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Pepperell's Fly Fish = Paradise

By Marie Donovan , Sun=20 Correspondent

Article = Launched: 09/20/2007=20 11:56:01 AM EDT

Evening Sun=20 Fly shop owner Charles Shadan works at his station = within the=20 confines of his 1,200-square-foot fly-fishing = equipment shop=20 located below the Old Spa Restaurant in downtown = Pepperell=20 where he hand-ties flies using a vice and tools of the = trade.=20 SUN/AMANDA-BETH POTTER

PEPPERELL -- If you've never tried fly fishing, = Charles=20 Shadan will tell you, it is "100 percent different" = than=20 regular fishing.=20

"I've been fly fishing exclusively for 42 years," = Shadan=20 said.=20

His shop, The Evening Sun Fly Shop, isn't nearly = that old,=20 but it did celebrate its first anniversary over the = summer.=20 Located below the Old Spa Restaurant on the first = floor at 55=20 Groton St., near the covered bridge in Pepperell, the=20 1,200-square-foot store is a full-service angler's = paradise.=20

"I've been to Montana 17 times; I designed it (the = store)=20 with very rustic features. It has an old stone wall in = one of=20 the rooms; it has knotty pine," Shadan said.=20

As opposed to regular cast fishing, a fly-fishing = rod is=20 built on a spring foundation, and is barbless, so "You = can=20 move the hook very gently so the fish can swim away," = he said.=20

Shadan, a 58-year-old longtime Groton resident, is = past=20 president of the 275-member Squannatissit Chapter of = Trout=20 Unlimited, a national organization dedicated to = preserving=20

the habitats of cold water fisheries. He is also = area=20 coordinator of the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries = and=20 Wildlife's river stocking efforts. Much of the trout = caught in=20 area rivers like the Squanacook and Nissitisset are = raised in=20 hatecheries in Sunderland, on Cape Cod and elsewhere = in the=20 state, then stocked locally, Shadan said.=20

The Evening Sun Fly Shop provides guides, fly-tying = lessons=20 and river information for anglers and is always well = stocked,=20 organized and clean, he said. The shop carries an = extensive=20 supply of rods, reels and fly lines.=20

"We have probably the largest selection with in a = 75-mile=20 radius of fly-fishing material," Shadan said.=20

Shadan, a University of Lowell graduate and former = Lowell=20 High School teacher who coached the school's boys = tennis team=20 for eight years, used to golf and still plays a little = tennis.=20 But he says fly fishing has its advantages over both=20 activities.=20

"You don't need a tee time to fish," he said.=20

As a result, Shadan finds baby boomers -- and even = some=20 women and children -- flocking to the sport and to his = store,=20 where he'll also try to get them involved with Trout = Unlimited=20 to help fight rivers pollution caused by urban sprawl, = litter=20 and runoff from septics.=20

"Without clean waters, our society in general is at = peril,"=20 he said.=20

Today, Shadan counts men like Ron Bomengen of = Chelmsford=20 and Nelson Horton of Dunstable as friends and fishing = buddies;=20 he met both through the store and taught Bomengen how = to fly=20 fish. Shadan enjoys catching trout, the most common = type of=20 landlocked fish, in places like the Squanacook and = Nissitissit=20 Rivers.=20

As a child growing up in Lowell, "It was a dream of = mine to=20 live in Groton, so I could be closer to the waters = where I=20 fished," Shadan said, who is married and has two = daughters.=20

He doesn't actually eat much fish, though. "I = mostly=20 practice catch and release," Shadan said.=20

The store operates on its summer schedule through = Oct. 31.=20 It's open Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 4 to = 9 p.m.,=20 Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 8 = a.m. to=20 2:30 p.m. For more information, visit=20 www.EveningSunFlyShop.com.

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