February 27, 2026
By Fly Fisherman Staff
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George Daniel is the director of the Joe Humphreys Fly Fishing Program at Penn State University. George sits down with editor Ross Purnell to discuss fly fishing in extreme conditions, from low and clear conditions to fishing rising water, Daniel explains how adjusting your approach and tactics can lead to a successful day. In the second part of this special podcast, students who are currently enrolled at PSU become the "Loop to Loop" hosts and ask George about everything from fly-fishing careers to special moments on the water. You do not want to miss this one!
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Truncated transcript:
00:00:00.180 --> 00:00:31.950: My question for you is for new anglers who have already taken your class, but wanna take the next step into learning more, what do you recommend about staying involved in the local fishing community and how to keep learning after college? I think the one thing I wanted to know about your experience with the program is, in all your time here, what's like fulfilling thing you've done? I heard a lot of your stories about how you've been all over the world touring, doing the competitions. I would be curious to know, is there one of those experiences that has been the most memorable for you?
00:00:31.950 --> 00:00:58.590: What was that defining moment that made you know that this is what you wanted to do for the rest of your life? If you didn't go into fly fishing at such a young age, like what do you think you would do? What otherwise maybe prison? To be honest with you…
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00:00:58.590 --> 00:01:36.630: Loop to Loop is sponsored by Patagonia, high performing outerwear made responsibly for our planet. G Loomis, American-made fly rods manufactured in Woodland, Washington. Airflo, next-gen PVC-free fly lines with new tech, new formulas, and the same obsession. Dyna King, precision built vises to last a lifetime. Ross Reels, high performance reels, designed, machined, anodized, and assembled in Colorado for more than 50 years.
00:01:36.630 --> 00:02:01.320: Hi, I'm Ross Purnell, editor and publisher of Fly Fisherman magazine. Welcome to Loop to Loop, where we make deeper connections with the people behind the magazine. Today we are fortunate enough to be here at Penn State with George Daniel George is the director of the Joe Humphreys Fly Fishing program here at Penn State. We are on location in this podcast.
00:02:01.320 --> 00:02:18.450: I'm actually not gonna ask a heck of a lot of questions because we have a bunch of students from the program who are going to ask most of the, most of the questions. Welcome. Or actually I should say thank you for having us. I am your guest here. Yeah.
00:02:18.450 --> 00:02:50.580: Welcome to Penn State fly fishing. It's been a great honor. And just to sit in this classroom that is, and on this campus that is steeped in so much history. I guess I should explain like why, you know, we people watch this from all over the world, fly fishermen as readers all over the world. But at Penn State, the Penn State's a special place because it is where the very first accredited fly-fishing program at a university anywhere was started by George Harvey.
00:02:50.580 --> 00:03:14.920: Correct. And that was in 1934 and now almost a hundred years later. Yeah, we are here. And you are the director of the program. Yeah, and we're, we're in the same building that George Harvey was teaching fly casting back in the 30s and 40s. So it it's great. It's, we're part of a historic program and we're still in the same building where it all began...
