Sheridan High School Boys Team Places 3rd At Inaugural WY HS Fly Fishing State Championship

There was nothing ‘fishy’ regarding a new Wyoming high school competition.

Earlier this month, the first annual Wyoming High School Fly Fishing State Championship was held in Casper.

The event is a club activity, meaning it is not sanctioned by the Wyoming High School Activities Association.

A total of 9 teams, including Sheridan, participated in the inaugural event.

Sheridan High School Activities Director Kasey Garnhart was one of the event organizers and explains what he hopes the young fishermen and women learned from the experience.

“I think a little bit is, one, finding that lifetime activity. That’s the thing about fly fishing is that there’s not necessarily a shelf life, like there is in a lot of different sports, but then also just connecting and learning something new, get in touch with learning a little bit of entomology, learning a little bit about the rivers of Wyoming and then just learning a little bit about the trade of fly fishing. Getting to know the guides. Those guys got a good opportunity to be around some very top notch guides.”

Sheridan ended up placing 3rd in the competition.

The girls team from Cody took home the state championship trophy, and the Natrona County boys were 2nd.

Joey Puettman is the founder of the Sheridan Fly Rod Company as well as Joey’s Fly Fishing.

He says an open meet is scheduled for October and another state championship meet will be held next April in Casper.

Puettman adds in the past week, 10 new high school teams have joined the competition.