(Part 3, September 15-21, 1997)
“When You Teach - You Learn”
But, does that mean that we should not teach fly casting until next year? Should we wait until we are even better at it? Not for a moment. And neither does it mean that you should wait either! F.F.F. is doing all it can to promote fly casting and so should you. If you can get your fly line to do some of the things you want it to and your friend wants you to show him how to cast, go for it! That’s the way fly fishing has grown to the place where it is today. You get better, he gets better, and the sport grows. Not to mention it is fun! Sure, if you both want to make faster progress, take a class from one of the certified instructors. It could save you a few years of learning things the hard way. But, remember, that’s the way most of us had to learn it. And it was a lot of fun, back in the good old days.
“And Can You Top This?”
One last thing. Don’t get too tangled up with any of those signs at your local fly shop that say “instruction for the beginner, intermediate, advanced, very advanced, really advanced, and can-you-top- this.” If you have been casting some but are not sure you have a good command of the basics then sign up for the beginners class! You can’t get very far without the basics. If you’ve got a good handle on the basics, then go for something more challenging. What do you have to lose except a few years of trial and error? Just remember, fly casting is learned from the beginning. You stop the rod here. You stop the rod there. You keep doing it till you get it right. It’s not “brain surgery,” it’s just fly casting. The rest is up to you. I started poorly, got a little better, and by a lot of practicing, got so I could castwell. Or at least, farther. Till next week, remember . . .
Part 1, “Is There A Doctor In The House?”
Part 2, * BUT *
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Originally published c. 2003 on Fly Anglers Online by James Castwell.