George Harvey?

[maxima12]

Let's hear some!

Maxima12

 

[maxima12]

George Harvey, Like picking up sacks of grain! The more you pick up, the stronger you get!

Maxima12

 

[Acristickid]

George Harvey the inventor

Pusher fly the fly you use

At night in the dark

 

[rrt]

GH was obviously one of the most important of PA's fly-fishermen. Thankfully, he got much of his fly-fishing history written down when he collaborated with Dan Shields on a book about fly-fishing. The books shows just how wonderful fly-fishing was during its early days in PA.

It also shows how Harvey helped to popularize it with his innovative fly-fishing class at Penn State.

I think Harvey is one of the real icons of PA's fly-fishing heritage. I think that he, Marinaro, Fox, Shenk, Grove, and Lose are among elite in PA's fly-fishing history. Crowe and Lively might also fit into this grouping of well-known flyfishers.

Nice that Maxima brought Harvey's name up. Harvey is one that I hope future generations of PA fly-fishermen remember.

 

[Fly-Swatter]

His green paperback was, bought for me by my dad, was my first FFing book way back in the early 80s. Good stuff!

 

[maxima12]

George Harvey, who is he. Think of Mosses, Not with a walking staff, a rod! 8 1/2 footer 5 weight!

Maxima12

 

[Tups]

RRT. Add Leisenring, Bashline and Meck to your PA pantheon.

 

[bugs4]

Many (many) years ago, I picked up a used Hardy LRH from Steve Sywensky. After fishing it for a couple of weeks, I asked Steve about the source of the reel. He said that it had belonged to George who was cleaning out some of the stuff he didn't use very much. I subsequently arranged to have George autograph the box and today it resides in the gun safe. I ran into George a number of times along Spring creek and he was always fun to talk to and a wealth of information. One morning in particular, he 'coached" me uninvited for about an hour during the Trico hatch.

 

[rrt]

Tups.

Leisenring and Bashline are indeed nice additions to the group. I would have included joe humphreys as part of this, too, if he had not sold out to the homewaters (aka spring ridge) commercial fishing club.

When I was a young PA fly-fisherman, I often felt I was fortunate to have had such examples as these to guide my thoughts.

There were also locals that I admired. There were some local fly-fishermen who were tossing dry flies around as early as the Cumberland Valley flyrodders. There were also several all-around trout fishermen who used flies when they figured that flies were better bets than the live baits they favored. One of these, Sam Lower (pronounced like "flower"), used two dry flies at a time long before more "modern" fly-fishermen "invented" the technique.

Anyhow, the late '60s and early '70s were good times to ease into fly-fishing. There were truly real icons of the sport around at that time.

Again, I'm glad that Maxi brought up the GH topic. It made for some nice remembrances, though I have strayed somewhat from the topic of GH himself.

 

[Trico3]

One day below the Paradise a car stopped and 2 guys in it were watching me fish. My friend said the passenger was George Harvey, he was watching you fish. I said yeah and he was saying- Wow that guy has no idea what he is doing! He probably wanted to get out and help me with my casting, that's for sure! This occurred very late in his life.

 

[scs_browntrout]

I just got done reading his book about 4 weeks ago, One part of book he stated he would see a hundred fish in a hole and nobody around and that he used to catch at least 25 fish a day, I revisit that thought everyday in my head.

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear Maxima,

In 1996 at the suggestion of Dan Shields, my brother Terry and I rented a cabin at Musick's in Aaronsburg the week leading up to Memorial Day. We were certain that we would fish Penns, and the Little J, and Big Fishing Creek, maybe even run up the Pine, or to Young Woman's or Kettle. The cabins were in the perfect location to get to about anywhere.

The first night we were there we went to Spring Creek. We didn't even bother to go anywhere else that entire week because of the incredible Sulphur hatch we hit that evening.

One day during the week around lunchtime we decided to take a break and head to Flyfisher's Paradise shop to visit with Dan and Steve. We chatted a bit, bought some flies and tippet, and just as we were getting ready to leave Steve Sywensky said, "Stick around boys, here comes George Harvey." So we did.

Steve introduced us to George, and my brother and I sat at the big table, and listened to George tell us many of the stories that later found the way into his book. We were there from 1:00 PM until the shop closed, mesmerized the whole time. It was absolutely a day neither my brother nor I will ever forget!

My brother Terry moved to Colorado the next year. I still kept going to Spring Creek though for several years after he moved. One day as I was fishing in Fisherman's Paradise I saw a white Subaru Outback slowly follow me downstream. A quiet voice called out, "Excuse me young man, how is the stream fishing?"

I turned, and there was George Harvey. I stopped fishing, walked over, and we spent a good 20 - 30 minutes blocking the road to the Paradise just talking about fishing and Spring Creek.

George Harvey was an exceptional fly fisherman, a great teacher and advocate for fly fishing, but above all he was a real gentleman and outdoorsman from an era long ago. He loved talking and sharing his knowledge, and for that I will always be grateful.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[Dave_W]

An extraordinary life story.

As many of you know, George was an avid runner who considered try outs for the 1936 Berlin Olympics were it not for an illness (I believe).

I don't know if GH continued running throughout his life... but I've often noted the vigor that runners often have throughout their often long and productive lives and wonder if GH fits this mold.

 

[Sharknado5]

A bit late to this topic-- George was from DuBois my home town. When he went to Penn State he initially roomed with my uncle, Al Michaels who fished a bit with George before he was famous. My uncle played football for PSU and eventually became a coach there and at NC State. But he never told me any George Harvey stories! I did meet George once at Steve's store and he signed my Dan Shields book. A very kind and friendly man.

 

[Billems]

While trying to teach myself the basics of trout fishing, I purchased Harveys "Techniques of Trout Fishing and Fly Tying." I found the book old fashioned. But the chapter on his dry fly leader intrigued me. When he promised that use of his leader would lead to double my catches, I bought the recommended hard mono (masons) and spools of the softer kind. I was still a sketchy caster, and the Harvey leader made my poor casting seem even worse. I returned to the knotless leaders for a number of months. But a friend, who was a skilled fisherman, mentioned that he used the Harvey formula in all his trout fishing. In those ensuing months I'd become better caster. So I once again tried the Harvey formula, using the bounce cast to induce the slack in the leader. Well, that method did indeed improve my catch rate. Greatly improved it. I was so happy with the formula that I wrote George a letter of appreciation, care of his book's publisher. He sent back a letter of acknowledgement, and invited me to fish with him if I was ever in the Keystone state. I had a young family then, little money and no time, and wasn't able to take up George's invitation. But a few years later, in a Fly Fisherman article he wrote about his new, soft mono formula, he mentioned my comments on his slack leader. He later mailed to me his memoir, a kind gesture. Now, it's 28 years later, and I still use his original leader (didn't care of the "softy") to this day. I'll never forget George's contribution to my fishing education.

 

[maxima12]

Billems, George was a friend and i offer to you, free, George Harvey leaders. 10 1/2 and 12 footers. These are the so called s curve leaders. It would be priceless to me, to share! As a reflection of a friendship shared!

I will need your address!