BRIDGEPORT, W.Va (WDTV) – Curtis Fleming hosts Fly Rod Chronicles, promoting state tourism through fishing adventures.

“My father and mother took me down to Cherokee, North Carolina. And we went down there and stayed on the reservation. And I’ve got an actual picture of me catching my first fish. And I was two years and a month old. And then we started going somewhere in West Virginia every weekend. That it was nice. And that’s where I really got the deep, deep love,” Fleming said.

His love for fishing started at a young age and continued through adolescence.

Early mentors shaped outdoor passion

“In middle school, and they had the outdoor club. And we had some of the greatest mentors in the world. I mean, you know, Joe Leonetti, his name is up on the wall at the gymnasium in the new middle school that he wasn’t even at, you know. And like Al Lanzi and these guys would give up their time and take us all up to Spruce Knob,” Fleming said.

Originally a teacher, fishing was never far from Fleming’s mind.

“I always wanted to figure out how I could make a living at fishing and hunting. And I was a teacher, and I was working with inner city kids, and I started teaching them how to fly fish. And then I would take them to a 101 class for like a four-day weekend. And I watched these kids, these inner city kids, rough, tough kids that were getting kicked out of school and getting kicked out of their communities, thriving in the outdoors. And we would start as little as just building a fire. Here’s how you do it. I fell in love with just watching these kids get into this,” Fleming said.

From the classroom to television, he figured out how to turn it into a career. Fleming is the host of Fly Rod Chronicles, a weekly fishing show seen locally on WDTV, nationally on ESPN2 and the Pursuit Channel, and internationally on Wild TV.

“I come up with the show, the concept. I didn’t want the show to be about Curtis Fleming. I wanted it to be about my travels, the people we met, the food we eat, you know, the tourism, all the attractions. I didn’t want it just to be another fishing show. So, you know, my next sale was to go back to my wife and say, Shelly, I’m going to quit my job and start a fishing show. And I always tell people that I’m the bravest guy in the world because if any guys that I’m talking to want to go home and tell their wife they’re going to quit a good job and start a fishing show, good luck with that. But she was like, do you know anything about it? And I’m like, I’m learning. And we went out and shot a pilot, sent it in the Outdoor Channel. And they’re like, can you send us 12 more like that?” Fleming said.

The show is now in its 24th season and has over 300 episodes to its credit.

“It’s been a dream come true to be able to do this and to see where it’s grown. And hard to believe that we’ve been to so many cool destinations,” Fleming said.

Promoting West Virginia tourism

Despite his travels, Fleming’s heart is in West Virginia.

“We all have that memory of what it was like growing up here in West Virginia and how great it was. And so I really wanted to bring that into the show. And I wanted to show off our state, you know, show how great it is. I tell everyone I’ve been in 49 states and we in West Virginia, we have the biggest, largest outdoor playground in the world. I mean, it’s just what we can do here in West Virginia is amazing. That’s been one of my biggest achievements is the partnership with the state of West Virginia. Because, you know, we need to figure out different ways to bring in people. And the state saw that it wasn’t just a fishing show, that it was showing off our attractions, showing off the best food, the cool places to go. We have people coming from England, we have people coming from France, from all over the United States, just from our little TV show, coming to West Virginia,” Fleming said.

Fleming says he has no plans of slowing down.

“We just, in December, had our first granddaughter, and then we’re going to have a grandson here in a couple weeks. So I want to get four generations on the show, and I think that would be cool. So it kind of sounds like the kids don’t have a choice whether they’re going to fish or not, right?” Fleming said.

The grandkids will help Fleming continue to promote his love of fishing.

“You know, it was about getting kids into the outdoors, and it circles us back to, you know, I want to be like Joe Leonetti and Al Lanzi and the guys that were there for us. So it’s about getting everyone involved in the sport,” Fleming said.

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