I don't think the pioneering spirit has gone anywhere, it's still present, alive & well here in America and around the world. It's just that fly fishermen aren't struggling to learn how to cast & tie flies like we used too. We have many, many books, magazines, the internet & the like brimming with good, solid information to help the beginner. Now the cutting (and bleeding) edge stuff is done in learning how to catch new species of fish, learning new & improved methods of tying & then fishing your flies, pushing the boundaries of the sizes of fish that can be caught. Lots of innovation is taking place in other aspects of the sport too.

If anything I think innovation is taking place at a far faster pace these days because we can share ideas much more quickly that ever before.