As Whidbey Island Fly Fishing Club member Jeff Sturm stands knee-deep in the running water, he casts again and again for hours, sharpening his sword, to touch the surface of the water with his lure the way a fly would. To him, this is mindfulness training.

“If I’m having a bad day or something, nothing puts me in a better mood,” he said.

Members of the club, which began 32 years ago, want to share the love of the sport with fellow Whidbey Island residents. They will host an introductory flyfishing course at 4 p.m. on July 9 in the Coupeville Library.

Flyfishing brings different challenges than traditional angling. Sturm likens it more to hunting, as the angler must learn to stalk the fish. He assesses his environment, working with the elements to make his cast like a puzzle to be solved.

“It helps recenter me and my Zen place, I think,” he said, “just the rhythm of the casting.”

Once someone is hooked into flyfishing, Sturm said, there are endless distributaries to wander, like building nets and studying the lifecycles of insects.

Whidbey poses different puzzles to anglers than elsewhere. Without favorable river locations, anglers must adapt to lakes and saltwater. Club members frequent Campbell and Pass lakes on Fidalgo and Lone and Goss lakes near Langley.

Sturm prefers fishing off the beach, pursuing sea-run cutthroat trout, a unique native species that starts in freshwater and migrates to the sea. Bull trout is another special pursuit, he said. Anglers learn the fishery schedule and the fish’s seasonal migration patterns.

In saltwater especially, fish don’t stick to one spot, he said, so the game becomes observing how the fish move with the tide and weather, casting over and over. Then, just two miles down the beach, the elements present an entirely different puzzle.

The club brings anglers together and shares resources, Sturm said, promoting environmental conservation and education. They also take several trips each year to fruitful locations like the Yakima River near Ellensburg, Sant Joe River in Idaho and even farther like Montana, New Mexico and Mexico.

July’s course is geared toward the novice and the curious. Club members will provide the tools needed to get started, covering equipment, locations and ethics. Learn more at wiffc.com.

Photo Provided Whidbey Island Fly Fishing Club members fish at twilight.