Walt Nicholson, past president of the local Trout Unlimited, talks with the members of the Hughesville High School Fly Fishing Club. The club, started by Dave Weigle a faculty member at Hughesville High School, was started to encourage young people to take up the sport of fly fishing but also to foster a greater appreciation for protecting local waterways and ecosystems. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

HUGHESVILLE — David Weigle, business and STEM teacher at Hughesville High School, has a love for fly fishing that he is sharing with students at the Hughesville Jr./Sr. High School, as adviser to the Fly Fishing Club, and he wants people to know that the club goes beyond the walls of the school.

“It’s the community’s club. These boys and girls are people’s children, grandchildren, and neighbors,” Weigle said.

“While we definitely want kids to take up the sport of fly fishing and eventually become the future of our sport and the protectors of the waterways that we love, even more so, we want to assist families in developing kids to be responsible, resilient, courteous, and kind individuals who have developed a growth, mindset and skill set to not only be great anglers, but more importantly, to be better individuals who can find their own success no matter what life throws at them,” he said.

Weigle had always wanted to start a fly fishing club, but for 20 years, he taught at the elementary level, so it was kind of hard to do. Plus he wanted the genesis of the club to come from a student and not him.

“I didn’t want to start it. I wanted a student to come and sort of initiate the process. So about two years ago, I had a student named Alex Farley who approached me and wanted to start a club and that’s really kind of where it started. He got approval from the principal and it just started that way,” he said.

Weigle’s love of the sport goes back to time spent with his father who taught him how to fly fish when he was seven years old.

“Some of my most favorite memories of my dad were fly fishing. So I wanted to be able to pass that on to other people. Because my son has autism, he really wants nothing to do with fly fishing. So it was kind of like a punch in the gut because I had no one to pass that on to. When Alex approached me, it was kind of like a dream come true. So here I have the ability to pass this on to other kids,” he said.

“The time and memories spent with my father on the stream are precious to me and I was so looking forward to creating those moments with my own son. I was truly heartbroken when I realized that probably would never occur,” he said.

“These kids have filled a void in my life that they may never know. While I many not have a son who fishes with me, I have an entire club to invest in and pass on my love of fly fishing to,” he added.

That desire to pass on the love of the sport may just be inherited as his father, who was also a teacher, started a fly tying club at Bald Eagle Nittany High School where he taught before retiring in 1997.

“I’ve already been asked by several people if I am related to the Weigle who taught and had started the fly tying club at BEN. It turns out that they had been in the club he started back in the ’80s and ’90s,” Weigle shared.

The club at Hughesville, which has been in existence for over a year, has about 27 students on the roster, with 18 highly active, he noted. They meet during the activity period every Thursday.

It is open to all skill levels, grade seven through 12, males and females, although so far only one girl has joined the group.

“We have one girl who’s affiliated with our club. (There are) actually two or three that I’ve been trying to recruit for over a year. We’re trying to break down that stereotype or that barrier because it would be great to have more girls involved,” Weigle said.

Although the club stopped meeting at the end of the school year, last year, Weigle is hoping that the club will become a year-round thing.

They’ve only fished together once as a group along Muncy Creek but they would like to take some outings to areas like Pine, Lycoming and Loyalsock creeks as well.

Getting kids away from their screens and outside is another benefit of the club.

“I guess the reason why I want to promote it is because number one, it’s a lifelong sport.

Anyone, anyone of any ability can do it. It doesn’t matter your age or your race, or your experience level,” Weigle said.

“It’s just there’s something that when you get into it, there’s just an absolute joy and satisfaction not only from fishing but being in the stream itself. It’s not just fishing. For me personally, it’s the whole experience. It’s the anticipation of waking up early and going into the stream. Getting out of your car, smelling the stream, the sound of the stream and the birds, the feel of the water against your legs, as you’re stumbling, plodding upstream or downstream. It’s really just the whole experience that is for me the greatest feeling,” he said.

People in the community, such as members of the local Trout Unlimited, who share the love of fly fishing have been coming forward to help with the club, by sharing their expertise with the students.They have had some casting demonstrations and casting practice. There has been some fly tying instruction, but the club would like to acquire some equipment, kits and hooks to continue to learn more.

“It’s kind of like a nice segue — oh, I can tie a fly, now what can I do with this? Oh, I can go catch a fish,” he said.

“Then that satisfaction of catching a fish on something made with artificial or natural materials — it’s addicting,” he added.