Jim Casada, Sporting Classics’ editor at large and books columnist, will soon have another credit to his name. Casada is one of this year’s six inductees into Southern Trout magazine’s “Legends of the Fly” Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony will take place February 2 in Atlanta, Georgia, as The Fly Fishing Show passes through town.
Casada has written numerous times about fly fishing, specifically that done in the Southeast. Perhaps his greatest work on the subject is Fly Fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In it, he provides a step-by-step guide on fishing America’s most popular national park, including everything from lure selection to local lore. There are also photos and maps of all the major streams—a labor of love fitting for an angler with deep roots in the area.
“By happy geographical circumstance, I was born in Bryson City, North Carolina, squarely on the doorstep of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and arguably the finest fly fishing for wild trout to be found east of the Rockies,” Casada said. “Add a father who loved the sport to that opportunity, and for me fly fishing became a lifelong pursuit of passion while providing me with what Daddy laughingly described as a ‘marvelously misspent life.’
“This recognition, one which a simple hillbilly could never have imagined, forms a landmark in a life where tight lines and fine times have loomed mighty large. As any son of the Smokies might say, ‘It makes me passin’ proud.’”
Casada was similarly honored in 2016 by becoming one of the first four inductees into North Carolina’s Fly Fishing Museum of the Southern Appalachians. He received the Communications nomination for his many written works promoting fly fishing as a whole and the Great Smoky Mountain region in particular.
The five other inductees into the “Legends of the Fly” Hall of Fame are Walter Babb, Roger Lowe, Kevin Howell, Byron Begley, and Alen Baker.
Make plans to attend and help Jim celebrate his induction, and be sure to visit jimcasadaoutdoors.com for more of his great fly fishing works.
