Soon after my Mom received her new computer system she called me and asked “where are the instructions, I didn’t get a manual”. I told her there is no manual. She said the last time she bought a mixer it had sixteen pages in four languages and the mixer only cost twenty dollars. “It’s a whole new world, mom” was all I could come up with. She was right, good grief.

So let’s say you’ve seriously decided to take up fly fishing this year and need some advice, good luck. When you buy that $500 fly rod it won’t have any instructions either, neither will the reel or line, leader, tippet material or flies. The waders, boots and vest are self-explanatory or as they say in the computer business: intuitive. You just know how, like you hardly ever wear your boxers on the outside of your jeans.

Then there is the river, in our case the Yakima, here’s where it gets complicated. The water is always going up or down, the temperature and clarity are always changing and the trout are always moving with the conditions and hatches. The fish on the Yakima see a lot of flies during a season so your presentation has got to be pretty good most of the year. I have three different rod setups in my boat all the time for changing strategy, but it’s recognizing when to change that’s critical. You will need to be able to stop fishing and ask yourself “What the heck is really happening out here”. The efficient fisherman is thinking all the time, adjusting their technique.

Then once in a while the old Yakima gets easy, when the conditions and hatches and moon phase all line up, if you hit one of these events just savor it. You will find yourself laughing out loud and probably singing old Beach Boy tunes.

The best way to learn this stuff is to be mentored by an honest to goodness trout bum, but unless you already know one they’re kind of an edgy bunch. Most of these guys have spent twenty years learning the trade the hard way and are not keen on wet-nursing a rookie.

Hiring a professional is an option but somewhat expensive and you may not get the kind of help you need. The right guide can save you years of trial and error and thousands of dollars in bad gear choices. But before you put yourself in their hands make sure your personalities are compatible. You want a guide to tell you what you’re doing wrong or right and why with out beating around the bush; its not personal they are trying to teach you something My regular clients fish with me three to five times a season. They’ve seen the fishing great and heartbreakingly tough, but the point is they’re getting better over time. I’ve become their instruction manual.

The fly-fishing world is full of fishing books written for the novice; most are of little help. Not to say there aren’t some great ones, but when your starting out how will you know? One book that remains on the top of my list is “Hatch Guide to the Lower Deschutes River “ by Jim Schollmeyer, buy it, read it and keep it handy.

Mark and I have joked, that we should write” The Little Black Book of Fly Fishing Truths” but we lack motivation and who would publish a book with fifty pages of trout bum advice: some of it even about fishing.

Fly fishing for trout is a subtle, evolving avocation: it’s not what you’re doing wrong so many times it’s what you’re doing almost right. I guess my only instructional advice would be to keep the big picture in mind. This supposed to be fun. Practice humility and remember it was never about the fish. When you begin to grow as a fly-fisher the trout will just show up.