On Dec 28, 11:29 pm, "Larry L" wrote:
"Mike" wrote in message

...

You could just use this;

http://www.fedflyfishers.org/Default.aspx?tabid=4465

TL
MC

Thanks,

I know a certified instructor that is a hell of a nice guy, maybe I'll talk
to him about a lesson or two.

I have, and admit to, a certain 'irrational' fear of learning just enough to
get really screwed up. As it is, I manage to get the fly where I want it
often enough to catch enough fish to keep me playing the game. I fear that
if I get all self-conscious about little bodily motion details I'll no
longer be able to fish as well and will become a total clutz instead of a
self-taught poor caster that can only blame his teacher.

I'm sure this makes no sense, but heah, I've never seen "make sense" as a
rule of ROFFian posting G


I understand completely. It is quite common. Many years ago now,
after a fly-dressing demo, I met Jack Martin for the first time. His
first question was , "You dress nice flies, do you think you can put
them where they need to be?" ( which was actually in response to
something somebody else had said). " I do all right" I replied. He
merely handed me the rod he was holding, and indicated the obstacle
course set up on the pond we were at. I got round it with a lot of
messing on, and when he took the rod back off me at the end of it, he
said "Very promising", would you like me to show you how I do it?".
He went on to do a perfect round with extreme speed and elegance. He
gave me a few lessons after that, allowed me to use some of his large
number of rods for various things, and I never looked back. Of course
I practised a bit as well.

The self-conciousness only lasts as long as it takes to imbue the new
muscle memory. It is merely a matter of training yourself to do
something slightly differently, and iron out a few ingrained mistakes.
This is much easier to do if you have a good instructor. As you are
indeed a long term "self-taught" caster, you will doubtless be more
than surprised at your own abilities once you get a new angle on some
things. Often the improvements in such cases are immediate and quite
massive. In a very short time, you simply "forget" how you used to do
things, and the improved ability actually allows you to concentrate
MORE on the game, and less on the equipment. You will even be able to
recreate the mistakes you were making unconsciously before, and did
not even realise were mistakes, at will.

Try it. Do yourself a massive favour, and save yourself a lot of time,
frustration, and money! Of course, it might cost you money as well,
as you might well want other gear after it!

TL
MC