In the Summer of 2010 Centre County, Pennsylvania resident Pat Weiss had never entered a formal competitive fly fishing tournament in his life. By the Spring of 2012 Weiss had catapulted himself on to Fly Fishing Team USA and secured a spot as the 15th top ranked competitive fly fisherman in North America. In this interview Weiss shows us how a talented “split-shot nymph’r” trained in the school of Joe Humphries could transition to one of the most venerated up-and-coming stars in the competitive fly fishing community in just a few short years.
Hamann: Pat, this is my first chance to interview a team mate for the “Behind the Leader Board” series, a unique honor, but don’t think that means I’m going to take it easy on you. As always let’s jump right in. As I laid out in the introduction you were relatively unacquainted with competitive fly fishing just a few years ago. What was your introduction to comp fishing and when did the light bulb turn on that this was indeed a calling for you?
Weiss: Two years ago, I got a call from a friend of mine, Greg Glitzer who had agreed to join a team of guys for the America Cup Fly Fishing Tournament in Colorado. This squad turned out to be part of what is now Team Freestone, a major player in the TroutLegend league standings. Being totally unprepared for what I was into, I got my A** whooped in my first session, but I knew this was something I was going to learn about and do more of. By the end of that comp, I was “hooked”.
Hamann: Was the transition to fips-mouche format fairly easy for you?
Weiss: Not at first, because I tried to do it without the right tools. I tried to make leaders from line that I use on tip-ups for ice fishing, tried to weight flies without Tungsten beads, used sub-par hooks, and only had a 9’ rod. It was a mess. It was very hard to make the financial commitment needed to make a real run at this thing. It’s still hard; at times I feel it’s my biggest limiting factor. Other things must suffer because of it and that’s just not cool, but it’s an addiction that shows no sign of fading. Once I started using the right tools, the transition became smoother. I still have so much that I’m trying to figure out, it’s a work in progress, and always will be. Nobody knows it all, nobody.
Hamann: Tell us about your job. Do you think it gives you an edge in the angling world?
Weiss: I’m a Fisheries Technician with the PA Fish and Boat Commission; I work with sportsmens clubs that raise trout for stocking into public waterways within the state. I get to do some cool things like assist with electro fishing surveys, but I don’t really think it gives me any kind of edge when it comes to competition. Now if I brought a backpack electro fisher to a comp, then we’d be talking some serious advantage!
Hamann: You live only a short drive from the waterway I frequently call “The Trout Laboratory;” a phenomenal creek that has active feeding fish 365 days a year. Tell us how Spring Creek has shaped you as an angler?
Weiss: Well I can tell you that it had a hand in my stellar G.P.A while at Penn State! I did manage to graduate somehow despite Spring Creek. It is a great place to observe ultra-pressured, wild fish and how they react to different conditions and situations. It has also helped me learn how to read water. When I would fish through an area and catch a bunch of fish, then walk through it and spook twice as many as I caught, I knew I had a lot to learn about where, when, and why trout hold in certain places. Despite the pressure, they will often let you get fairly close to them. I would spend a lot of time just watching how they feed, how they react to each other and what they did when they were spooked. I still do.
Hamann: Many competitors work years trying to obtain a spot on Fly Fishing Team USA – meanwhile you hit the squad on your first shot. Tell us about your experience with the team up till now?
Weiss: I’ve worked with members of the team at both regionals this year and it’s been great. Not only from the competition aspect and the sharing of ideas, but the camaraderie. It’s been a lot of fun, I really enjoy it. I can’t wait to work with the rest of the team in the near future.
Hamann: Has competing and communicating with some of the best anglers in the nation evolved your game?
Weiss: Yes, I think it has in terms of the finer points of competing. Things like preparation come naturally to the seasoned anglers on the team, but it’s still new to me. I learn a lot by just watching and asking questions off the water. It also helps when guys like Loren Williams and Josh Graffam offer advice on things like lake flies, or offer you their actual flies! Thanks boys!
Hamann: All right, let’s talk some actual gear and techniques. Many competitors are often taken back by the absolute simplicity of your flies. Tell us about your philosophies of fly design and is there more than meets the eye that just scans over your boxes?
Weiss: To be brutally honest with you it stems from two things, a lack of patience at the vice and a lack of money. I have never had the patience to tie hellishly elaborate flies, so I just quit doing it. I also never had the money to buy the materials even if I wanted to. Because of those factors, I tied with what I had. I “acquire” many of my materials the old-school way, I hunt and I trap. I also blend a lot of my own dubbing and dye a lot of my own feathers and fur; mostly because I find it hard to buy the color shades that I want. Does the exact shade matter? Probably not, but I’m tying these things for me, so I’m going to tie them the way I want them. I have found that color, size, and profile are essential for a productive fly. This was nothing groundbreaking, Central PA legends like George Harvey, Joe Humphries and Mark Belden had been preaching it for decades all I did was buy in to the theory. I always did well with basic, clean patterns, so I never changed. I’m not big into bling.
