To be a good fly fisher............

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

.........you have to fish a lot.

That is a big part of it. Sadly, many have situations that don't allow this.

Many have young families that demand a lot of their time which is the right thing to do.

If you went out once a week for 2 hours in the morning or evening on the Lower American River for Halfpounder Steelhead in Sept/Oct you would have some good times and learn a lot. Put your gear in the trunk so you are always ready.

Over the years we will have customers who "pound" a particular fishery and really learn it well. Putah Creek and the Lower American are two that come to mind. We also have people who fish the Lower Yuba a ton. Some get hung up on the Lower Sac.

We have a group that fly fishes Stripers in Nor Cal all year long now too.

It is too bad that more of us didn't have the time to go a lot.

[Rick J]

That is what is so wonderful about this sport - you can do it part time and still have fun but if you turn it into a passion you get so much out of it. After over 30 years I still learn something almost every time I go out - it often isn't easy which is a good thing - if it was always easy and the same I would have gotten bored along time ago!

[Chris V]

.........you have to fish a lot.

That is a big part of it.

Is this why I'm always getting out- fished? :shock: :D

If I could only find a way to make 27 hours in a day or 8 days in a week I'd be fine. :D

[bigtj]

Amen to that. The one thing I might add is that you've got to go fishing a lot, but you also have to be seeing/doing/learning new stuff every time you go to get better. I was really lucky to start guiding at a young age and spend literally hundreds of days on the water for many, many years. And most of the time I was learning from watching what worked and what didn't. Now that I'm only fishing 50-75 days a year I'm not learning as much as I used to but still it's amazing how many new things I learn every time I go. That's what makes this sport so much fun.

[jbird]

The nice thing about puting in time and paying dues is you will always keep that knowledge. When/if you reach a point in life when you cant fish as much as youd like to, at least you can maximize your time on the water from the tid bits of knowledge you have stored. I will also add to this that the age of the internet has impacted this subject alot. You can really shorten your learning curve from great sites like this one. You can also research destinations beforehand at a level that was never before possible. Some of the fishing trips I've been on in the last few years, I felt like I knew the area already when I got there, thanks to internet research.

Jay