For those of you who are members of our Facebook group “The Tribe”, the name Howie Duck Fischer is probably a familiar one. Howie is from Maryland where he works as a Special Education Paraeducator working with children who have behavioral and intellectual disabilities, and he spends his time off working at Hunting Creek Outfitters Fly Shop in Frederick, Maryland. Always quick to help other anglers with knowledge and advise we wanted to catch up with him and discover how fly fishing fits into his busy life.
He picked up fly fishing when he lived in Washington State and was pulled into the sport by his youth pastor who was rekindling his own love for fly fishing. After that Howie says he was hooked. You can typically find him on his local Maryland waters but as Howie said, “When life gets busy I head to a small mountain stream to get away from the crazy.” He was adamant about how helpful fly fishing is to de-stress
We asked him to share the story of this beautiful fish he landed earlier this year and this is what he had to share:
“My most memorable fly fishing moment was when I caught my personal best Brown Trout at Mossy Creek in Virginia. I was on a fishing trip with my fishing buddy who flew in from Chicago this past October. We fished the morning on another creek with great success. We had a few hours left in the day and decided to try another creek. We got to the creek and it was pouring down rain. We fished for about 30 or 45 minutes without even seeing a fish. My friend was walking just ahead of me when we got to a bend in the river. I looked down this run, paused, said, “CJ! Stop, back up slowly! There has to be a fish in here.” I worked my line out to about 30 feet, first cast, my fly hit. Strip one, strip two, SMACK! This 21” Hen destroyed my Low Fat Minnow from Postfly’s September Guide Box. Needless to say, sheer joy ensued and my friend landed it with both of our nets! Other than that I would have to say the time I wade fished the Bighorn River in Montana and caught too many Brown’s to keep count.”
We asked him how fly fishing fits into his lifestyle and his day-to-day. He uses fly fishing as a sort of lens to view his world through, “My passion for fly fishing has impacted my lifestyle by making me more conscious of the world I live in. It has taught me to become a true conservationist and truly care about the footprint that I leave. I am constantly thinking about how a decision I am making could impact the quality of a stream or local wildlife (ie littering or holding onto something until I get home so I can recycle it, rather than throw it in the trash. I have really enjoyed how fly fishing has continued to help shape how I treat others and the environment.” Howie takes this vision and uses it in his daily life, always looking for opportunities to share the lessons he learns on the water with others and for ways to hopefully share the passion of fly fishing with others.
Howie’s next fly fishing adventure is to go back up to his home waters in the mountains near Thurmont, MD, because, “I haven’t been fishing in 2 months and I finally have a day off to go.” In the meantime, you will find Howie hard at work on his vise filling his fly boxes waiting for his next trip.
Be sure to follow him on Instagram to check out how he puts his Postfly Subscription to work!
https://postflybox.com/blog/2018/10/18/invest-in-what-you-love-equity-crowdfunding-and-why-were-doing-it/
https://postflybox.com/blog/2019/01/18/its-all-about-passion-for-tribe-ambassador-tyler-potts/
https://postflybox.com/blog/2019/01/14/this-year-plan-an-adventure-that-youll-remember-forever/
https://postflybox.com/blog/2019/01/15/get-tight-on-spring-creeks-with-cress-bugs/
Dan Zazworsky’s passion is sharing his love of fly fishing with anyone that will listen, read or watch. You can find him exploring new waters every day while chasing any fish that will eat a fly!
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