Ever since George Daniel was 6 years old, he’s been working to get where he is now.

A brand ambassador, author, and photographer, Daniel has been the lead instructor and director of the Joe Humphreys Fly Fishing program at Penn State since 2019. Long before residency in the fly fishing office in Rec Hall, though, Daniel was a child fishing on a kids-only stretch of the Germania branch in Potter County.

As his fascination with the sport of fly fishing grew, so did his knowledge. Daniel would read everything he could on the subject, including books by Joe Humphreys, who the program is named after today.

“I started reading about Joe [Humphreys] and George Harvey, who started the program here in the 1930s,” Daniel said. “I just kept thinking ‘Man, that would be a sweet gig.’ Since that point at age 13, this was a job I’ve always wanted.”

Penn State’s fly fishing program has a rich history. Established by Harvey in the 1930s after a day spent trout fishing with the dean of the university, the program is one of the oldest of its kind. The dean that Harvey out-fished with his fly rod was curious about the sport and asked Harvey if he could teach him and a group of professors the fundamentals of fly fishing. Harvey’s expertise resonated with the group of instructors, and eventually, fly fishing was turned into an undergraduate elective in 1947.

Even today, the Joe Humphreys Fly Fishing Program stands alone as a unique offering that sits above the likes of other institutions.

Throughout the years, the program has been run by legends of the sport like Humphreys, and Daniel joined the list of lead instructors in 2019 after having made an impact on the fly fishing community himself. Daniel met Humphreys as a teenager and Humphreys took the young angler under his wing. While being mentored by a nationally-recognized fisherman, Daniel said his learning curve accelerated, and his career started to take shape.

After completing his graduate work at Penn State, Daniel got involved with Team USA Fly Fishing, where he competed in five World Championships and is a two-time U.S. Fly Fishing Champion.

“There is a combination of five rivers or lakes, and each of the five anglers on the team will fish each of the five venues over the course of five days, with one day at each venue,” Daniel said. “You have a controller with you that measures the fish and times when you catch them. For every fish, it’s 200 points for 20 centimeters and an additional 15 points for every centimeter above 20. It’s usually a numbers game, but it’s about being efficient and catching as many fish in the shortest amount of time.”

Once Daniel was done competing, he began coaching. He coached both the adult and youth national teams while beginning to write articles, books, and schedule speaking engagements. Along with writing, Daniel picked up photography, too. While he says he’s always loved the art of photography, he’s started to hone his skills and combine them with fly fishing for the past five years.

Today, Daniel teaches KINES 4, Principles of Fly Tying and Fly Fishing for Trout, along with an advanced class that hones the skills learned in the introductory class. The principles class addresses the “bare bones,” and covers basic casting, entomology, and fly tying.

The first seven to eight weeks are spent in the lab learning the ins and outs of the sport before moving to the water for the second half of the class. Trout are a tricky species of fish, though. Even with eight weeks of theory, landing one in a tight catch-and-release stream is a tall task. Even though the course is named fly fishing for trout, Daniel is working to expand.

“If you want students to feel bad about themselves, you take them to our technical trout streams,” Daniel said. “These fish have been caught and released over and over again, so they have a PhD in fly detection.”

To help his students find success, Daniel has begun taking the anglers to Colyer Lake, Sayers Lake, and Lake Perez where they can fish for bass and other species to build confidence before heading to the trout streams. Because such a small percentage of the world’s water is considered trout water, building experience with other fish species will pay dividends across the angler’s lifetime.

The lifetime aspect of the sport is what Daniel believes should drive students to take it up. Humphreys turned 96 in January, and according to Daniel, credits the excitement of fly fishing and always having something to look forward to as one of the reasons he’s enjoyed a long life.

“There are some activities that once you hit a certain age, your physical ability is limited to what you can do, but fly fishing is one of those activities you can do for the rest of your life,” Daniel said. “You can go outside, get some fresh air, and get detached.”

Along with learning a life-long hobby, Daniel believes the program emphasizes the importance of conservation. Those who understand the available resources are more equipped to help protect them, ensuring the longevity of the sport, the waterways, and the fish that live in them.

For Daniel, creating and nurturing that love of the sport is one of the best parts of the job.

“So the hope is, especially with urban sprawl and all these environmental issues we’re gonna be dealing with down the road, we just need people to kind of help want to protect the limited resources that we have,” Daniel said. “Fly fishing is definitely one of the ways to create a steward of the resources.”