For those just starting out...
Here is my take on how I got started.
I started by taking up my dad's old K-mart fiberglass rod and learning how to cast, the wrong way. I had no instruction except a 5 min tutorial from my dad and what I read on the net. I then stumbled on a guy named Keith at the International Anglers in Pittsburgh. He taught me how to cast and corrected all my mistakes. Now I knew how to get the line out, I still didn't know where on the water to put the fly. It was still a total mystery to me. How it was supposed to look, how it was supposed to feel, I still had no idea. So I read everything I could get on fly fishing, watched youtube vid's and tried to make it all fit but it just didn't come together for me.
So 2 years after I took casting lessons, I took a beginner fishing school class. Since I had been on the water so much and had done alot of knot tying and casting, I was way ahead of the learning curve. I ended up being the only one to hook and land a fish. I will post pictures of that fine rainbow. Since then I have been able to catch fish. And you know what? I don't do a damn thing different today than I did 2 years ago, the books were right, the advice I got was right, I just needed to believe in what I was doing and cast to all the water avaliable, not just the prime lie's. Now, onto the rules of beginner success.
Rule 1. Casting, you can't practice enough, read, watch, do, in that order. Get an experienced caster to watch you and you watch them. When you just start out, make sure you go over the proper form and motion, talk yourself through it, go slow then it will become rote and then natural to do. You will start to notice when your casting wrong once you get it right.
Rule 2. Tie knots and lots of them, study knot and rope work books and copy the knots that are not only fast to tie but strong. Practice them all the time!.
Rule 3. Get out to the water often! You don't have to have a fishing rod with you, just get out there. Practice casting on the water with only a yarn fly, watch the water, learn to read it, watch what it does to your line. Get real experience before you fish so when you get out there to fish you know what its like, no surprises. But do it where you don't fish! You don't want them to get used to knowing when your there and giving them undue pressure.
Rule 4. BE SAFE!!! If it starts to lightening, get away from the water! Quick! Don't wade water thats fast and deep and don't wade shallow and fast water, carelessly. Don't wade while you cast and don't cast while you wade. Pay attention because one false move and we are lost another family member. Fly Fishing is a fraternity, we hold our brothers and sisters dear. Use the buddy system, safety in numbers.
Rule 5. Become knowledgeable. It will only enhance your experience as a fly fisher and will ease your learning curve a bit. Read Everything by the late Al Campbell on this site. Trust me, its worth it.
Rule 6. Be courteous. Share the water. Don't crowd a good hole and if you get crowded, leave, there are other holes to fish. Don't be that guy.
Rule 7. Be compassionate to the fish you catch, put them back if you can(catch and kill streams will not sustain many trout over the summer so keep a few if they are not wild trout streams, they are good eating). Pack out more than you bring in, pick up others trash, fishing line and bait containers. I once spent a January afternoon walking the shoreline of a lake I grew up fishing with my dad and filled my pockets with spent and discarded snarls of line, lead and hooks. I found bait fishing gear aplenty as well, you never know the treasures you may bring home. Don't leave tippet and broken leaders in or around the waterways, it doesn't just look nasty, it could hurt fish and other wildlife.
Rule 8. Share your experiences, introduce new people to the sport, help out everyone the best you can. Because everyone was a beginner, once.
Rule 9. Above all, have fun! Thanks go to Michael Brown for reminding me of this rule and for being the first one to read this post.
Now I want to make it known, I am by no means an expert. I am still beginning myself but I wanted to get this out before I got too far along and forgot most or all of what I struggled with. So good luck, be safe and tight lines!!!!!
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