George Costa
TCO State College Store Manager
Having grown up on the south shore of Long Island I have been fishing since before I can remember. I saved up enough money selling newspapers around 13-14 years old to buy my first fly rod and start my flyfishing journey. I can remember my first fish on the fly, a 10” stripped bass in the Carmens river under Montauk Highway as vividly as the Little Juniata brown trout I caught yesterday. In my early adulthood while slinging drinks in Philly, I knew that I would someday be immersed in the fly-fishing world. I was lucky enough around 12-13 years ago to land my dream job of working for TCO in Bryn Mawr. That led to the opportunity to move to State College, work full time at the TCO location here, guide and teach others the sport of fly-fishing on Pennsylvania’s premiere trout waters.
Favorite Places to Fish
Someplace in the salt water…As much as I love a wild brown trout, nothing can compare to the thrill and fight of a fish heading from 3 feet of water back to the deep. From the reef system in Belize to the Bahamas, the Caribbean basin and its variety of fish you can target on the fly is hard to beat, but my heart still lies in the Northeast, and a Striper or Albie off the beach will always call me home.
Favorite Species to Target:
The harder to catch the better, musky, permit, albies off the beach….but it’s hard to beat casting a size 20 BWO to an educated 18” central PA wild brown rising in the middle of March.