Greg Hoover is widely acknowledged as North America’s most knowledgeable fly fishing entomologist. He has been tying flies and fly fishing for more than 50 years. Greg received his Master’s degree based on his thesis researching Penns Creek’s famous green drake hatch. Greg has conducted hundreds of seminars on the identification and imitation of trout stream insects and their relatives. He teaches the course titled, Freshwater Entomology, an undergraduate / graduate level course in the Department of Entomology at Penn State. We should point out that Greg also knows terrestrial insects too! He’s taught entomology for 26 years at the Pennsylvania State University’s main campus, where for the past 17 years, Greg has enjoyed his role as the faculty advisor to the Penn State Fly Fishing Club which has more than 100 student members. He was the recipient of the George Harvey Award for unselfishly promoting the sport of fly fishing through teaching of others. Greg was the 2012 Order of the Hat award recipient from the Fly Fisher’s Club of Harrisburg, an honor given to an individual for contributions to the conservation of natural resources and fly rod angling.
Greg’s fly fishing skills are not limited to aquatic entomology. He teaches the courses, Principles of Fly Fishing and Fly Tying for Trout, and Mastery of Fly Fishing, in the Department of Kinesiology at the Pennsylvania State University’s main campus, continuing the tradition started by the late George Harvey in 1934 at Penn State. Greg is an accomplished and innovative fly tier and a darn good fly fisher as well. He cut his teeth as a fly rod angler for more than 50 years on Pennsylvania’s hard-fished public water. In 1992 Greg coauthored a book with Charlie Meck titled, GREAT RIVERS–GREAT HATCHES, a 384-page hard cover book that describes over 60 high-quality trout waters and their hatches across the United States. Greg authored two papers on the eastern green drake and the periodical cicada in, LIMESTONE LEGENDS, a 400-page book covering the 50-year history of the Fly Fishers’ Club of Harrisburg. Recently, he contributed a chapter in the new book, MODERN TERRESTRIALS, by Rick Takahashi and Jerry Hubka. Greg has written articles on trout stream insects and fly fishing that were published in Outdoor Life, Fly Tyer, American Angler, and Mid-Atlantic Fly Fishing Guide. Greg currently writes the monthly column, Fish Food, in the Mid-Atlantic Fly Fishing Guide. He is a member of the Advisory Staff for Temple Fork Outfitters. Greg is a banquet and monthly meeting speaker to many different fly fishing organizations including Trout Unlimited chapters and International Federation of Fly Fishers clubs in the eastern and midwestern United States.
