Turning Points in the Life of a Fisherman

The author used fishing and especially fly fishing as coping mechanisms for his self-diagnosed case of cyclothymia, a mild version of bipolar disorder, a disease that ran deeply in his family. His love of fishing led to major turning points that helped shape the course of his life as he progressed from a young hillbilly in the mountains of Virginia to eventually becoming a chaired professor of Forestry at Clemson University. His journey began at age 12 when he caught a 3-pound smallmouth bass from the Cowpasture River. The joy he received from fishing led him to Yellowstone, where he became "addicted" during his five summers as a seasonal employee to trout fishing the famous and not so famous streams in the park. The wonders of Yellowstone instilled in him a love of the natural world and resulted in him pursuing Forestry for his life's work. Upon completion of his BS and MS degrees at Virginia Tech, the lure of fishing for steelhead --- an anadromous rainbow trout---played a role in leading him to the University of Idaho to pursue a PhD in Forest Sciences. Although he only caught twelve of these giant rainbows, he did manage to catch one on his new fly rod, which further sealed his addiction to fl y fi shing. Following a Post-Doctoral appointment at the University of Florida during which he caught a ten-pound bass and conducted research on forest nutrition, Van Lear was offered a faculty position in the Department of Forest Resources at Clemson University. During his 35 years at Clemson, he and his wife made almost annual visits in the fall to various locations in the Rockies, especially Yellowstone, to fish for trout. In 2010 Trout Unlimited presented Van Lear with its Distinguished Service Award for his 20 years of leadership in stream and brook trout restoration efforts in South Carolina. Fishing, he calls it a positive addiction, helped him work at a hypomanic pace and stabilized his infrequent periods of mild depression, allowing him to have a very successful career and a happy life.