Women learn fly fishing at Hickory Run State Park
The Pennsylvania Fishing and Boat Commission’s Peter Ray, left, walks Louwana Oliva through the basic steps of casting her line during the Women in the Wilds fly fishing event at Hickory Run State Park.
Sarah Harris | For Times Leader
Kelsey Hope of Williamsport practices tying her fly during the Women in the Wilds fly fishing event at Hickory Run State Park on Saturday.
Sarah Harris | For Times Leader
Kelsey Hope of Williamsport casts her line during Saturday’s Women in the Wilds fly fishing event at Hickory Run State Park.
Sarah Harris | For Times Leader
Participants try out their newly tied flies while learning the essentials of fly fishing at Hickory Run State Park.
Sarah Harris | For Times Leader
WHITE HAVEN — Women learned the basics of fly fishing at Hickory Run State Park Saturday during a program aimed at making outdoor recreation more accessible to those who may not have traditionally felt represented in the sport.
The fly fishing and stream ecology session was part of the park’s Women in the Wilds series, which offers participants a friendly, noncompetitive environment to learn outdoor skills ranging from fishing to archery to orienteering and wildflower identification.
Saturday’s program brought educators from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission together to teach participants how to cast, assemble and rig a fly rod, fish in the stream, and examine the aquatic insects that inspire the flies used by anglers.
“A lot of these sports, like fly fishing, there really is a barrier,” said Allan Schreffler, Northeast Region outreach and education coordinator for the PFBC. “It’s knowledge, equipment, and if you don’t know somebody, you can’t really go out and teach yourself. It can be very intimidating.”
Participants spent about an hour first thing in Saturday’s session practicing their casts on land before learning to assemble and rig their rods and heading toward the water.
Schreffler said casting is often one of the most challenging and intimidating aspects of learning to fly fish.
Unlike other forms of fishing, traditional fly fishing centers largely on mimicking the insects living in and around the water and convincing fish to take a nibble of an artificial version of their natural food.
“The basis of fly fishing is imitating the bugs that live in and around the water and fooling the fish into eating your imitation,” Schreffler said.
That made stream ecology a natural companion for the fishing lesson.
Understanding the environment
DCNR environmental educator Alexis Weber said Women in the Wilds programs are designed not only to introduce participants to outdoor recreation, but also to help them better understand the environment where those activities take place.
“We wanted to tie outdoor recreation with ecology,” Weber said. “We’re going to go down into the stream and look for bugs. Those bugs are important because that’s what our flies are mimicking.”
The insects living in a stream can also serve as indicators of water quality, Weber said, adding another layer to what participants can learn while examining the ecosystem.
Weber developed the Women in the Wilds series at Hickory Run after learning about similar programs offered at other Pennsylvania state parks. While some parks host larger daylong or two-day events, Weber adapted the concept to fit Hickory Run by offering individual programs throughout the year, each centered on a different activity.
Other sessions have paired archery with lessons about deer ecology and population management, while programs on orienteering and map reading have incorporated geocaching and winter ecology. Spring programming has included wildflower walks focused on identification and resources participants can use to continue learning on their own.
Creating a safe space
“It was really important to bring more people outdoors and give them that sense of comfort and security to try and learn something new,” Weber said.
The programs are specifically designed for women and nonbinary participants, groups Weber said can sometimes feel out of place when trying an activity traditionally viewed as a masculine space, particularly when others in the room grew up taking part in it.
“We wanted a really comfortable situation where people could just feel free to try things out, make some mistakes, and not feel pressured,” Weber said.
Schreffler has worked with women’s fishing programs for about 15 years and has partnered with Weber on Women in the Wilds for the past four or five years. He said programs geared specifically toward women have proven particularly popular.
“I think it’s just because of the atmosphere,” he said. “Everybody gets to gather a little bit more comfortably. It’s a little bit more teamwork than individual.”
Cost can present another obstacle for someone interested in trying fly fishing for the first time. Saturday’s participants did not need to purchase equipment or even obtain a fishing license for the class. Rods, flies, and other necessary gear were provided, and fishing license requirements were waived for participants.
Schreffler said the Fish and Boat Commission’s free fly fishing programs have attracted people willing to travel two hours or more to participate, in part because opportunities to try the sport without first investing in equipment can be difficult to find.
Discovering a new hobby
For Louwana Oliva of Palmyra, Saturday offered her first opportunity to try fly fishing.
Oliva said she was interested in seeing Hickory Run and spending time outdoors with the group she attended with, and joked that she hoped to remember at least half of what she learned once the class was over.
She said the hands-on format and individual attention from instructors made learning an unfamiliar activity easier.
“You go to classes where you’re just watching somebody else do it,” she said. “You’re actually getting to touch the rod. You’re actually getting to do the casting and all that kind of stuff. So it’s been fun.”
About 18 people initially registered for Saturday’s program, Weber said, with approximately 10 or 11 ultimately attending. With three educators working with the group, participants could receive individual guidance without being rushed through each lesson.
Some participants wanted instructors to step in and offer advice, Weber said, while others preferred having time to work through a new skill themselves.
For Weber, creating that relaxed environment is part of a larger effort to show people that outdoor recreation does not have to be something they already know how to do.
“The outdoors really is for everyone,” she said.
She encouraged those interested in exploring the outdoors to seek out programs and volunteer opportunities through state parks and other organizations in their communities, noting that they can offer more than an opportunity to learn a new skill.
“It’s a really good way to meet the people in your area,” Weber said. “You have a common interest right there. You’ve shown up to the same program.”
Information about upcoming programs is available through the PA DCNR’s calendar of events. Fishing and boating programs are also listed through the PFBC.
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