If you’ve ever wondered what the mystery of fly-fishing is, you can find out this weekend.
The fly-fishing trip has been part of the Getaway Adventures program at UNM Recreation Services for 16 years.
Laura Montoya, Getaway Adventure coordinator, has overseen the growth of the program.
“Getaway Adventures is a nonprofit program. We provide trips that give the outdoors and even the cultural aspects of New Mexico,” Montoya said. “Our trips are unique. We try to focus on outdoor trips. We will do anything that is outdoors.”
The fly-fishing trip will be at the San Juan River on Saturday and Sunday, accompanied by a clinic to prepare students for the trip. The clinic is today.
“We have a fly-fishing trip every semester,” Montoya said. “The clinic is to teach the logistics of fly-fishing. They’ll learn about tying knots and more to prepare for the trip this weekend.”
The session is limited to eight people because of the shortage in equipment, she said. However, if anyone has their own fly-fishing equipment, they are welcome to attend. Registration is available online at the Recreation Services website.
“We try to keep the group small that way they all get special attention from the instructor,” Montoya said. “The session is open to all students, faculty, staff and even their friends.”
She said the Getaway Adventure will be taught by a UNM alumnus Thomas Pena.
“Pena is the ‘master of the rivers.’ He came to me about 17 years ago as a student and suggested that we start fly-fishing. At the time, we didn’t have any equipment for it. Pena explained that he had all the equipment because of his job and we started from there,” Montoya said.
Pena said he is trying to teach the basics of fly-fishing.
“Fly-fishing is a technique,” Pena said. “I teach people how to recognize the waters and cast the reels. There is a certain mystery that surrounds fly-fishing. The reality is, there is no mystery. It is just the technique.”
Pena has been fishing since he was 10 years old. The first time he tried fly-fishing was on the San Juan River.
“The sport is very straightforward and logical,” he said. “These workshops are a great opportunity for people who don’t want to put out the expense and try to figure it out on their own. I do this to get people on the same level as far as knowledge, and then show them how to do it.”
There is always a cost for each Getaway Adventure, but it’s relatively low for the experience, Montoya said. The cost of fly-fishing this weekend is $77 if you have your own equipment or $88 if you are renting equipment from Recreation Services.
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“It is the best deal that you will be able to find,” she said. “We offer these getaways because the person won’t have to go out and buy the equipment in order to try something new. If a person tries a new thing out and finds they liked it, then we have offered a service at the minimum fee.”
The trip is overnight and fishers can camp out if they want. There will be another fly-fishing event on July 17 and 18 at Rio Costilla Park in northern New Mexico.
*Fly-fishing Getaway
Saturday and Sunday
San Juan River
Training clinic: Today
To register visit Recsvcs.unm.edu
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