The Mayfly Project

BY DWAIN HEBDA  PHOTOGRAPHY BY NOVO STUDIO

Founded in Arkansas in 2015 and rolling out nationally a year later, The Mayfly Project provides excursions to kids in the foster care system, teaching them a new appreciation for the outdoors and providing mentoring opportunities out on the water, while mastering the art of fly-fishing.  

“Fly-fishing, I think, is an all-encompassing sport,” said Jess Westbrook, a Benton native who founded the group with his wife, Laura. “Out there on the river, it’s not like traditional fishing. The casting motion is different and requires more thought process. There’s stuff all the time that has to be done while you’re fly-fishing. The way that you cast and the way you present flies to fish requires more of a mental aspect. You don’t have time to think about what’s happening at home. 

“There are also scientists and doctors doing research about the healing properties of water. It’s actually a proven fact that the sound of running water will calm stress and calm anxiety. There’s scientific research out there about what the outdoors can do for a person mentally.” 

Westbrook said these in-the-moment elements are what make fly-fishing so appealing to foster children and set the table for volunteer mentors to help kids develop coping and problem-solving skills that can be applied in adulthood.  

“We have a 109-page curriculum that has everything from fish IDs to where fish lay in trout streams,” he said. “We also have a section on the characteristics of an angler that talks about building grit and patience. We talk about, ‘Remember that time you had to change flies, like, five times before it finally ate? It’s the same thing with this math problem. You’re building grit. You’re creating patience.’ 

“We believe that these things are learned somewhat subtly with fly-fishing and we point them out to our kids when we’re working through some of those situations. We do believe the things they learn on the river can be applied to everyday life.” 

To date, about 250 kids ages 8 to 18 have been mentored through The Mayfly Project’s program, which includes five excursions over a six-month period. Westbrook estimates that works out to about 1,250 outings in 30 states since 2016. He said the culminating presentation of a fly-fishing setup at the end of each project is especially meaningful. 

“The cool thing is, we like to connect our kids to their local ecosystem,” Westbrook said. “When the kids leave our program, they get everything they need to fly-fish on their own. We give them their own fly rod, their own pack, their own flies, indicators, everything.  

“From then on, no matter where a kid’s at in their life, no matter where they go or no matter where the foster care system takes them, they always have their fly rod. Hopefully they can always find their home on the water.”