From the Albert Lea Tribune in the Southern Minnesota and Northern Iowa area comes the article Fly Fishing is Sort of Like Playing Hockey.



Huh??



Author Dick Herfindahl (can't get much more Minnesota than that name, unless it was Ole or Otto) writes of fly fishing:

It is definitely a different type of fishing and one that requires a
little more skill than just putting a worm on a hook and throwing it
out. It is kind of like playing hockey — you can’t just wake up one
morning and be good — it takes plenty of practice.

While yes, it does require a little more skill than worming a hook, it isn't that difficult. I think it's impressions like these that scare people away from fly fishing (among other things, ie Orvis ads). Fly fishing isn't and doesn't have to be difficult. If you can throw a ball you can cast a fly rod. It does take practice and a little more than tossing a bobber, but not much to get you going in the right direction. Especially if you have a fly shop close by you can get up and going quickly. A couple of the fly shops here in Northern Colorado offer FREE casting instruction and beginner classes. Great for even the seasoned fly fisher.



As far as the hockey analogy...I've never played hockey (watched a few games), but I'm sure Dick is right when he says "you can’t just wake up one morning and be good". But I'm sure that getting a puck past Patrick Roy is plenty harder than catching brookies after ice out.



Dick brings up another misconception about fly fishing:

As a youngster I always thought of fly fishermen as masters of the sport or “true fishermen” that I held in awe.

Fly fishers are neither masters of the sport (just watch me catch bushes on every third backcast...hmmm maybe I am proving his first point true?) or "true fisherman". We are no different than the bass fisherman in Texas with his trusty Ugly stick tossing plastics in to weed beds and sunken timber. A lot of us like to think we are the "true fisherman" of the sport, with our brand coordinated waders, vest, and hat, looking down our noses at the guy floating his spinner through our favorite hole. Understand this: WE'RE NO DIFFERENT!!! We just come at the same goals, catching fish, enjoying the outdoors, and the company family and friends, with different tools. No better, no worse, Ahhh the utopia of equality!



With that I will have to string up the old spinning rod with some eggs or worms and take the kids to the stocked ponds when ice comes off, just remember what it was like.