Most of the comments I get seem to fall into, 'I didn't know there were trout around here (Central VA)', 'I tried it and couldn't cast', or 'It is beautiful to watch someone fly fishing." Mostly I find people are just showing how little they know about the sport and are not being mean-spirited. These "ignorant" comments (uninformed is a kinder way of phrasing it) are an opening for me to see if there's any interest worth pursuing. Generally, I find the people are uninformed because they're not interested in the sport and the conversation turns to something else. Every few years though I find a soul interested in learning more.