Reeling In the Big One : Recreation: Fly-fishing is catching on in Southern California where 17 clubs offer activities for men, women and kids.

When Dick Thies, an avid fly-fisherman from Long Beach, first took his son, Bryan, fly-fishing, the 12-year-old would “get skunked.” The trout eluded him, and he ended the day empty-handed.

“When you’re young, it’s discouraging when you don’t catch anything,” Thies said.

“I would tell him, ‘That’s why they call this sport fishing, not catching.’ When you develop your ability to choose the best lure or artificial fly, develop your casting ability so you lay the fly on the water in a natural way and analyze where the fish are, you change fishing into catching. And the joy of the sport is in the catching.”

Thies, like 99% of fly-fishers, believes in catching fish with a barbless hook, then returning his prey to the waters.

“A fish can be caught over and over if it is carefully revived and released,” said Duane Chebul, of Granada Hills.

Chebul, who is a detective for the Inglewood Police Department, is president of Sierra Pacific Flyfishers, one of 17 fly-fishing clubs in the Southland, all part of Yellowstone-based International Federation of Fly Fishers.

Fly-fishing is a growing sport for men, women and children of all ages. Famous fishers--Jimmy and Rosalind Carter, and Prince Charles--enjoy the sport just as much as non-celebrities.

Most of the Southern California clubs--many have from 100 to 300 members--hold monthly meetings, sponsor several annual fishing outings, present classes in tying the artificial flies used as lures, and offer an opportunity for newcomers to the sport to learn skills from experienced anglers.

Grace Thies, a proficient caster and an executive secretary with McDonnell Douglas, accompanies her husband on several fishing trips each year.

“I have a sense of accomplishment when I fish,” she said. “I’m accepted on the stream as an equal. I also enjoy being in the wilderness.”

Fishing for food dates to ancient times when primitive humans tried to catch dinner from a lake or stream using a hook and line.

During the Middle Ages, the medieval passion for chivalry and learning led to a sporting attitude toward fishing.

In the 15th Century, Dame Juliana Berners, a sportswoman, wrote “Treatise on Fishing With an Angle,” the first writing in English about modern sport fishing.

Dame Juliana described the delights of making a rod, coloring a line, making a fly and taking a fish. Her treatise also introduced the first modern trout flies--realistic simulations of the gastronomic delicacies that tempt fish to bite.

“Most rivers have a lot of bugs,” said Steve Feig, president of the Flyfishers Club of Orange County. “You look to see what bugs are on the surface to know which fly to use on your line.”

Most fishers tie their own flies using feathers, fur, yarn and synthetic materials. Fishers who prefer to catch saltwater fish tie streamers that simulate bait fish.

The artificial fly is tied to a fine, almost invisible leader, which is long enough to avoid frightening the fish when it hits the water and to fool them into thinking that the artificial fly is food. The leader is tied to a heavier line and threaded through the guides of the fly rod, which is used to cast the line and present the fly.

The fly reel, a storage space for the line, is also used to fight the fish. Anglers cast out 15 to 100 feet of line, depending on whether they are fishing in a small stream, a wide river or the surf.

“When you cast, your objective is to set the fly on the water in as natural a manner as possible,” Thies said. “The rod is an extension of the forearm and that powers your line to carry the fly to where the fish are. The frustrations are many: trees and weeds behind you, and rocks in the stream where your line or fly may get caught.”

Most aficionados trek to casting ponds in Long Beach and Pasadena to hone their skills. There also is a pond in Balboa Park in San Diego. The ponds are filled with 18 inches of water--deep enough to float the Hula-Hoop-size rings that casters use to perfect their accuracy in laying the lure. Some fly-casters practice at lakes in regional parks; others go to the sea.

Ocean fly-fishing presents a special challenge. Many of the fish are much larger and stronger than their freshwater cousins. Naturally, heavier equipment is used to catch larger fish.

“You can catch anything from a bonita, which weighs two to five pounds, to a sail fish weighing over 100 pounds,” said Steve Petit, a Pasadena gastroenterologist who belongs to Saltwater Flyrodders Pacific.

Saltwater fly-fishers fish from shore, breakwater or boat. While most catch and release their fish, probably more ocean fish are kept than are the freshwater trout.

“In Hawaii where I ocean fish, we’ve released large fish if we have no reason to keep it,” said Michael Maloney, an institutional real estate investment broker from San Marino. “We might keep a fish if we wanted to eat it that same night.”

Maloney was honing his casting skills at the Pasadena Casting Club pond in Lower Arroyo Park on a recent chilly Sunday afternoon.

“Freshwater fly-casting requires more finesse,” he said, pausing in his concentration in placing the line. He was receiving pointers from Pauline Cathcart of Pasadena, a national champion in accuracy and distance casting.

“You can get tired casting if you’re not doing it properly, but it’s easy to do with the right technique,” he said.

It also takes skill to spot where the fish might be hiding.

“You need to learn to read the stream,” says Feig of the Orange County club. “Ninety percent of the fish are in 10 percent of the spots.”

Feig and other fly-fishers like to share their enthusiasm with youngsters.

“We take kids out to the west fork of San Gabriel River, which is a catch-and-release area,” he said.

“The key to teaching a kid how to fish is to take him where there are fish. Even little children as young as age 7 understand catch-and-release. We train them to release the fish so that it is not hurt. There is a technique to it.

“You try not to take the fish out of the water. You cradle it in your hands, and when it is breathing normally, you know it has revived and is ready to swim away.”

Conservation is a major activity of fly-fishing clubs.

“Deep Creek Flyfishers club is involved with conservation in the Deep Creek area near Lake Arrowhead and Bear Creek out of Big Bear Lake,” said Charles Cole, a water and waste-water engineer active in the club. “We clean up the stream areas and put up signs saying the area is catch and release area.”

Pasadena Casting Club members work on habitat restoration of the west fork of the San Gabriel River.

The San Fernando Valley-based Sierra Pacific Flyfishers hope to create an outdoor classroom in a wilderness area of Piru Creek, which flows out of Pyramid Dam to Lake Piru in Ventura County.

“Fishing takes you away from the stresses of life,” Cole said. “It gives me self-gratification to give something back through conservation.”