This should not be the case. There are two aspects to the fly fishing rod. One is fly-casting. Something that one does not become proficient with overnight. This only comes with practice, practice, and more practice.

Dixie Burns displays two "Women's Fly World Records" caught in Key West waters.

If you do not pick up the rod, you do not get to practice. So what reason do you have to pick up the rod? It must be enjoyable. Thereby comes aspect number two. Fly-fishing. You do not have to be a flycaster to be a fly fisherman. Some good flycasters couldn't catch a fish with a purse seine, and by the same token, some good fly fishermen find it difficult to get the fly out of the boat.

Catching fish and having fun are synonymous with one another, so if you can catch fish with a fly rod then you will have the opportunity to practice while you are having fun.

Nowhere else is the opportunity as good for the total novice to catch fish on the fly rod as it is here in Key West. With the techniques that we use in "Blue Water Fishing" and "Gulf Fishing", it is often a difficult task to get the fly out of the water before a fish grabs it.

Ron Glenski holds up his 4# test flyrod world record African Pompano.

The chance for the novice angler to fight fish the first time they pick up a fly rod is one of the greatest incentives that I know of to get them to pick it up again and again. Many of the best fly casters of the day got their start this way. There is no substitute for experience. The next time that you come to Key West, don't let the opportunity pass you by. Try some "Fly Fishing".