"The reason fly fishing in cold water hooked me right away as a young man, was because it afforded me such a great deal of mobility. I get to go out after the fish, rather than angling for one to come along. Fly fishing is like hunting in that way. You can get further from shore, there are no heavy tackle boxes needed, no live bait, and no boat necessary," explains Jim Garrison, a fly fisherman with over forty years experience.

The brief interview with the good natured fisherman is the equivalent of reading a two hundred page fly fishing textbook. He explains that cold water fly fishing is called "cold-water" when it is done on fresh water, "or at altitudes above about 5,000 feet, where pretty much everything is cold," Jim laughs.

“More fishing poles get broken when they are slammed into car doors than anywhere else,” declares Jim.
“Accidents do and will happen,” chides the experienced man who believes about two hundred dollars of equipment is all a new comer to the sport should need to invest, to give it an honest try. “Give yourself a chance to shut the pole in the door, practice on an inexpensive, not crappy, pole, reel, and line. A six pack of flies, hip waders, and a good pocket knife will set you up for a while. Oh, and that ever expiring fishing license.”

“I can remember practicing my casting when I was first learning, after just an hour or two of fishing, and the muscles in my forearms seemed to have doubled in size. Casting is the key to good, cold water fly fishing.”

Jim likened learning to fly fish with learning to play a musical instrument. “The first casts you practice, of each type of cast, are bound to be lousy, like a beginning orchestra. And while diagrams and pictures of fishermen doing the casts can be a great help, sometimes they just blow your mind. I had to study some and read a few explanations over and over until I could grasp what they were talking about! But when I got it, I got it,” says Jim with an unhidden excitement.

Naturally, the assistance of an experienced fly fisherman would go a long way; he was blessed that his father loved fishing as well. Jim advised not getting into bad habits early on; investing in good casts will pay off with more fish and less trouble.

The basics of music are fairly simple, so are the basics of fly fishing. However, instead of notes and chords you’ll be learning the casting, the two or three knots needed for tying the line and the flies onto the line, and how to release or keep your catch. Jim’s best advice for selecting flies is, “to pay very good attention to the insects where you are fishing. Those insects are the fishes’ natural prey and that’s what your fly selections should emulate.”

“Chest waders are like sweat lodges. Use them if you’re interested in weight loss while fly fishing, otherwise, stick to hip waders!” One of Jim’s strongest suggestions to new, and fairly new fly fishermen, is to try hip waders, instead of chest or waist waders. He cited several reasons for the hip waders:

• First, try to wade as little as possible; it can be dangerous, and it’s more disturbing to the natural environment.

• Fishermen may not be as tempted to go as deep in the water with hip waders, so they tend to give fishermen a healthy, safer limit in the water.

• The material of the boot: nylon, rubber, water proof canvas, neoprene, does not matter as much as the sole that will walk on scum, algae, and slippery rocks. Felt bottoms are a must!

• Hip waders are a great compromise between a pair of knee high galoshes and heavier chest or waist waders.

• Slower running water is another good safety net to have, especially, when learning fly fishing and wading. Depths of water can be quite deceptive and tricky to judge.

Jim ends the interview with the comment that, "just like in music, cold water fly fishing takes a lifetime of practice."