with U.S. fly fishing industry representatives, teachers and mentors.
``They're not just fishing freaks,'' Hada said. ``They're well-rounded kids. We swell up with pride just being around them.''
Hada says the ``team slacker'' sports a 3.4 grade point average in school. Every team member has interests afield from fishing, ranging from theater to martial arts, farming and volunteer work with wildlife.
Two teammates hail from Colorado. Genna McClure, 16, of Indian Hills credits her grandfather, master fly tier Pete Parker, with teaching her to fly fish when she was 6 years old. She has appeared on TV tying flies. And her list of favorite fishing holes would raise eyebrows at any fishing banquet: South Platte, Green, Bighorn, Lees Ferry, Yellowstone.
``I'm really excited,'' McClure said. ``I can't wait to go to Wales because my family is from there. I'll be the first to go back to the homeland.''
Cody Adelman, 16, lives in Creede. He has been fly fishing and tying flies for five years and fishes for trout in the Rio Grande, San Juan River, for bass in Texas and deep sea fishing in the Pacific. He counts famous fly fishing instructor Mel Krieger among his mentors.
Others on the team are Norman Maktima, 17, a native American from Glorietta, N.M.; Nick Streit, 17, of Taos, N.M.; Aaron Taylor, 16, of Tecumseh, Mo.; Nicholas Looper, 14, of Van Buren, Ark.; and Ben Levin, 16, of Clarksville, Ark.
Five members of the team will fish in the World Youth competition Aug. 9 after touring Wales, fishing and learning about Welsh fisheries management. A sixth, reserve angler, will wait in the wings as a backup. The seventh, Cody Adelman, is the team's first alternate, likely a non-competitive position, which doesn't bother him:
``I get to fish for fun,'' Adelman said with a grin.
The team will fish against youthful opponents from Canada, Norway, the Czech Republic, Wales, England, Poland, Australia, Ireland, Belgium and Scotland. They'll find grayling and brown trout in the River Dee and mostly rainbow trout in Llyn Brenig. Their catches will be measured and released.
Coach Hada says Team USA's primary mission will be to spread the good news about catch-and-release trout fishing, which does not have a long history in Europe, while tournament fishing does.
Wotton, who has competed in adult fly fishing tournaments long enough to accumulate a king's ransom of badges and pins on his vest and hat, explains:
``Competitive fishing has a history in the United Kingdom of well over 100 years,'' he said. ``It was based on a friendly atmosphere, and there was no kind of animosity, never a financial return for anyone who won it. You just fished for the honor of your country and hopefully you went back with the trophy and some gold medals.''
Naturally, all the team's organizers have been stung by barbs from anglers who despise the notion of competition in fly fishing. It's critics are as common as caddis flies, particularly in the U.S.
Team Captain John Wilson responds to nay-sayers: ``It's usually a bunch of grouchy old folks who don't want to get involved, and that's their excuse not to. The goal of the youth tournament is to start these kids out teaching kids of the world catch-and-release techniques and preservation of trout and habitat. Every one of these kids is a conservationist.''
Says longtime competitor Davy Wotton: ``Without the major interest in competitive fly fishing in the United Kingdom, the quality of trout fisheries that exist wouldn't be there today.''
In fact, Team USA's venture has met with the approval of many businesses in the fly fishing industry. Sponsors include Columbia Sportswear, Cortland Line Co., Umpqua Feather Merchants, Scott Rods of Telluride and Mustad & Sons. And endorsements have come from Trout Unlimited and The Nature Conservancy.
The team's only worry is catching up on the techniques that anglers in more competitive countries have been sharing for generations. And facing competition that promises to be stiff.
``Over there the teams are selected by elimination,'' Wilson said. ``We are very much the Cinderella team.''
CAPTION(S):
Color Photo (2)
Genna McClure.
CAPTION: Flyfishing Team USA includes, front, from left, Genna McClure, Aaron Taylor, Nicholas Looper, Nick Streit, Norman Maktima, Ben Levin and Cody Adelman. In boat, rear, from left, team captain John Wilson, Welsh coach Davy Wotton and Team USA coach Duane Hada. By Ed Dentry / Rocky Mountain News.
