Welcome Spring with Kanuga’s Fly-fishing Retreat

11.13.2017 - Our Programs

Refine your fishing skills or reel in a new hobby with Kanuga’s fly-fishing retreat, April 30-May 2, 2018. Held during the peak of spring fishing in Western North Carolina, this three-day course gives attendees the extraordinary opportunity to learn from staff at Davidson River Outfitters.

Learn from the WNC’s Expert Fishers

Owned and operated by Kevin Howell, a Fly-fishing Masters World Champion in 2006 and runner up in 2004 and 2005, Davidson River Outfitters staff will share their extraordinary expertise.

Students will learn how to tie their own flies and set up gear, and then move on to the basics of fly-casting. Time in the classroom will be followed by hands-on practice at Kanuga’s Ned Ball Pond.

“By the the end of the session, attendees should be able to go out on their own and catch some fish on the delayed harvest streams,” says Kevin. In fact, before students leave, they will have the unique opportunity to fish on the Davidson River with instructors guiding and assisting them.

Discover the Spirituality Behind Fishing

While catching fish and learning a new hobby is the highlight of this retreat, Director of Formation Programs and Resident Chaplain Richmond Jones hopes it will also provide a stepping stone to spiritual contemplation.

“Contemplative prayer and fly fishing have many things in common, but most of all you have to be present. In prayer and in fishing, you must calm your mind and center on what is happening in the present moment,” says Richmond. “How we handle ourselves in this life with all our emotions and acquaintances is the same way we must enter the stream to fish, and it is a dance. A coordinated movement between ourselves where we fight against distraction and over-thinking to find a rhythm and a feeling of flow-state that is elegant, technical, and graceful.”

Registration is now open for the fly-fishing retreat with a 10% discount for early registration through December 30. Reserve your place now.