Cue the Orchestra

Often when I speak to non-flyfishermen about fly fishing the response is the same, "I have always wanted to try that but never got around to it." If I inquire further as to why, most say something to the effect that they think it would be difficult to learn. At this point I really enjoy stringing up a rod and giving them a five minute casting lesson, after which most of them can make a somewhat decent cast. It seems that once they get the idea that it is the stopping of the rod rather than the waving of it that makes everything happen, they tend to catch on pretty quickly. I honestly think that fly fishing is a very simple sport that can take a lifetime to master.

Jerry Kiesow makes this point better than I ever could in a recent article by Laurie Arendt where he is quoted as saying:

"Fly fishing does not require a string orchestra playing behind you when you're casting," notes Grafton's Jerry Kiesow. "People have this image, they've built up this mystique about fly fishing, and it prevents them from trying it."

I once met a man that spent the first 15 minutes of our conversation attempting to impress me with his vast knowledge of the latin names of all the bugs that hatch on our area rivers. I didn't really care for him very much by the end of our talk. By the way, I don't show people that I don't care for how to cast. The rivers are crowded enough as it is.