Do you remember the first time Fly Fishing 

I started swapping the spinning rod for a fly rod 50 years ago and after devouring all the subject related books from my local library I taught myself how to. Started tying flies at the same time after a short course in a tyers basement and went to my favorite streams in the Eastern Foothills of Alberta's Rocky Mountains to land my first (and second, and third etc) whitefish and trout on my first tied fly, a black wooly worm with a red tag. 20 inch brown trout were readily available in the private creek that I had gotten permission to fish and I was out there, rain or shine, evenings and weekends, to the dismay of my abandoned young wife. After all those years of successfully pursuing large trout I'm now hooked on chasing huge pike in the shallows and along the shoreline. Every trip is always new and always fresh. Love this hobby

As a teenager I was hired by an old widow to clear out her husbands "junk" out of her garage. I moved most of what she called junk into my dad's garage, including 2 fly rods & reels. I saw a Outdoors T.V. show I think it was Curt Goudy flyfishing it looked easy (Ha Ha) wound up getting a book from the library and actually taught myself to cast kind of. I ran into an old timer on one of the local creeks that took me under his wing and taught me his bad habits.

I was in my mid twenties in Mid Hudson Valley New York and picked up a flyrod and very old tying kit from an estate/yard sale. I started fishing from a boat on small lakes/ponds and started catching bluegill, crappie and the occasional small bass. I still remember my first 3# large mouth bass that I caught on a fly I tied. From that moment On I was hooked. Been fly fishing off and on ever since.

Yep, it was 1961 and I got a fly rod and reel combo that was like a telephone pole with a heavy can attached. But good Lord, it was so deadly on the Blue Gill population of our local lake that my Mom told me not to bring anymore home for dinner! I'm pushing 78 now and still fly fishing - and the equipment has gotten much, much better! LOL

Nicely done Mike

My dad handed me one of his loomis glx rods when I was 8. I’m 36 now and vividly remember the looks on some old guys faces when they saw a little kid using a 1000 dollar rod. Did I know the difference? Absolutely not. I still own all his old loomis rods and a few fenwicks. Nice to reminisce on the passed

Thanks for sharing Mike! I think your onto something; I'm gonna start hucking my fly & line out like a lasso and when I hook up turn around and beat feat away from the river! 🤣 Sounds like a new exciting way to fly fish! I'm a later in life convert to fly fishing but mostly because of the eroding values in the general fishing culture, that seem to still be solid and the bastion of fly fishing, no matter the species. Conservation, Sportsmanship, Ethics. Those sort of things. Modern fishing with all it's tech just seems so backwards. My first fly rod was the $30 Martin setup in Wal-Mart and I had a hoot catching bass and panfish on it with poppers from the beginning.

I'm Jolene (James sister) you guys did so good! I love the way he was mini you lol!! It took a while for this to be done but it turned out great!!