It was sometime in the early 2000’s and I was getting a haircut. My barber, John said, “Bob, you need to meet this gentleman, he is a fisherman, too.” I looked over at the guy seated in a chair waiting for his turn in the barber’s chair. We shook hands and exchanged names.

I said, “Where do you fish?” He said somewhat sheepishly, “Oh, I only practice fly casting on the top floor of a parking garage.” I listened to him explain that he wanted to get good at casting before he tried his luck a casting on the water.

Finally, I said, “Man, get your line in the water. You might catch a dumb fish accidentally; it will get your excitement up and your blood flowing! There are not any on top of any garage that I am aware of. But there is a better chance even in a ditch along beside any road. I understand the need to practice, but you can be practicing while you fish, doing both at the same time. For instance, Galveston Bay has thousands of miles of shoreline, and there must be some fish scattered randomly all over this system.

Later, I wondered if he had ever fished with any kind of tackle before, and perhaps he was shy and wanted to raise his skill level up to at least a novice, or even a beginner before he tried to fish anywhere. I could never understand why fishermen want to start at the most difficult level of the sport. What is there about fly fishing that attracts novices to start here, did they see a movie like “A River Runs Through It” and be captured by the beauty and dream-like quality? It is a puzzle to me.

With no statistics to back up my supposition, I believe that more folks start and quit when they try to learn fly fishing, rather than at a lower, more simple level and never realize it really isn’t that hard. Just Sayin…RJS

It was sometime in the early 2000’s and I was getting a haircut. My barber, John said, “Bob, you need to meet this gentleman, he is a fisherman, too.” I looked over at the guy seated in a chair waiting for his turn in the barber’s chair. We shook hands and exchanged names.

I said, “Where do you fish?” He said somewhat sheepishly, “Oh, I only practice fly casting on the top floor of a parking garage.” I listened to him explain that he wanted to get good at casting before he tried his luck a casting on the water.

Finally, I said, “Man, get your line in the water. You might catch a dumb fish accidentally; it will get your excitement up and your blood flowing! There are not any on top of any garage that I am aware of. But there is a better chance even in a ditch along beside any road. I understand the need to practice, but you can be practicing while you fish, doing both at the same time. For instance, Galveston Bay has thousands of miles of shoreline, and there must be some fish scattered randomly all over this system.

Later, I wondered if he had ever fished with any kind of tackle before, and perhaps he was shy and wanted to raise his skill level up to at least a novice, or even a beginner before he tried to fish anywhere. I could never understand why fishermen want to start at the most difficult level of the sport. What is there about fly fishing that attracts novices to start here, did they see a movie like “A River Runs Through It” and be captured by the beauty and dream-like quality? It is a puzzle to me.

With no statistics to back up my supposition, I believe that more folks start and quit when they try to learn fly fishing, rather than at a lower, more simple level and never realize it really isn’t that hard. Just Sayin…RJS

It was sometime in the early 2000’s and I was getting a haircut. My barber, John said, “Bob, you need to meet this gentleman, he is a fisherman, too.” I looked over at the guy seated in a chair waiting for his turn in the barber’s chair. We shook hands and exchanged names. Well said and how true

I said, “Where do you fish?” He said somewhat sheepishly, “Oh, I only practice fly casting on the top floor of a parking garage.” I listened to him explain that he wanted to get good at casting before he tried his luck a casting on the water.

Finally, I said, “Man, get your line in the water. You might catch a dumb fish accidentally; it will get your excitement up and your blood flowing! There are not any on top of any garage that I am aware of. But there is a better chance even in a ditch along beside any road. I understand the need to practice, but you can be practicing while you fish, doing both at the same time. For instance, Galveston Bay has thousands of miles of shoreline, and there must be some fish scattered randomly all over this system.

Later, I wondered if he had ever fished with any kind of tackle before, and perhaps he was shy and wanted to raise his skill level up to at least a novice, or even a beginner before he tried to fish anywhere. I could never understand why fishermen want to start at the most difficult level of the sport. What is there about fly fishing that attracts novices to start here, did they see a movie like “A River Runs Through It” and be captured by the beauty and dream-like quality? It is a puzzle to me.

With no statistics to back up my supposition, I believe that more folks start and quit when they try to learn fly fishing, rather than at a lower, more simple level and never realize it really isn’t that hard. Just Sayin…RJS