Retracing Steps.

There is always more to learn. In this sport, life, whatever. We are never finished.

Every year, I find myself rereading a lot of the same literature I have in the past. Its very easy to ‘forget’ what you already know. It’s never a bad idea to give ones self a refresher course every once in a while. One book I picked up sometime in the early 90’s, FlyFishing Made Easy by Dave Card and Michael Rutter, always seems to get a look over. I recall picking up some great tips from that book.


I mention this for a reason. I notice a lot of folks on the water, or these days on Internet chat rooms as well, who are missing some very basic knowledge which could easily be solved with a little learning. My biggest pet peeve would be in regards to etiquette. Far too many folks using the water are absolutely clueless, or absolutely inconsiderate. Whether they feel they have more right to the water than we do, or they know nothing about how to properly approach the situation……..I dunno. I do know I’ve never seen a beginners book which didn’t cover this.

And this is just the start, questions about basic knots, how to rig your gear for different situations, how/when/why to match a hatch, how to read water……………this list goes on. Mind you, books aren’t the only place to get the kind of learning. People could also try using ‘Google’, but that seems to be an effort for some as well. Apparently, in this age of instant gratification, actual making the effort seems to be a little daunting for some.

I would advise anyone to take what they get from internet forums with a grain of salt. You get a diverse cross section of anglers, from the old pro to the neophyte………and that newbie is almost guaranteed to be as vociferous with his advice as the old hand. Often its difficult to tell which is which, especially if your new to the game. I’ve seen beginners tell others to forget matching the hatch, just chuck streamers, only to tell the other side of the story next season when they learnt better.

I can’t recall ever picking up a book covering the basics and found it to be negligent. There is some great literature available penned by some very accomplished anglers. It is never going to hurt to see what they have to say. No matter what your skill level, your almost invariably going to garner some new gem to add to your knowledge base.

I’ll leave with a video made by Gary Borger. It covers…….the ‘basics’. But I wonder if there is anyone who watches who won’t glean something new………..or be reminded of something they forgot.

Thanks for taking the time to read!

Gary Borger: Fly Fishing for Trout.