For the past year, the vast majority of clubs affiliated with Central Catholic have been either put on hold, altered, or canceled; the Fly Fishing Club, though, has been going strong. How could this be possible, well simply because it is extremely easy to be socially distant while fly fishing, and if someone is too close, then the main issue is him stealing your fish!

Going out in large groups has been somewhat of a challenge regarding car pooling, but besides that, hundreds of trout have been caught in the last year.

Many of the members feel that the lockdown enabled them to catch more fish due school being online, sports being canceled, and more fish are stocked. For example, Sean Farrell, president of the Fly Fishing Club, claims to have caught over 500 trout from March through June. Other members such as Matthew Luckiewicz claim to have caught anywhere from 50 to 100. Some more inexperienced members, such as Sam Little and Luke Friday have only 10-15 under their belts.

Many of the more experienced fishermen felt that there were more fish placed into the streams than years prior, and this was true. After an interview with a local PA Fish Warden, we learned the fish hatcheries dumped all of the fish out of the tanks due to the circumstances back in March of 2020. Unfortunately, this will not be the case this year, as there will most likely be a normal stocking.

Another change that was brought to our attention via the Fish Warden is that the first day of trout season will be on April 3, the first Saturday of April, instead of the second or third. This will eliminate state-wide confusion, as in the past, certain areas would begin on the first Saturday, and others would start on the second or even third. As far the youth day, it will a week prior to the first day, when only youth mentored fishermen 16 and younger are allowed to hit the streams.

We were also told that this year you are not allowed to fish the streams from February 15, until the first day of trout season. As far as upcoming events, the next time we go out as a group will most likely be in March, fishing North Park Lake, and by then we will hopefully have our club attire consisting of shirts and hats.

Overall, we are looking forward to 2021, but do not expect to catch as many fish or as large fish as we did last year. We are all joyful our club was able to continue through the pandemic, allowing us to relax on the stream doing what we truly enjoy. If you are interested in learning more about the Fly Fishing Club, please see Mr. Heid or Senior Sean Farrell.