In an elegant arc of serendipity, Boxerwood was able to facilitate a first-ever Fly-Fishing Club at Maury River MS this spring. Fly-fishing expert (and MRMS history teacher) Zachary Dishman had a dream of introducing afterschool youth to the challenges and joys of his avocation. Boxerwood, meanwhile, had grant funds for river trips. Together, we tied our fly.
The Boxerwood funding came from a 3-year award received just before the pandemic for connecting youth to watershed science through recreation. “The Trail Blazers grant also funded some water quality assessments via kayak earlier in the year,” explains Education Director Elise Sheffield, “but we were also looking for new ways to integrate STEM investigations with hobbies like fishing … and voila!”
The MRMS Outing Club enrolled about a dozen gr. 6 - 8 students, most with limited fishing experience. The group met weekly afterschool at MRMS to learn how to tie simple flies and practice casting in the schoolyard. “The tying was challenging to them,” said Elise, “but they learned perseverance. In time some found the rhythms of both the wrapping and casting soothing and even mesmerizing in a stressful pandemic year. Being out on the river was additionally calming for the students, with this mental health aspect also being one of our shared instructor goals.
The Club made four trips to the Maury River to put all that learning in motion. Boxerwood doesn’t have the boats, but our partner educators from the James River Association do. They’re based in Lynchburg so bring their rig over to meet the school bus at the boat launch site just east of Buena Vista at the end of the Chessie Trail. The students had about an hour on the still water each time.
During the first trip, students gathered water quality and temperature data to determine which zones in the river might be the best places to fish. “Dissolved oxygen levels were highest in the mid-current submerged vegetation,” said Elise, “but the small-mouthed bass seemed to prefer underwater structures near the bank – at least this time.”
The program is now complete for the year but when asked whether MRMS should offer the opportunity again, the club members were enthusiastic: YES!
