Fishing was just one of the activities on tap at the 5 Rivers Rally, held recently at Graves Mountain Lodge in Virginia.
By Mark Taylor
College kids are a social bunch, getting together to temporarily escape the rigors of classes and studying.
A recent weekend saw 200 college students gather for fun in Virginia, but not at a big tailgater or frat party.
They met at Graves Mountain Lodge in Syria, Va., for the annual 5 Rivers Rally, a gathering of students affiliated with the growingTU Costa 5 Rivers college outreach program.
The event, sponsored by 5 Rivers program backer Costa Del Mar, drew 200 students, along with a number of volunteer mentors and advisors. Participants came from 20 schools, including the distant Carroll University and the University of Alabama.
“Getting young people involved in fly fishing and conservation is crucial to the future of the sport,” said Todd Barker, the college community leader at Costa. “If there aren’t new and upcoming participants in the sport, there won’t be anyone there to protect the resources in the future.”
The young anglers spent some time fishing and, of course, socializing. But they also rolled up their sleeves and got dirty, spending hours picking up litter during a “Get Trashed” stream clean-up. They enjoyed a premiere showing of the Fly Fishing Film Tour spin-off film “Flies, Films and Foam,” and many also participated in Pig Farm Ink’s Iron Fly tying competition. Matthew Wallin, a 5 Rivers member from Virginia Tech, did a great job of capturing the variety of the fun on his GoPro for the film linked above.
Participants spent hours pulling trash from along the banks of a Virginia mountain trout stream.
A capstone of TU’s Headwaters program, the Costa 5 Rivers program currently comprises more than 50 TU-affiliated college fly fishing clubs. With new program coordinator Andrew Loffredo working hard to reach out to new schools, the network continues to expand.
Other sponsors of the 5 Rivers program include Cheeky Reels, Flymen Fishing Company, Loon, Redington, RIO Products, Temple Fork Outfitters and Vedavoo.