There are a couple of areas that I see where men in particular resent getting any kind of lessons. One is with firearms. I teach a basic NRA firearms class. Because they are men they think that they don't need instruction when it comes to these things. That somehow if you ask for help or are struggling you are less than a man. I see the same thing with casting. It's all a skill and a learned one at that. Yes some have more of a predisposition than others to hand eye coordinated types of activities, but if the best football players, tennis players and golfers in the world practice and get coaching, why do we see it as such a weakness?

It's really frustrating to go fishing with a man that brags about fly fishing for the last 20+ years and can not cast a 7 wt a true measured 40 feet. The rod goes all the way to the ground in the backcast and the forward cast goes all the way to the water. Don't dare make a casting suggestion, because he has been doing it for much longer than you have. You can't tell that I am sharing that one from personal experience can you?

Instead of buying the next wiz bang fly fishing gaget that you didn't know that you needed last week but have to have now that you read about it, go spend some money with a qualified coach and enjoy your season. Now is the perfect time to take a lesson. It's early in the season and you can reap the benefits all season long. Late in the season is not the time.

Jason Borger once told me at a fly fishing show that he practices casting almost daily. Why don't the rest of us. Some say that we practice when we fish. That is like saying that we should never run a drill for a sporting event but only do the activity when we play an actual game. This is an issue close to me.

Rick