FISHING: ONE LOCAL ANGLER LEARNING TO ADAPT ON THE FLY ONCE JUST A HOBBY, FLY-FISHING FOR BEVAN IS NOW BOTH A CAREER AND A WAY TO HELP KIDS.Byline: Keith Lair Staff Writer PASADENA - Long before the 1992 Robert Redford Noun 1. Robert Redford - United States actor and filmmaker who starred with Paul Newman in several films (born in 1936) Charles Robert Redford, Redford movie ``A River Runs Through It,'' long before catch and release was wildly popular and long before Orvis had stores all over the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , Les Bevan was a fly-fisherman. ``I thought that was how all people fished,'' Bevan said of his youth, fishing with his twin brother, George, and his father. Bevan is the fishing manager at the Orvis Pasadena store. The 52-year-old has been fly-fishing since he was 6, learning the craft from his father, who learned it from his father. ``I didn't know any other way to fish,'' he said. Although he has learned differently, it's still the only way he fishes. But it has expanded. The longtime Pasadena resident and member of the Pasadena Casting Club now also will fly-fish along the California coast. ``It's amazing a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. ,'' he said. ``You can catch 120 different species within 20 feet of shore.'' Bevan was content to just fish the West's streams until 17 years ago. He would call his father and ask for an order of flies. ``He'd ask me where I was going and do a batch of ties for that river,'' he recalled. ``But they started getting larger. I realized his eyesight eye·sight n. 1. The faculty of sight; vision. 2. Range of vision; view. was failing. So the next time he was in town, I had him come with me to buy supplies.'' Bevan's fly-tying bill came to $500. ``What am I getting into?'' he recalled thinking. It included his most popular feather, which cost $60, but Bevan said he is not even close to finishing using it all. Like that feather, 17 years later, he still has most of those same supplies. This summer, he fished Battenkill, Vt., tried the Kern Kern, river, 155 mi (249 km) long, rising in the S Sierra Nevada Mts., E Calif., and flowing south, then southwest to a reservoir in the extreme southern part of the San Joaquin valley. The river has Isabella Dam as its chief facility. , Mammoth-area rivers and lakes, and the San Joaquin San Joaquin (săn wäkēn`), river, c.320 mi (510 km) long, rising in the Sierra Nevada, E Calif., and flowing W then N through the S Central Valley to form a large delta with the Sacramento River near Suisun Bay, an arm of San Francisco Bay. . He has fished all over the West Coast. ``It's like the loop (in a fly cast),'' he said of fly fishing. ``It's a beautiful sport. I like all parts of it. The sounds around you. You can have a perfect cast and not catch a thing and it's still great. It's never been about catching fish. It's more about just having a good time.'' Fishing was just a hobby until Orvis came calling this year. He still works with his other passion: collecting and selling first-edition nonfiction books. As a member of the Pasadena Casting Club, and with his contacts with numerous fly-fishing organizations in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, , Bevan was able to donate about 22 rods and 19 reels to the Arroyo High School Arroyo High School may refer to:
Anglers turned in rods and reels for discounts in a summer promotion at Orvis. By a vote of employees, all of whom belong to the Pasadena Casting Club or Sierra Pacific Flyfishers in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. , Arroyo was awarded the gear, which will be used to teach kids how to fish. Club adviser Frank Kuhn said the gear also will be used in fund-raising raffles. The Pasadena store, which opened the last weekend of April, received the second-highest amount of reels and third-highest amount of rods of all Orvis outlets. ``There are a lot of fly-fishers that live around here,'' Bevan said. Keith Lair, (626) 962-8811 keith.lair(at)sgvn.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Fly-fisherman Les Bevan, left, helped organize a donation of rods and reels to a local high school. Mike Mullen/Staff Photographer |
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