Lessons?

[karstopo]

Did you take lessons to learn how to cast? From a certified professional or someone that you knew? Do you continue to take lessons? Or want to?

Just another I'm curious poll. No right or wrong answer if it works for you.

 

[dennyk]

The only thing I'm an expert at is trial and error (practice). In the past I've got good informal instruction from fly shop owners and employees. Today if I am interested in a particular cast the instruction is usually from Orvis videos or YouTube.

Denny

 

[spm]

I was self-taught from the age of 11. Then as an adult, living in St. Louis, I took a series of fly fishing and tying lessons from a local fly fishing club. That was in the late 80s or early 90s. Then nothing until around 2005 a friend and I hired a guide for a half-day of instruction on the water. Haven't learned anything since.

steve

 

[clsmith131]

I've gotten pointers from a few friends, and watched videos, but mostly trial and error. I'm not against taking a lesson or two at some point, but for now, I have enjoyed the learning phase. I have a decent double haul, and have learned different ways to impart action on the streamers, for stripers and bass. I need to be able to cast 60-80 ft with accuracy, in sometimes windy conditions. I can do this fairly well, but still have plenty of room for improvement. As for trout fishing, I'm still pretty clumsy, but seem to get those "ah-ha" moments pretty regularly. There is certainly no shortage of literature on the matter, so I read a lot about various methods for stalking trout. The tying has lately taken up a lot of my time, and in gaining better understanding of the flies, I have gotten better at fishing them.

 

[kentuckysteve]

Self-taught trial and error.Still not sure if i am doing it right and may not be pretty at times but i can usually get the fly where i want it to be.

 

[mikechell]

Dad and Grampa showed me how. Dad made me use a cane pole with a few feet of fly line, a few feet of leader and a top water popper. (1960s tenkara) I had to do that before he'd let me use his fly rod. But the lessons ended there, pretty much. Since then, I've taught myself how to fly cast.

I know how it's done and I can't put a fly on a paper plate at 50 feet, give or take.
So, I see no reason to pay someone to tell me I'm doing it wrong!

 

[jpbfly]

Self taught....I worked a lot to improve my casting and fishing,I was lucky then to meet some outstanding fishermen who taught me much about fishing with a flyrod.I'm deeply grateful to them.Now I try to share my experience with my clients

 

[mcnerney]

Self taught here also! I started fly fishing back in the early 80's way before the internet and YouTube videos, back then we had fishing magazines, books and if you were lucky you could find a mentor to help you along. Now days there are a lot of resources out there, certified fly casting instructors, fly fishing clubs, YouTube, local fly shops, etc. I was too stupid to go into a local fly shop and ask about casting lessons, I guess I just have to learn the hard way.

 

[Rip Tide]

My father fly fished, but he was a terrible caster so I consider myself as self-taught.
I improved by watching Lefty and others like Ted Williams and the Becks at sportsman's shows

 

[ia_trouter]

Youtube mostly. Watched way too many instructors and that had it's disadvantages in retrospect. Eventually I fished with some forum members and it got easier eventually. But it was a bit painful the first season or two for sure. I caught most species of fish I pursued almost immediately, so I didn't let it frustrate me much. I believe a few casting lessons would have been a VERY good investment, but the 400 or so mile drive to get one wasn't ever going to happen. I later learned there is a very basic casting clinic nearby every May. I actually assisted with the instruction this year and realized how much I would have learned had I attended it myself only four years ago. But it all worked out with some perseverance.

And I am jealous of Riptide. I am a baseball nut and Ted Williams is arguably the best hitter to ever play the game. It would have been very cool to see him. Even post career.

 

[rfong]

I'm self taught, but I try to learn something from everybody that I've fished with. Sometimes what not to do is just as valuable as what to do.

25 years ago I had shoulder surgery so I learned to cast with my off hand (left). That has become invaluable. No more backcast obstacles, extended reach mends and equal proficiency casting from either side of a drift boat.

 

[bumble54]

I was initially self taught(from the age of 8) but on realizing my limitations took some lessons, best money I ever spent on fishing.

 

[gpwhitejr]

I learned from books and trial-and-error as a kid, supplemented by videos in later life (after the invention of the internet). I had never had a lesson from a pro, or even a peer who could give me a critique (I did once set up a video camera in my yard so I could see what I was doing). Anyway, for Christmas my wife bought me a gift certificate for an "instructional fishing tour" through a local fly shop, with a professional instructor/guide. He told me my mechanics were good about 80% of the time, with no major criticism, just some degradation after a long spell of multiple casts with a bunch of stuff on the end (two flies, split shot, and indicator; I have never done that kind of nymph fishing, I have only ever used one fly at a time and no other hardware). So that was gratifying.

 

[brownbass]

I was self-taught from the age of 11. Then as an adult, living in St. Louis, I took a series of fly fishing and tying lessons from a local fly fishing club. That was in the late 80s or early 90s. Then nothing until around 2005 a friend and I hired a guide for a half-day of instruction on the water. Haven't learned anything since.

steve

Haven't learned anything since? Your killin' me. Self-taught at thirteen and Youtube, a casting class with the club and fly shop when I started fly fishing again. Still can't cast worth a damn. I guess I haven't learned anything either.

 

[JoJer]

I was self taught as an adult, starting with spin rods, then moving to the fly rod. First bit of info was a "How to" in magazine format. I picked up Lefty Kreh's book and that added 15' to my casts, and a lot of other common sense tips. I wish I'd known or heard about hauling before I fished for 10 years: Now I can't seem to unlearn casting to insert a haul when I need to.

 

[Hirdy]

The only option I didn't tick was the first one. I would have taken a lesson if an instructor was available but none were at the time.

That's why I became an instructor ....

Cheers,
Graeme

 

[sirrom]

I had a planned 1/2 day guided trout trip washed out in Maine the year I decided to start fly fishing. Turned that into a private casting lesson. I then supplemented that with a course held by the local TU chapter.

 

[gormaci]

I was self tough or by "error and error" and I hate this fact. It took me a couple years to break from bad habit!!! Big mistake but I had no choice unfortunately.
Sad thing is that you can be a phenomenal fly fisherman without knowing how to cast. Good thing is that once you understand what and why fly fishing/casting enriches and open new dimension of pure joy! (next and equal to catching, tying, catching, hatchmatching, traveling unbelievable places...

I practice about twice a week.