Cast again

“If fly-fishing teaches you anything, it’s to shrug off the failure and cast again.” – John Gierach¹

With beginners learning to fly-fish, it can be hard for them to shrug off failure. They want to enjoy the sport. They envision catching a few fish in a bucolic setting. Then, reality steps in. They start thinking about their cast, their lack of skills and what, to them, may seem like a long road to that vision.

Guiding beginning fly-fishers is sometimes an exercise frustration management. They haven’t seen that next cast bring them success often enough to know that next cast may be the one that catches the fish.

Part of my job as a guide for beginner fly-fishers is instilling that hope that casting again is the only way they have to catch a fish.

the path to enlightenment

1. All The Time in the World, pg 123