THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 15, 1995 TAG: 9510130226
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 24 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CAPE HATTERAS LENGTH: Long : 151 lines
NORMAN MACLEAN, the son of a Presbyterian minister and author of ``A River Runs Through It,'' wrote that his father held tightly to this conviction:
``All good things - trout as well as eternal life - come by grace, and grace comes by art, and art does not come easy.''
But here on Hatteras, an hour before first light, the thoughts of eternity and grace and art play second fiddle to thoughts of trout and wind.
``Another blustery day on the Outer Banks,'' John Dominick says as he loads a handful of fly rods into the back of his blue Chevy Blazer. ``It's just hard to cast when the wind's up. The wind is something that people new to saltwater fly-fishing have to learn to contend with.''
Dominick should know. The 46-year-old Pennsylvania native has been a fly angler since he was 11 years old. Now, the former investment broker owns Outer Banks Fly Angler and imparts the wisdom of those years of casts, catches and flies to wannabe anglers who are discovering the North Carolina coast as a fly-fishing paradise.
Saltwater fly-fishing is not a new phenomenon. In Florida and in the New England area, Dominick says, fly-angling is a longstanding tradition. But with Florida's coasts crowded and New England fish populations dwindling, the Mid-Atlantic region is drawing a small but growing cadre of fly anglers.
``We're getting the crunch,'' Dominick says. ``I've seen it grow steadily. But we have people who come into my shop and say `Where can you get a rainbow or a brookie (brook trout) around here?' Most people have a picture of a babbling brook when they think of fly-fishing. But you can catch speckled trout, bluefin tuna, spot, croaker, cobia, just about any type of game fish on light tackle.
``When I first started coming down here, you never saw a fly rod,'' Dominick says. ``A lot of the problem was that the equipment then wasn't able to hold up in the salt and water. But that's changed in the last 10-12 years.''
Fly-fishing across the board has exploded nationwide. Dominick and his wife, Mary, believe the boom is a by-product of the film version of ``A River Runs Through It,'' Maclean's 1976 novel of a minister, his two sons and fly-fishing.
``There's no doubt about it,'' Dominick says. ``The movie caused everything to take off. Here, it's growing, but we've got a long, long way to go.''
On this morning, Dominick has with him two admitted rookies who want to experience saltwater fly-fishing.
Lex Frazier, 39, from Kannapolis, N.C., and Bruce Thompson, 40, of Hopewell, Va., are within sight of the Little Kinnakeet Lifesaving Station as they wade into the water for their baptism in the art of fly-angling.
For the most part, the three men are quiet, as they work the lines using two hands - one to advance or ``strip'' the line, the other to rhythmically work the rod back and forth, back and forth.
From behind, they look like magicians, attempting to conjure the fish from the gently rippling waters. The darkness has given way to the pink and baby blue of sunrise. A sliver of sun peeks through a cloud bank, sending shafts of light to the sand below.
``The cast is everything in fly-fishing,'' Dominick says. ``You have to be able to put the fly where you want it to go. Fly casting is the only type of casting where you let line out before you cast. That helps provide the power to shoot the line out through the metal guides. It takes concentration, commitment and practice. It takes an investment of time.''
Saltwater fishing also provides a unique challenge. In the freshwater streams of Virginia's James, Rapidan and Chickahominy rivers, trout strike at flies on top of the water. Accuracy is critical. Not so in saltwater.
``Everything we do here is submerged,'' Dominick says. ``You have to give the fly a five or 10 count before you take it out of the water. In saltwater, fish don't jump out of the water after a fly. You have to let it sink, and you have to give it life.''
The prospect of giving life to a submerged fly is something new for Frazier, who has fished for bass and trout in the James and Chickahominy.
``You catch a lot of really nice fish in the Chickahominy,'' he says. ``You can catch bass in there on a fly rod that go from 2 to 5 pounds. Sometimes it gets fast and furious. But this (saltwater) is fun, really fun. It's different from freshwater, because in that, you just lay the fly out there. Here, you've got to move it around.''
It's also important to cover the water.
``You have to get length in your cast in saltwater,'' Dominick says. ``And you have to keep moving.''
The three fishermen work their way up and down the banks of Askins Creek.
In some instances, hours pass without a strike. But then, Bruce Thompson feels the tug and sees the flash of a 15-inch speckled trout. He makes the catch, admires his trophy long enough for a photo and releases the creature, to be caught again another day.
``I could see that thing with two eggs on it, sunny side up,'' he says with a grin. ``That was a great fish.''
More often as not on this day, the waves of the anglers' wands go unanswered.
But ask any fly angler, from the experienced to the novice, about the importance of catching fish. The answer is almost universally the same.
``I like to catch fish,'' Thompson says. ``But the thing about being out here is that there's always something to look at.''
Dominick, like Maclean's minister-father, sees the art of fly-angling in higher terms. Catching fish for him is like extra syrup on a sundae.
``It's been said to me that fly-fishing is to fishing what bow hunting is to hunting,'' Dominick said. ``I look at it this way. It's like a religion in that it's all-engrossing. It takes discipline. You have to keep your mind focused on what you're doing. It takes a level of skill that other fishing doesn't require. And the fish have a better-than-even chance.''
As the morning draws to a close, the orange sun has lost out to a gentle cool drizzle that leaves silver beads on the green marsh grass.
The flies - with names like Tom's Rattle Minnow, Borski's Chernobyl Crab and Jake's Favorite White - are packed away along with the rods. The three anglers are laughing and talking like old friends, about the ones that got away. For them it's not the catch but the casting, the calm and the camaraderie that matter.
``The thing about it is, out here you meet people when they're at their very best,'' Dominick says. ``When they leave the water, they are truly relaxed, truly happy. And all most folks need are some good casts and a few fish. There's no real mystery to that.''
But what about the relatively recent fascination with the saltwater shallows of the Carolina coast?
``This is an untapped region,'' Dominick says. ``You go to Florida and people are elbow to elbow. Here on the Outer Banks, saltwater fly-fishing is the final frontier.'' HOT SPOTS
Here are some good fishing spots for fly anglers on the Outer Banks. For more information on fly fishing, call 441-2200.
Duck Island
The Wanchese marshes
Grass beds south of Davis Channel off Hatteras Island
Buxton, south of Canadian Hole
Askins Creek near Avon
Green Island Slough on the south end of Oregon Inlet
New Inlet
Manns Harbor
Rodanthe in the Pamlico Sound
Hatteras Inlet ILLUSTRATION: Staff photso by DREW C. WILSON
John Dominick, a former investment broker, owns Outer Banks Fly
Angler and teaches casts, catches and flies to wannabe anglers.
John Dominick, left, helps Elizabeth Byrd of Richmond, Va., learn
casting during a class.
John Dominick, left, instructs fly-fishing enthusiasts Elizabeth and
Lloyd Byrd, of Richmond, Va. ``The cast is everything in
fly-fishing,'' Dominick says. ``You have to be able to put the fly
where you want it to go. Fly- casting is the only type of casting
where you let line out before you cast. That helps provide the power
to shoot the line out through the metal guides. It takes
concentration, commitment and practice. It takes an investment of
time.''
by CNB