Thom Glace, award winning watercolorist, habitual fly fisher, and Tony Gehman TCO fan. Glace often volunteers to demonstrate his work at TCO sponsored events. He says the fly shop has been booming busy since COVID hit.
Several alarmed outdoor chroniclers called the recent interest in Pandemic ‘distancing’ via the isolations fly fishing and hunting in our public land wilderness’ can produce a threat to our environment.
The fear of men and women with new $900 Orvis fly rods in one hand and $900 Winchester’s in the other without knowing ‘bushcraft’ – how to protect public lands and pristine waters they invade could very well end being a bad thing . . . they say.
As a parallel, a river ran through it
We haven’t had a surge in fly fishing like we are witnessing now since the volcanic surge of interest we experienced following the Robert Redford movie A River Runs Through It starring Brad Pitt and Tom Skerritt.
Note: The movie title is from a novella by the same name, written by American author Norman Maclean (1902–1990) and published in 1976.
The outdoor rush A River Runs Through It did cause some hostile fire. Like today, too much for our public lands, rivers, and lakes to have Mother Nature deal with and make right.
Overall, however, newcomers’ clamor to the sport and their gear demands were welcomed, not feared, and fly fishing flourished, and fly fishers did not degrade the environment.
Today, the surge in interest in fly angling – stirred to the fore by COVID 19 has several stories of letting the good times roll.
Welcome newbies to the saltwater and freshwater venues of our shared land and the enrapturing experience of alone with nature. — Skip Clement
Outdoor recreation boom felt at the cash register in Berks County and beyond
Lisa Scheid lscheid@readingeagle.com @LisaScheid on Twitter.
By Lisa Scheid / Reading Eagle / February 22, 2021
New anglers made sure there was no lull this winter at TCO Fly Shops
Usually interest drops off in the fall, but the customers kept coming through December, said Tony Gehman, CEO of the fly fishing and outdoor retailer with shops in West Lawn, Haverford, State College and Boiling Springs. TCO also sells online.
“At four of our stores we teach fly fishing from March to September,” Gehman said. “The schools continued right through the winter. We added five classes each month. It’s been crazy.”
