BOZEMAN — The Montana State football team will trade footballs for fly fishing rods this weekend.
It's the second year of the event, with last year's turnout including around 40 players.
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This year it's a full team event led by Jason Fleury, the owner of TroutChasers Lodge.
"(With) the success of it last year and the excitement those players had doing it, they all (thought it) was awesome and they wanted to do it even more," Fleury said. "With that, we (wanted to get) more of these players out ... and coach (Brent) Vigen saw the importance of that and decided to make it a team event."
Sean Herrin, MSU's director of football strength and conditioning, spoke on the similar traits between the two sports.
"Obviously there's some things that translate. ... There's an art to it, there's technique," Herrin said. "You've got to be patient. You're not going to master it in one day, so it takes repetition and practice just like it does in football."
Fly fishing can provide a different benefit for football players.
"It's a good way for guys to get on the water and have a mental reprieve where all you're focused on is trying to catch a fish," Herrin said. "You're not thinking about school, your playbook or who we're playing this Saturday."
As a former football player himself, Fleury knows how great of a relief fly fishing can be in multiple ways.
"It puts you in some ice cold water. And after practicing all week and a game on Saturday and your body's beat up, to go stand in that ice cold water is fantastic for your body," he said. "It's fantastic for your mind because you're focused on what you're doing."
The players, including defensive back Takhari Carr, benefited from learning on the field ahead of the team's days out on the river.
"It went pretty good. It was something new, but just learning a couple of the techniques wasn't too hard," Carr said. "Being in Montana for the summertime, (there's) a lot of things to do and a lot of the guys were talking about fly fishing. I've regular fished before with my grandfather a of couple times, but they said that fly fishing is a little bit different."
Fleury saw progress from the players already after the casting practice on the field.
"I'm seeing a lot of learning taking place," Fleury said. "I see a lot of guys trying to be competitive with each other."
Herrin said that competitive nature is a big part of the team culture.
"We always say how you do anything is how you do everything," Herrin said. "So we want them to be competitive in everything that they do. With this program, the good thing is we're setting them up for as much success as we can, and I know they're going to have a good time and they're going to take some stuff with them that they can use for the rest of their lives."
This concept applied to Mike Atwell, the headmaster of the casting lessons.
"I played football in college back in the late '70s and '80s," Atwell said. "Last night I had four of my (college teammates) at my house for dinner. I'm going to join them later this week fishing. I only played football for 13 years, but I've fly fished with my buddies for close to 50, so it's a lifetime skill that we can teach these guys. And why not? They live in the best trout fishing (area) in the world."
Everyone involved in the event, from the organizers to the players, showed gratitude to those in the community whose support helped make this possible.
"I'm just grateful for the opportunity," Carr said. "We know fly fishing isn't cheap, and we're getting an opportunity to go for free."
"These guys get to provide a cool experience for people on Saturdays," Herrin said. "And then the community and all these companies have stepped up to almost return the favor and help us provide an experience for (the players)."
"We've had an immense amount of support from the community," Fleury said. "And it takes an immense amount of support, between trying to come up with wading boots for all the players and rods for them to use."
The team will hit the water to put their new skills into action on Saturday and Sunday.
