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Fast track to fly-fishing: big fish won't know you're a beginner. Learn the basics, then take it to the water for the big catch with the MF fly-fishing how-to

Men's Fitness, June-July, 2006 by T. Edward Nickens

FORGET WHAT YOU'VE READ IN other magazines. Forget what you've heard on those Saturday-morning fishing shows. Forget what you've seen in the movies.

Start with this: Fly-fishing is not an art form. It's not a sport that requires you to travel to Yellowstone or Patagonia or some exotic place and hire a guide for $400 a day. Fly-fishing is a skill you can learn and use to deadly effect on the nearest farm-pond bluegill, municipal-reservoir bass, or decent-size creek trout.

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Unlike traditional fishing, fly-fishing uses relatively heavy lines to cast artificial lures that weigh too little to toss on their own, requiring a rod designed to store, release, and transfer energy during the peculiar back-and-forth, start-stop method of fly-casting. To catch a fish with a fly rod, you need only to master the basic forward cast and use it to place a bit of fur and feather, or yam and wool--the fly--within view of a fish. No more and no less.

But fly-fishing does differ from conventional fishing in ways that make heart rates redline. It ain't all that easy to cast that little runt of a lure. And once a fish enters the picture, fly-fishing quickly ramps up to more than a contemplative notion. Every surge, every leap, every flick of a fin travels up that taut line and limber rod and into your gut. You don't fish with a flyrod as much as you hunt fish with a flyrod.

Like any sport, fly-fishing is never mastered. You simply take each skill to a higher level. And therein lies its great beauty--each level takes fly fishermen to more beautiful, wild, and remote places. Like Yellowstone and Patagonia.

GET OUT

THE BOZEMAN ANGLER, BOZEMAN, MONTANA

One-day schools cover the fundamentals, and you can take it to the next level with a guided trip. Nestled right in the middle of all the majestic beauty Montana has to offer, the Bozeman Angler is a wannabe-fly-fisher's dream. bozemanangler.com

STEP-BY-STEP

THREE STEPS TO THE PERFECT BASIC CAST. There are slightly different methods out there. Reject them all. Learn this one first--you'll have an easier time juicing the technique later. Start practicing in your backyard or wherever you have room.

1 Bring the rod overhead with even, quick power. At the instant the rod comes to a 2 o'clock position, stop the motion sharply.

2 Cast the line forward and backward, stopping at the 10 and 2 o'clock positions. Watch the loop of the line. Concentrate on throwing tight loops that unspool completely each time you stop the rod.

3 Pull excess line off the reel with your left hand. For your final cast, stop the rod tip in the direction you want the fly to travel, and release the line with your left hand. The slack will stream out, adding distance to the cast.

THE SETUP

If you're just getting started buying fly-fishing gear, go for quality pieces. They will be easier to ]earn with than a budget setup, and you won't outgrow them after one season. Here are some of the essentials.

1 FLY

Start off with a smallish popper. It floats, you can see it easily, and it will catch anything that swims. Ask your fly-fishing retailer for a locally hot pattern and size. $2 AND UP@JFISHERONLINE.COM

2 LINE AND LEADER

The Clouser series by Rio is a top-shelf line made for heavier flies, and it doubles as a great learning line ($60). Pair the flyline with a MainStream knotless leader ($5 for two). Fred LOCAL DEALERS@RIOPRODUCTS.COM

3 ROD

Redinston's CPS 7-weight nine-foot rod handles pond trout and bragging-size bass alike, and the fast action helps beginners go for distance. $279@ REDINGTON.COM

4 REEL

The Velocity 3 reel by Lamson has the fishfighting power of reels costing twice as much. $239 @WATERWORKSLAMSON.COM

Fast track to fly-fishing: big fish won't know you're a beginner. Learn the basics, then take it to the water for the big catch with the MF fly-fishing how-to

Men's Fitness, June-July, 2006 by T. Edward Nickens

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