On Feb 19, 1:46*pm, "Larry L" wrote:
"rb608" wrote

the water, thinking like a fish, blah, blah, blah. *But too much
fuss? *Nah.

When I took up fly fishing ( early 1971 is the last time I fished any other
way ) it really was a difficult thing to learn, it was difficult to even
find any gear, let alone good gear, instruction was only available in
person.

Back then, the guys one found with fly rods fell into two categories, those
using a fly rod to fish bait g, and those mature ( of any age) enough as
outdoorsdudes to have moved past the stages of "gotta catch, gotta catch my
limit, gotta catch my limit of big fish, etc" * * Those mature anglers are
hard to find now, and maybe especially to find carrying a fly rod.

The equipment has vastly improved and is available in nearly every store in
town. * Anyone with a DVD player can learn more in one evening than real
world fishing taught in several seasons 'back then' and, sadly, most fly rod
anglers today have NOT grown through the 'more, more, more, bigger, bigger'
stages that all fishermen and hunters eventually go through before they
qualify as 'mature.' * * They go directly from people whose biggest out door
experience was mowing the lawn, to the fly shop, to the fish pimp guide, to
'50 fish days' often in a $ingle day. * * Today, many very 'effective' fly
anglers, are poor examples of 'mature outdoorsmen' or even of outdoorsmen,
period.

Personally, I will who always do anything in my power to help a newbie truly
interested in the sport, for it's own deep pleasures and challenges. * * I
meet a few each year and help all I can. *But that type of real interest is
not the motivation many have to pick up a fly rod, in this current culture.

The 'fad years' are passing, thank god, but we already have plenty of those
that simply wanted to travel in 'socially superior foursomes,' *be seen in
the 'right' places, display buying power, have the 'in' thing to talk about
at cocktail parties, .... or, even, *just 'catch fish.'

While I appreciated Redford's adaptation of the book, I regret the
overrun it has created. As you seem to predict, I hope the fad
dissipates and we can "get back to it". Just like skiing once was
fun, it is now all lost.

cheers

oz