Reel deal: North Allegheny graduate qualifies for Fly Fishing World Championships

As a youngster growing up in McCandless near Pine Creek, Michael Komara had a natural inclination to go fish.

“I was given a hand-me-down rod and reel, and I definitely didn’t do well for the first couple of years,” he said. “But I was out there.”

His perseverance paid off to the point where he’s heading to France in June to compete in the 2024 Fly Fishing World Championships as one of the top-ranked anglers in the United States.

For those not so familiar with the sport, it involves using a small lure that generally resembles an insect, worm or other minuscule invertebrate.

“The main difference is the way you cast it out,” Komara said. “Instead of all the weight being in the lure, it’s in the line.”

However it’s done, the 2018 North Allegheny High School graduate excels at casting and catching.

Fly Fishing Team USA, which selects anglers to represent the country at national and international competitions, has him ranked third overall in points compiled for its 2022-24 cycle, and he tops the list for the group’s North East Region.

“At the beginning of a competition, you get randomly assigned a group and a section of water or multiple sections of water,” Komara said. “You get about three hours to fish it, and it is 100 points per fish and 20 points per centimeter long. So it puts an emphasis on number of fish, but it also gives some bonus points for size.”

Komara has racked up points competitively since he was 13, eventually qualifying for the U.S. Youth Fly Fishing Team and serving as its captain for 2018-19. While he was a member, the squad earned bronze and silver medals in world championship tournaments, which took him to Slovenia, Poland the Czech Republic.

The international experience prompted him to try the waters of other countries.

“Right after college, I took some time off and went to South America for a couple of months,” he said, with his travels taking him through Chile and Argentina. “I lived out of the back of a mid-sized sedan and drove around, and caught a bunch of different fish there.”

Along with competing against other anglers, he likes to challenge himself.

“I really enjoy catching new species and especially ones that aren’t normally targeted, because there’s not a lot of info out there on how to catch them or where to find them,” Komara said, noting that he’s reeled in about 90 different types. “A lot of them are kind of just random. You’re targeting one thing, and some new type of sunfish ends up on the end of your line.”

While visiting a fishing friend in Texas, he caught an alligator gar, among the largest freshwater species in North America. The torpedo-shaped animal can grow up to 8 feet long and weigh more than 300 pounds, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Another catch of note was in Florida: a clown knifefish, renowned among ichthyologists for its ability to swim backward as easily as forward.

A 2022 graduate of Penn State University with a degree in material science engineering, Komara now lives in Carlisle, working as a research and development chemist in the polymer industry. In his spare time, he runs Fringe Fly Fishing, a guide service providing “tools and tactics to get the most from your time on the water.”

For more information, visit fringeflyfishing.com.