A couple of weeks ago, Shane’s friend from back home in Michigan came out to Montana for his first visit in Big Sky country. Ryan is an accomplished fisherman with a spinning rod, but had never even held a fly rod before his trip. His first day on the water was at the Railroad Ranch, and even after a fishless day on that super technical piece of water, his enthusiasm for the sport was evident.
You can’t expect to visit Bozeman and see your trout bum friend and not spend some serious time on the water, even if you are a novice fly fisherman. In all Ryan had three more outings on the water during his stay. After he caught his first trout on a fly rod, he was hooked.
Introducing people to fly fishing is always an exciting thing. You can usually tell right away when someone “gets it”. When that excitement and desire to learn more takes over. Ryan was one of those guys that got it.
It was really amazing to watch his progress over the course of a few days. He went from never having cast a rod to actually throwing a tight loop. By the time he left he was able to mend, know when to mend, and was starting to learn a lot of the intricacies of trout fishing. We made sure that he went home with his first fly rod setup, something that should serve him well on the bluegill and bass waters back home in Michigan.
As anglers in an increasingly busy world, it seems we are always trying to find places away from the crowds that we can keep to ourselves. Seeing other fishermen on the water often brings a curse and a frown. But sharing the sport with someone knew is always a great experience. It always gives me a little more patience with all those other people on the water. A growing industry is a healthy thing.
