Fly fishing appointment Old school meets new school on the Maine casting scene

I don’t pretend to any fly-fishing expertise. When my brother-in-law and I go up north to the Richardson lakes each year, I generally sit in the stream and read while he sweats it out in his waders. But I’ve been known to toss a fly or two, and I might have actually caught something at some point (even if it was just a kibbie grabbing a fly left drifting over the side of the canoe). It doesn’t matter: As most sane fly fishermen will tell you, it’s more about the time spent out in the woods, on the water, than it is about catching fish. I mean, you have to throw them back anyway. As an excuse for escaping society for a few hours, it’s hard to beat.

It’s a hobby, also, like skiing or playing guitar, that’s as much fun for the gear as the playing. All the stuff is just so cool: the spindly rod, mesh vest, rubber waders, surgical clamp and scissors, specially polarized sunglasses that let you see to the bottom of the river, and, of course, all the flies you can store in those cool partitioned boxes. In fact, the gear might be what causes the inexplicable link between computer-programmer types and fly fishermen.

Not to stereotype, but the link between a data processor and a Maine woodsman isn’t exactly intuitive. The facts are undeniable, however. Just about every mid-twenties fisherman I know works behind a G4 nowadays.

King of them all, perhaps, is Dan Tarkinson, publisher of FlyFishingInMaine.com, one of the best resources for fly-fishing information in the state, and part of what seems to be something of a fly-fishing renaissance.

He started the site in 1995, says Tarkinson. " The Internet was kind of coming of age, and I was surfing the Web on fly fishing in Maine and I couldn’t find much, " he says. " So I thought, ‘Why don’t I put this out there and see what happens.’ It really started off as kind of a hobby, but it has grown into a small business. "

" It gets about million visits a year, " he says (which is pretty damn good — more than we get here at www.portlandphoenix.com). " It’s kind of grown in leaps and bounds over the years. "

The site has just about everything you could want, now. The state is broken down into fly-fishing destination points, with condition reports, and listings of field guides. There are fly-tying forums and pattern swaps, a section for book reviews, and more scientific data than most of us could ever want. There are classifieds for folks to buy and sell equipment. There’s even a weekly chat on Wednesdays where folks can query an old-timer who knows a thing or two about bringing in big fish.

But the big news is the upcoming Spring Conclave (original meaning of " conclave " : the private meeting of cardinals to elect the Pope), which FFIM organizes annually, and will be held at Moosehead Lake this June 21 and 22 — bigger and better than ever. It’s a must-go for the serious angler, with demo equipment from Orvis, Sage, Thomas & Thomas, and St. Croix; panel discussions, seminars, and demonstrations; and a visit from the " Old Guide, " R.W. Brown, of Livingston, Montana, who has the distinction of having tied the flies for A River Runs Through It, granddaddy of all fly-fishing flicks.

Plus, there’s the auction, the proceeds of which will benefit the First Cast Program — helping kids enter the sport — and the Saco River Salmon Club. Star attraction for the raffle? A Gray Ghost tied by Carrie Stevens, a woman who was a pioneer of the sport, originating a number of fly patterns for trout fishing in Maine’s rivers and streams.

That’s right, Tarkinson’s got a good sense for history, too. Like many of the younger, tech-savvy guys and gals getting into the sport, he’s got as much sense for where the sport came from as where it’s going.

" I built my first rod a year and a half ago, " referring to a burgeoning interest in custom rod-building. And there’s a push, too, in Maine to transition back from fiberglass rods to bamboo. " The throwback to the classics has caught on strong in the last year or so, " he says.

" I think custom building is definitely growing. A lot more hobbyists are picking up that as a side addition. There’s much more accessibility for building the rods, lots more places to buy components. Once the process is demystified people really get into it. "

" I think there’s two camps, " he says of Maine anglers, " those that are not of the mindset of ‘let’s go back to basics,’ and are very geared up and are very excited about the new technologies. And then there’s the guys who are more interested in the history and solemness of it. "

I have a feeling it’s the folks behind the G4s who are most likely to savor the time away from the whirring and beeps. It’s just another amazing juxtaposition created by the digital age. What could be less tech than standing out in the middle of 50 million black flies, hip-deep in ice-cold water, with nothing but trees as far as the eye can see? Yet a quick visit to the computer can make that experience all the more entertaining.

Sam Pfeifle can be reached at spfeifle@phx.com