It has been said that there is nothing like the good old days and there never was! I am not suggesting that fly fishing schools, fly tying classes, the information explosion, the Internet, and all the other things that we have today are not valuable tools. JC and I began offered a comprehensive fly fishing school back in Michigan in the late 60's, and I have taught fly tying classes, done a good bit of writing, edited a national fly fishing magazine, and long been a strong proponent of education. My point is, and I believe that it is valid, is that there is a difference between having information and knowing what to do with it.

I would have relished having some of the things that are available to the modern fly fisher back when I got started. However, I question whether or not it would have been as meaningful. I have spend enough time around other anglers to know that there is a vast difference between knowing and doing. Like many of the 'old school' anglers of my generation we learned by doing and when we did something that worked we learned from it, and when we tried something, and it failed, we learned from that too.

Today's anglers are the best equipped, and most technically savay group of anglers that have ever picked up a fly rod. At the click of a mouse they can access the accumulated knowledge of the ages, but I wonder at what cost? Would they be better anglers, and more important, have a better appreciation for the sport if they had to apply themselves to learn these things?

Speaking for myself I would not trade my years of trial and error for a library filled with fly-fishing books, an I-phone that gives me instant updates on the flies that are hatching on my favorite trout stream, and streaming video of a champion caster demonstrating how to do the double haul.

But then, that's just me.

The Chronicler