Derek Edwards, a junior chemical engineering student at West Virginia University, will appear in an episode of “Fly Rod Chronicles with Curtis Fleming” on the Outdoor Channel.

The episode features Edwards, Fleming and members of his production team teaching students from Chestnut Mountain Ranch in Morgantown the ins and outs of fly fishing. Edwards was invited to the shoot to represent WVU as the WVU Fly Fishing Club President.

The group filmed the episode at a private farm in Preston County, where students learned to tie and cast the rod, as well as tips and tricks to snag fish.

“Flying fishing wasn’t something my father or grandfather did, I got into it through a child mentoring program just like this,” Edwards, who is from Latrobe, Pennsylvania, said. “It’s cool for me to give back in the same way I started.”

Edwards founded the Fly Fishing Club at WVU in the spring of 2013. He saw the club as a much-needed outlet for students to take a break from schoolwork and enjoy the great outdoors. Membership has doubled since the club’s inception, and it regularly participates in fishing trips, community service and stream restoration projects.

“It is rare to see young people so passionate about the outdoors these days,” said Paul Kinder, a research scientist in the Division of Resource Management in WVU’s Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design faculty adviser of the club. “It’s extraordinary to see this young man share his passion through teaching and fly fishing with others.”

The episode will be part of the new season of “Fly Rod Chronicles with Curtis Fleming,” and will premiere in January 2015. Fleming, the host and executive producer of the show, is a Bridgeport resident and a sponsor of the WVU Fly Fishing Club. Many episodes focus on locations and people from across West Virginia.

“We want to continue to foster our relationship with the WVU Fly Fishing Club,” Fleming said. “Derek has created a club for all colleges throughout the nation to model.”

“Curtis is a great asset to the WVU Fly Fishing Club,” Edwards said. “We hope to continue our relationship with him and work on more projects together in the future.”

-WVU-

bmd/10/22/14

CONTACT: Mary C. Dillon, Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources
304.293.4086, Mary.Dillon@mail.wvu.edu

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