Hello all,

A very interesting thread!

The question I ask myself, is...do 'we' make fly fishing difficult, or does the person thinking about trying it perceive it that way?
Which comes first?
When you try anything for the first time, the learning curve is HUUUUUUUGE; a mountain you can't climb. There are so many things you've never heard about or considered. But once you get started, bit by bit, things become clearer, and all the things you are scared of or don't know, aren't so imposing. However, this realization only comes AFTER you've decided :
" Hey, I WANT to learn more about this." That's the part of this hobby that is the difficult part (or any pursuit for that matter).

Yes, you CAN learn anything on your own. HOWEVER, it suuuuuuuuuuure is a heckuva lot easier when you have someone showing you!

Do we make it difficult? There may be times when we make it SOUND difficult, but that's just because we're all a part of this kinda fraternity, and because we love this thing called flyfishing, we can't help but be excitied, and maybe that overcomes us. We've learned the terminology; know most of the same sorts of things; know the 'lingo'; we've all seen 'The Movie'. Listening to us speak would be like evesdropping on the Ancient Egyptian Astrology club if you were an outsider....a lot like hearing GREEK! ( I know what that sounds like!HA!) : confusing on the outside, pretty blasee on the inside (ok,ok,not THAT blasee).
I think the unknown is what makes things complicated and scary....once you get past all that, it's not so bad at all. THAT'S the hardest part for any beginner (or person thinking about beginning)to get past, and they're the only one that can do that.

To me (as well), flyfishing is a 'different' kind of fishing, and therefore it just may not be for everyone. I used to sing barbershop here with a local group, and trying to get members was a chore. But I finally realized that, it's not for everyone.....you either like it, or don't. So, it is 'specialized', in a sense. But we all know that 'specialized' is nonsense, probably because we've gotten over the secrets, and the secrets aren't so secret anymore.
We're climbing the mountain.

I've taken a couple of guys flyfishing who were interested, (they were spinfishermen), but flyfishing just wasn't for them. I've had a number of people who have expressed interest in learning how to cast, but they haven't contacted me to take it further.
You can lead a horse to water.........(just remember not to be a NAG! HA!)

I remember a person saying that: 'the 'walls' are purposely built high, in order to keep 90% out. The ones that do scale the wall, deserve to be here.'
Maybe that's what it's all about... I don't know.
If things were easy, then everyone would be doing it: making music, baking, fixing a car, splitting the atom.
Perhaps it takes a certain kind of person....someone it appeals to.

I've just bought a new pair of mountain boots now that I'm a 1/4 up the mountain.
The view is great; the journey has been the same; and I'm looking forward to what the next little while will bring.

I love fishing in general, but there's NOTHING like flyfishing!

If someone came up to me when I was 18 years old and said: "Larry, you're going to be standing in the middle of river in NY when you're 39 yrs. old; flyfishing for trout with flies you've tied with your own hands.."
I would said: "You're nuts."



Cheers from a cashew,
Bad Luck Larry