Fly-fishing Takes Patience, Steady Stroke With the Rod

By Alisa Farenzena

Maurice Holloway thrusts the fly at the end of his fishing line across one of the three casting pools at Golden Gate Park.

Is he going to reel in the catch of the day? No. These pools exist for the purpose of practicing casting techniques.

"It's for distance and accuracy - that's what the rings are for," Holloway said, gesturing toward the colorful metal rings in the pool.

Fly-fishing is a unique sport, which requires landing a fly in front of a fish in such a way that the fish will believe the fly is an actual insect. Fly-fishing is used in both freshwater and saltwater with a wide selection of flies, depending on the type of fish.

A variety of people use the casting pools. Some are like Holloway, a retiree who frequents the pools about a dozen times a year. Others are like 12-year-old Coco Singleton and her sister, 10-year-old Sophia Singleton, casting for only the second time in their lives.

They had started the day before - because Sophia "just wanted to learn how."

Many experienced anglers also frequent the pools and the Anglers' Lodge, which is home to the Golden Gate Angling and Casting Club, a 68-year-old organization which boasts more than 400 members and a monthly newsletter.

Although the facilities are open to the general public, joining the club provides extra benefits, such as seminars, dinners and outings. Club member Armando Bernasconi said the club also allows members to "take out books to read, and participate in a tournament every two to three weeks."

Club Vice President Matthew Huey, who is also part of its nine-member board of directors, explained another advantage of the club.

"A lot of the older members here are the founders of techniques and equipment," Huey said, pointing to the fly-tying tools member Frank Matarelli has invented - a sheep's hook, a whip finisher, a threader and two types of bobbins.

Fly-tying, in itself, has become a major aspect of the club.

"We take hours and hours and hours and hours (making flies)," club member Gino Laghi said. They tie many different types of flies, including flies for catching trout, striped bass, tuna and salmon.

When using their flies, anglers have to take into account more than just the type of fish. According to Laghi, they must also consider the time of year in order to choose a fly that mimics an insect that would naturally be around at that time.

While fly-fishing, casters must take several factors into account.

"You have to consider the current," Laghi said, adding that timing is very important: after feeding, a fish will turn around and come back to its previous position. The angler must land the fly in time for the fish to see it upon return.

Regarding the casting pools, Huey explained that club members have different goals.

"Some members use this as practice for fishing," he said. "Others just cast."

Laghi concurs. "There are people that have never been fishing, but they do casting here."

Members who do not fish still spend a lot of time working on their angling skills, as practice is essential to the sport.

"If you come out here every Saturday and you do no practice in between, you'll be on square one every Saturday," club member Roberta White said.

White, who is also a member of the Peninsula Fly-Fishers and the women's-only Golden West Casting Club, said that the Golden Gate Angling and Casting Club is especially fortunate because of its facilities.

The current facilities were not the club's first home. Once confined to Stow Lake, club members convinced Golden Gate Park directors and the Work Project Administration in 1938 to construct the Anglers' Lodge and casting pools, located off John F. Kennedy Dr. and 38th Avenue, just south of the bison paddock.

Today, the SF Recreation and Park Department is responsible for the maintenance of the site, providing gardening service and cleaning the pools once a year. The club, which collects dues, handles smaller tasks like maintenance of the rings.

Bernasconi commented on the seclusion of the pools: "People who live just around the block don't know this is here."

"It's like the best-kept secret in the city," White said.

Fly-fishing exhibit at Academy
People interested in learning about fly-fishing can visit an exhibit at the California Academy of Sciences.

The exhibit, called "Anglers All: Humanity in Midstream," displays artifacts which help explain the history of fly-fishing, from 200 A.D. to the present. It includes books, paintings and displays of different types of reels, fly rods and flies.

Visitor Claire Hemrika, who has done some fly-fishing in New York state, enjoyed the exhibit because she is familiar with its subject.

Fly casting "has always interested me," she said. "It really is an art in itself - totally different from fishing."

Presidents - including Jimmy Carter, George Bush, Herbert Hoover and Grover Cleveland - used the activity as a means of escape.

The exhibit is informative to people who are not strangers to fly-fishing.

The exhibit actually started out at the California Academy of Sciences years ago. It then went on to many locations on the east coast, growing along the way. Now, it has returned to its starting point, where it will remain through Oct. 21. Entrance to the exhibit is free with paid admission to the Academy of Sciences, located at the museum concourse near John F. Kennedy Drive and Eighth Avenue.