Fly-Fishing Community Raises $20K to Help Homeless Teen Start a New Life

It’s been said many times that fly fishing can change your life.

Perhaps there’s never been a clearer case of than the story of 16-year-old Carl DeMagistris.

His parents lost their home and their business during the COVID pandemic, and the family has spent the last few years living in a tent in a campground along the shores of Lake Lanier in north Georgia, where his father Nick DeMagistris is a campground host.

Carl, who his parents say was home schooled, became interested in fly fishing while living along the lake. He was given $100 from an anonymous campground guest which he took to Wal-Mart to purchase a 5-weight rod and some flies, but was not succeeding at casting or at catching fish.

His father, 53-year-old Nick DeMagistris wanted to get information and casting instruction his 16th birthday, so he went on a Facebook group called Lake Lanier Fishing Fanatics, and made an appeal.

“What he said was basically that he didn’t know anything about fly fishing, and wanted some advice on what he do for his son for his birthday,” said Henry Cowen, a longtime fly-fishing guide on Lake Lanier and author of the book, Fly Fishing for Freshwater Striped Bass.

Cowen privately messaged Nick, and encouraged him to bring Carl to a monthly Bugs & Suds event at Alpharetta Outfitters, where he arranged for private casting lessons. Cowen met Carl at the event, and purchased a 8-weight rod, reel, and line outfit for him from Alpharetta Outfitters owner Jeff Wright.

With just this little nudge, Carl began his fly-fishing journey. His fly casting improved with the instruction and the new tackle, and Carl was soon regularly attending fly-tying events at Alpharetta Outfitters.

Cowen then spoke to his longtime friend Dr. Mark Lamos, who was Lefty Kreh’s doctor and a mutual fishing friend, and Lamos donated a Renzetti vise so Carl could tie on his own.

Nick in turn sent a photo to show his gratitude. It showed Carl sitting on the floor of the family tent, tying flies on his Renzetti vise.

As winter set in, Cowen and Wright began to worry about how their young friend and his family would survive the persistent cold fronts coming front the north. The winter of 2025/2026 was proving to be one of the coldest on record. Cowen’s wife Tina suggested that if strangers could donate fly-fishing tackle and fly-tying supplies, perhaps they could also raise money to help the DeMagistris move into a more permanent shelter.

So on January 27, Cowen—with support from Alpharetta Outfitters, Jimmy Harris and Unicoi Outfitters, and Gabe Wittosch at The Fish Hawk in Atlanta—set up a GoFundMe account to raise money for the purchase of a hard-sided camper for the family.

“We hoped we could raise a few thousand dollars for a used camper, which would be much better than the tent, which had collapsed from snow and wind,” said Cowen.

In less than 10 days, they raised $20,000 for the family, and on February 9, Cowen paid $12,500 for a 2022 camper, paid $700 for minor repairs, spent another $1,000 on extras like cables and mattresses, and another $1,000 for plates, insurance and taxes. Some of the money went to repair the family’s 2014 Nissan Morano to help Zabrina DeMagistris get to her housekeeping job.

According to Cowen, most of the donors came from individuals in the north Georgia area. Upper Chattahoochee Trout Unlimited and Lily & Andy Renzetti also made significant donations.

"The north Georgia fly-fishing community came together to help a fellow young fly angler and his family in need,” said Cowen. "It took a village and they quickly rallied with compassion.”

Cowen says the rest of the money will go into an emergency fund and may be used to help Carl get a job in the future.

“The amazing thing to me is that none of this would have happened if it wasn’t for fly-fishing,” said Cowen.

Jimmy Harris of Unicoi Outfitters in Helen Georgia agreed.

"This is one of the coolest things I’ve ever been a part of,” said Harris. "We have a great fly-fishing community, don’t we?"

Donate to the GoFundMe here. 

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