Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - January/February 2023 - 26

Welcome to
Fly Fishing U
by George Daniel
Director of the Joe Humphreys Fly Fishing Program
photos by the author
O
ne goal of higher education is preparing students for
their future careers in what appears to be an endless
array of career paths. At Penn State, we understand the
importance of preparing our students for the workforce. But, we
also understand the absolute necessity to provide our students
with the tools they need to live a healthy life (both physically
and mentally) when away from work. This is why Penn State
students have the option to earn college credits while learning to
fly fish.
Fly fishing is not a major. Instead, our fly fishing courses
are electives and count towards a GHW (General Health and
Wellness) credit. Fly fishing for credit is not a new concept
at Penn State as students have had the opportunity to earn
college credits while enrolling in a fly fishing course for 75
years. George Harvey, a fly fishing legend, began teaching fly
fishing at Penn State in the 1930s and later fly fishing became a
credited course in 1947-the first in the nation and possibly the
world. During his 30-year career at Penn State, George Harvey
taught more than 36,000 students how to fly fish. Eventually,
living legend Joe Humphreys took over the program and taught
the course for 19 years. During his career, Joe Humphreys
developed an international reputation as one of the best fly
anglers in the world and brought much acclaim to the Penn
State's Angling Program. As a result of a generous donation in
January 2022, the program was renamed the Joe Humphreys
Fly Fishing Program. After Humphreys retired, the program
was carried on by other excellent instructors including Vance
McCollough, Mark Belden, Greg Hoover, and Steve Sywensky.
Today, the program has a full-time director/instructor and a
part-time instructor with one goal in mind-to continue the
world-renowned fly fishing legacy at Penn State.
Besides fooling the occasional fish with a fly students tie
themselves, the mission of the Joe Humphreys Fly Fishing
Program is:
1. Use fly fishing as a tool to break down racial,
socioeconomic, and cultural differences to help
build a stronger and more unified community.
Fly fishing communities are similar to university
alumni associations, where members of each group
support members of their own community. Fly fishing
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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater
is one activity that normally unites instead of
separating groups. By the simple act of introducing
underrepresented groups to the wonderful world of
fly fishing, we hope to create a collaborative culture
of fly anglers.
2. Develop a lifelong pursuit. Although we hope
many of our students continue to pursue fly
fishing after graduation, the real purpose of the
Joe Humphreys Fly Fishing Program is exposing
our students to one of countless outdoor leisure
pursuits. As 93-year-old Joe Humphreys continues
to say, " the secret to life is having something to look
forward to. " The basic fly tying and fly fishing skills
each students learns with our fly fishing program
will provide a lifetime of enjoyment.
3. Allow the act of fly fishing to organically create the
next generation of stewards and conservationists.
Fly anglers are major stockholders of our natural
resources and public lands. All fly anglers have a vested
interest in preserving and protecting natural resources
and clean water. The greater our angling community
becomes now and in the future, the stronger our efforts
will be towards protecting vital resources.
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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - January/February 2023

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