Just as a little background to preface my question: One of my best friends and I got into fly fishing about the same time (about 6 months ago), though he started about a month before me. He has already been out with a couple guides while visiting Colorado. We were both spincast fisherman for a long time before starting fly fishing - me casually since I was young, and he has been a pretty avid spincast fisherman his whole life. 90% of the time when I go fly fishing, it's with him. As it often seems to be the case among good friends, there is always a slight air of friendly competitiveness between us. Now, when it comes to fly fishing, I could not care less if I am "better" than anyone else, but he has this unspoken (and probably unintentional) attitude that he is better at it than me. It doesn't really bother me, but I do notice it.

I'm the perfectionist between the two of us, and I have read numerous books on casting and taken lessons at a local fly shop. He hasn't had any lessons, but said that one of the guides he was with gave him some tips. I have spent the last couple months since my casting lessons in my yard practicing my cast and I feel like I have a pretty respectable cast now. Sure it's nowhere near perfect, but it's a great base to work from.

So, here's the thing (finally) - the last couple times we've been out I've been watching his cast, and some elements of it really need work. Don't get me wrong, I know in the whole scheme of things, I'm an absolute beginner, but I know the principles pretty well from lessons and reading and really feel like I could help him. He's not really the type to try to troubleshoot his cast or take lessons, because he's happy with the way he's doing it. It just seems to me that this early in the game, you should start out with a solid basic cast and build from there - I would think it would be much easier to break bad casting habits now than a few years down the road. I'm just afraid if I offer any tips, I'll come off as an arrogant know-it-all, or that he will feel that I'M trying to be competitive. That's not the case though - I just want to share what I have learned to help him out.

So, I'm not really sure what my question is, maybe I'm just looking for advice on how to handle the situation. Do I offer to share some of the things I've learned? Do I casually recommend that he consider taking a lesson? Or do I just keep my mouth shut?

Thanks in advance for any advice. And please feel free to be completely open and honest - be it positive, negative, or otherwise.