US Youth Fly Fishing Team fills up with Pennsylvania teenagers

Three of the 10 new members of the United States Youth Fly Fishing Team are from Pennsylvania.

Teenagers from across the country competed Oct. 7-8 on rivers and lakes in Livingston, Montana, for a chance to be on the national team.

The Pennsylvania members are Halena Fischer, 16, of Bedford County; Landon Cook, 16, of Indiana County; and Bobby Barndt, 14, of Lancaster County.

Head coach Josh Miller is from Gibsonia, in Allegheny County.

“Pennsylvania has a history and a legacy of having good anglers. It had some of the finest anglers who have laid the path, pioneers, to what we do now,” Miller said. “We have an incredible amount of world-class fisheries. That’s a big deal.”

While it’s an honor to earn a spot on the team, the work continues for these young anglers.

“Being named to the team comes with some responsibilities including being good stewards of the environment, good teammates to one another, to help to share their knowledge with their younger and less experienced teammates, to further their education and continue to grow and seek better knowledge and know more," said Miller, a fishing guide in western Pennsylvania.

While they are competing, both as a team and individuals, they will focus on securing one of the six spots for the USA World Team for a summer in the Czech Republic.

Team members serve as ambassadors for the sport of fly fishing. To be chosen for the world team, the coaches will evaluate more than fishing skills. “We will be watching what they do online, how they interact with us or other teammates, we will listen to them to see who’s taking about who, who’s doing well in the fishing competitions in the next coming months,” Miller said. “It’s based on the integrity of the angler and the team ability they have to work as a team and to be willing to step out at the 11th hour when they are sick and tie a fly at 2 in the morning for their teammate, or just being able to lend a helping hand when it’s needed.

“At the end of this we are trying to win as a team in the world championship," he said. "We want a team medal and that takes all of us working together."

The youth team has been successful. Miller coached Team USA to a win 20th FIPS-Mouche Cortland World Youth Fly Fishing Championship in July in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Pennsylvania team members say they look forward to the competitions and challenges coming ther way.

Halena Fischer

Fischer, 16, of Osterburg, and formerly from Breezewood, has been fly fishing for eight years and enjoys catching a variety of fish, but brown trout are her favorite. “They fight more and are cool to catch,” she said.

Fischer ties her own flies. “I fish mainly with nymphs but I know how to do all of it,” she said about the various styles of fly angling including dry and wet flies.

“My uncle (Patrick Smith) got me started into it after my dad passed away,” she said.

Smith enjoys spending time with her on the water. “She is very dedicated to the sport. She puts forth 100% of her efforts. When the coaches try to teach them different techniques, she grabs the information right away and implements it. She just goes from there and keeps building on that foundation. She is pretty good; she is a fishy person,” he said with a smile.

Fischer is excited to have made the team. “I’m looking forward to getting out and representing the U.S. team and do what I love ― fish,” she said. Follow her on Instagram @halenafischer.

Bobby Brandt

Brandt, 14, from Lancaster, has been fly fishing for about two years but has been spin fishing since he was 2. “My grandpa (Bob Brandt) got me into it. He used to take me to his house and spin fish,” he said.

He soon picked up a fly rod and never looked back. “I just like that it takes me into nature and there’s something about that I just like compared to spin fishing. I just like the challenge of it,” he said.

Regarding the competitions, he said “It was super fun. It was cool that we fished a lake. I haven’t really fished lakes that often for trout.

When it comes to trout fishing, he likes hooking into browns. “They are super pretty and they fight hard,” he explained. He ties his own flies and enjoys nymphing and using a waltz worm design that imitates a caddis the most.

He likes talking with other anglers and helping people get started in the sport. “I want to share my love for fly fishing,” he said. Follow him on Instagram @bobby.the.fly.guy.

Landon Cook

Cook, 16, of Marion Center, combines a passion for fishing with his competitive spirit.

“I’m a very competitive person. I love fly fishing just because of getting out in nature and how much it brings you and connects you with the streams and surroundings. As soon as I practiced a ton and (was) getting good at it, my competitive nature took over,” he said.

He remembers hearing Mike Komara, a fly fishing expert, talk at a Ken Sink Trout Unlimited meeting. “Mike shared a little bit about his experience with the team and afterwards I reached out to him. He’s helped me quite a bit since then,” Cook said about getting into the competitions just a year ago.

He credits his parents, Eric and Amy Cook, for getting him into fishing. He remembers starting with a spinning rod at about age 5 and getting a fly rod a few years later. He spent time on the local waterways catching trout and bass. His favorite fish to target is trout. “I believe they are a lot more beautiful, and I just like them more than bass,” he said adding that they are a more challenging fish to catch.

His preferred style is tight-line nymphing. “It’s the best way to catch fish, most proficient,” he said about feeling the twitch on his line during a strike. “The most fun type of fishing has to be dry fly fishing, hands down. It’s crazy to see those fish hit the top of the water and just smash a dry fly."

Cook makes and sells his own flies. He can be contacted and followed on Instagram @nasty_nympher.

Cook looks forward to the team competition and hopes he qualifies for the world championship. “I just want to go see the world, and I feel like through fly fishing I can do so. What’s a better way to do it than through things you love?”

Brian Whipkey is the outdoors columnist for USA TODAY Network sites in Pennsylvania. Contact him at bwhipkey@gannett.com and sign up for our weekly Go Outdoors PA newsletter email on this website's homepage under your login name. Follow him on Facebook @whipkeyoutdoors, and Instagram at whipkeyoutdoors.

This article originally appeared on The Daily American: PA teen anglers earn spots on US Youth Fly Fishing Team