It was the last Sunday of the year 2007 and after months of me encouraging, prodding, and actually badgering Carol Radford she decided to wardrobe herself in neoprene and take a fly rod in her hand for the first time. Prior to this, Carol had been a member of the bucket brigade sitting on the banks of Blue with Power Bait in the water. On her six trips as a bait fisher, Carol had managed a total of seven trout so I knew very well that she was going to love fly-fishing.  I made a conscious decision to not start Carol with the forward cast, swing and stripping a Wooly Bugger. I wanted Carol making short casts by rolling and then drifting the selection of flies I had chosen for her on our outing. I knew very well this would require Carol to mend the line, which is difficult for most newcomers, but Carol somehow just “got it”. After only about five minutes of explaining the purpose and how to execute the mend, Carol had it down to almost expert precision. Even more remarkable to me is how Carol knew when to mend eliminating the possibility of drag on the fly.

I wanted to start Carol at Seventeen but those rich and fertile waters were already spoke for so we ended up wading into the flats below the crossing. The sun was shining brightly casting a glare on the surface. There was slight wind out of the south and the temperature was a rather balmy fifty-four degrees. The river was as clear as gin. Carol’s target water was only ten feet in front of her and the first fly I tied on was a grizzled Wooly Bugger. Carol started drifting it through the target lane and on her second attempt she landed a bow. After three or four missed bows I changed her pattern to a Red Midge Larva and Carol brought another bow to hand. Then I tied on the final selection of Carol’s day with the Flashback Pheasant Tail and this fly proved to be the best choice of the day. Carol made three drifts and landed three bows. Twenty minutes more would pass and six or seven trout would be missed or lost so I know there is much work to do in the future on recognizing strikes and getting hook-sets. We were in the water for less than an hour and a half and numbness had established in Carol’s ankles and feet.

As I rigged the fly rod in preparation to wade out of the river I looked at Carol and in her face saw that she had become enamored with fly-fishing. So, on the last Sunday of the year, a new fly-fishing life was born and Carol is looking forward to fly-fishing the years ahead on beautiful Lady Blue. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to create a new fly-fisher. Basically I think there are three important things we can do to insure a successful outing for a first-timer. Take them to a particular stretch of water that always produces for you, select a number of patterns that usually work for you, and then let them start short and small by drifting. The key is getting the fish on the hook and in or to the hand of the fisher. Teaching, or attempting to teach a newcomer, is a rewarding experience.