ABOUT JOE · IN HIS OWN WORDS
I am Joe Humphreys. I am 97 years old - 97 years young.
I have been fishing since I was six years old. From that moment on, I have lived, breathed, taught, and competed in the wonderful sport of fly fishing.
THE FIRST FISH
Spring Creek, six years old
I was six years old when my father took me to Spring Creek. Neither of us had ever fished or picked up a fishing rod. We were fishing worms with bamboo fly rods.
And my first cast - the worm luckily landed in the water - and then I felt a tug. And I pulled. And out came a trout. It flew up over my head and landed in the weeds behind me.
I was just in awe of the beauty of that fish. The halos. The spots.
My mother put it in a pan. With the red spots, and the orange spots, and the mottling - it was something wonderful that I never forgot. And she made me a sandwich from that trout. And it was the best sandwich I’d ever had in my life.
“I still today have a trout sandwich.”
- JOE HUMPHREYS
THOMPSON RUN · MY FIRST CLASSROOM
On my belly in the grass
Every day out of school, I was on my bicycle - fly rod across the handlebar, three peanut butter sandwiches in a bag - heading for Spring Creek or one of its tributaries. As I got older it was five peanut butter sandwiches, because I had a great appetite. And a jug of milk.
Thompson Run was my classroom. I would lie on the ground in my bib overalls - the dew on the grass - and I’d be soaked, crawling around. Because I knew the approach to the water. The fish did spook easily.
I would view trout. Watch them feed. Watch where they went, how they lifted, how they positioned themselves. It was like they were laying out a plan for me - how could I capture these fish? How could I catch one of these?
GEORGE HARVEY
My mentor
George Harvey was my mentor.
I first met George when I was a youngster. I was fishing a stretch of Spring Creek called the Sawmill stretch. A broken loop, a fly I couldn’t get back on the leader. A man pointed to George up the stream and said: that gentleman - that’s George Harvey. I’ll bet he’ll be able to help you.
George had just released a trout. He was catching trout after trout. There was a hatch - probably a sulfur hatch. And so he stopped and took the time for me.
That was one of my early meetings with George.
George Harvey had more insights than anybody in the United States or the world. He created the tuck cast that got nymphs to fish. He was a pioneer. I learned so much from him. And we were also great friends.
The Harvey Leader - the certified instructor title in this program - carries his name forward. As it should.
THE HARVEY LEADER
NAMED FORGeorge Harvey - Joe’s mentor
HE CREATEDThe tuck cast - got nymphs to fish
HIS NAME LIVES ONEvery certified instructor in this program
WHAT GEORGE DANIEL SAID ABOUT JOE
What George Daniel Said About Joe
George Daniel - who went on to become a World Fly Fishing Champion and one of the most recognized fly fishing instructors in the country - wrote the foreword to the 2022 edition of “On the Trout Stream with Joe Humphreys.” He makes four points worth putting here.
He could do both at once. Daniel describes Joe performing casting and nymphing demonstrations at fly fishing shows in front of large crowds - performing at the highest level while simultaneously making every step understandable to a beginner watching. Daniel calls this one of the most difficult things to do in fly fishing instruction, and says Joe was better at it than anyone he had seen.
He invented it before it had a name. Daniel identifies Joe as one of the first American anglers to fish tight-line nymphing without an indicator - the technique that decades later became known as Euro nymphing and swept competitive fly fishing internationally. Joe arrived at it independently through decades of reading Pennsylvania water. He was fishing this way before it had a name.
His teaching is about understanding, not scripts. Joe’s approach is not about memorizing a sequence. It is about understanding what is happening at each step so the student can adapt on the water rather than follow a script.
He measured success differently. “Joe cared not only about his students’ success in fly fishing, but how often they did it in their lives.” Joe’s measure was not whether a student could execute the tuck cast. It was whether they kept coming back to the water.
“The good spirit sticks in your mind - and the fly-fishing teachings of Joe Humphreys will be timeless as well.”
- GEORGE DANIEL
THE BILL COLE PRINCIPLE
Fundamentals refined to perfection
Bill Cole was Penn State University’s wrestling coach. I worked under Bill for two years as an assistant. Bill was a three-time national champion with a record of 72-and-0.
His words to me were these. And they stayed with me:
“The most basic fundamentals refined to perfection are your most advanced techniques.”
- BILL COLE
And so it goes with fly fishing. Your basic fundamentals - that very short casting stroke - this is what gets you into fish. It gets you into places you couldn’t get to otherwise. These are the basics. Refined to perfection. They are your most advanced techniques.
THE STATE RECORD
A 34-inch, 16-pound brown trout
I have Pennsylvania’s largest fly-caught trout on record for 11 years. A 34-inch, 16-pound brown trout. Fishing at night. This is when the big fish feed.
Three years before I landed that fish, I heard an explosion in the water one night on Spring Creek. It went stone quiet. I knew it had to be a heck of a fish. So the quest began. I fished for that fish for three years.
One night my buddy called: Joe, I’m sick of watching television. Are you going to fish? Let’s go.
And I cast back under the hemlock boughs into the backwater off the riffle. And the line stopped. And it was like a washtub rolling over.
I didn’t have a net. It wouldn’t have done any good anyhow - I didn’t have one big enough. So he was floundering in the rocks at my feet. I got both arms under him and threw him up on the bank.
The warden measured it. A 34-inch, 16-pound brown trout. The previous record was 33.
“I’ve always wanted a 20-pound brown. That’s been my drive through life.”
- JOE HUMPHREYS
THE RECORD FISH
THE FISH34 in, 16 lb brown trout
CAUGHTAt night - when the big fish feed
THE QUESTThree years stalking one fish
PA RECORD HELD11 years - previous record was 33
WHY I TEACH
Nothing succeeds like success
What happens to people if they don’t have proper instruction and they don’t have any direction and they try it unsuccessfully on their own? Frustrations build.
But when nothing succeeds like success - when you have instruction and you say, whoa, this is kind of fun - when you catch a fish, you’re off and running. You never forget.
Fishing was the catalyst that moved me from the depths of despair into a whole new life. I was a problem kid. Didn’t like school. The only thing I wanted to do was fish.
I think about this when I’m working with children. How can I help these kids? That book gave me a new start on life. Hopefully what I do - I hope maybe it gives somebody direction.
I’ve made fly fishing my livelihood. I’ve taught thousands of students over a period of many years. I will continue to teach until I finally reach the bottom of that mountain.
“Kids are the future of this wonderful sport.”
- JOE HUMPHREYS
REQUIRED VIEWING
Live the Stream (2016)
The documentary following Joe Humphreys at age 97. If you want to understand this program - where it comes from, what it sounds like, why it matters - watch this film first.
All program instructors are required to watch it before leading their first session.
Search “Live the Stream Joe Humphreys” to find where it’s currently streaming.