Hamann: Rods. What length and action do you prefer? Have you found that “one” great nymphing rod yet? If not, what attributes are you still seeking?
Weiss: I like a 10’ 4wt rod for most general applications, I also prefer a faster action than most, I’m currently using a Sage ONE. I really like most things about it, but it’s really a dry-fly rod (and a great one at that!), so the weight balance isn’t always ideal for me when nymphing, but it’s the best I’ve handled to this point. I’d actually like to find another rod that was as forgiving, but with a faster action. To me, a fly rod is a tool and each tool has its application. You can remove a bolt with a pair of pliers, but it works a whole lot better if you have a wrench or a socket of the proper size.
Hamann: Leaders. I know you’ve been jumping around a bit as far as leader design and theory over the last year – what are your findings?
Weiss: I think I’ve gone around in a giant circle and I’m back to where I began. See above “wrench” analogy. It’s my white whale; I’ve gone through hundreds of yards of leader materials in the last year or so. As a matter of fact, I tied 4 new leaders before this interview; we’ll see how worthless they are tomorrow!
Hamann: I’ve watched you follow 5 really good anglers up a river and take 3 or even 4 times as many fish right in their footsteps. What I’ve noticed is you fish at a very steady, I’d almost say slow pace and really cover each spot thoroughly before moving on. Can you tell us about this “pace”?
Weiss: It’s the pace that the old-timers who fish minnows here in PA move at. They can fish behind a bunch of guys on opening day and pull fish from where there was seemingly nothing. They used to do it to me when I was a kid, so I copied them.
Hamann: Tell us about your regional squad Team Freestone? How do you benefit as an angler from being part of a regional Trout Legend team and what do you try to give back?
Weiss: Team Freestone is a blast! We’ve got such a varied group of people that share ideas and like to have fun. Being part of the team has helped me so much in the last year, being able to ask questions about things other guys (and gals) were using helps shorten the learning curve. What more can you say about people who call you up and offer any and all of their gear for your use at the SE regional, or give you their entire lake box, rod, reels and net(this happened twice! Thanks Mark and Andy!). It’s also a great benefit to have like-minded people to practice with throughout the year. I try to reciprocate as best I can. My fly boxes are an open book; I share the leader du jour, etc. Sometimes it probably isn’t an equal trade, but I usually bring High Life to our outings so that equals it out in my book.
Hamann: Do you think Team Freestone has a shot at winning the Trout Legend top team in 2012/13 or do you think Team NC will sweep the title again?
Weiss: Oh, we’ve got a shot, believe that.
Hamann: You just took 1st at the SE Regional in North Carolina and then 2nd at the NE Regional in Pennsylvania – decidedly 2 very different venues. Do you change your tactics when you travel? How do you adapt to varying waterways?
Weiss: I try to stay flexible when going to new places and let the water types and fish tell me what to do. If I find water types similar to what I’m used to around here, Ill approach it in a similar way, but if it isn’t working I’m not afraid to change completely. Practice is very important for me; it helps me gauge the mood of the fish.
Hamann: So, you made Fly Fishing Team USA in your first year of competing. You’re dominating the Trout Legend Premier League in your second! What’s next for Pat Weiss? What are your immediate and long term goals in the competitive fly fishing world? Do you hope to go to the World Championships?
Weiss: I want to see the USA on the podium at the World Championships. I want to compete at the World Championships. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to medal at the World Championships, who doesn’t? I almost don’t like saying that in a public forum like this, because I don’t want to sound arrogant, but you asked and it’s the truth. Go big or go home right?
Hamann: Thank you for taking this interview. I’ve learned a great deal practicing with you over the last year and am honored to call you a team mate. Despite your success and incredible skill set you’re still a down to earth regular guy and I really respect that. In closing, can you tell us how competitive fly fishing has transformed your angling life? What does competitive fly fishing mean to you?
Weiss: Well Dejon, thank you for providing the forum and the arena for so many competition anglers on this continent and abroad. And also thank you for inviting me to join the team formerly known as Trout legend, it happened at just the right time for me, it really was one of my many lucky breaks over the last 2 years.
As for competition angling: it has forced me to re-learn what I thought I already knew how to do. I fish more now than I used to, and I used to fish A LOT. I now hit the water with the intent to either accomplish some goal or try something new. I find that now I can spend 4 hours on 150 yards of crappy water that I used to walk past. This competition thing is a great big learning experience and I like that. Water that I know like the back of my hand seems brand new and I like the process of learning it all over again.
March 22, 2012
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