GPHAMI Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 Hello All, I have never fly fished before and I am looking learn. I see that there are at least a couple of courses... www.mclennanflyfishing.com/onedaybasicschool.htm www.fishtalesflyshop.com/courses/fly-fishing-level-i/ www.countrypleasures.com/basic_fly_fishing_schools.htm Anyone have an specific recommendations regarding one school versus another? Or any other way to start learning from the ground up. Cheers, Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headscan Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 I don't have personal experience taking courses from them, but based on reputation I don't think you can go wrong with any of the three. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrisD Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 I believe Neil Jennings has been running schools at CP for 27 years and he must have seen every bad casting style out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrinhurst Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 The basic fly fishing course offered by Country Pleasure is the same course as the Jim McLennan one. I know this, because I took it. lol Jim is a fantastic instructor, in fact, I just did his listening to the bow course last weekend ( http://flyfishcalgary.com/board/index.php?showtopic=9260 ) and it was nothing short of spectacular. I took the basic course last year through Country Pleasures, and later found out who Jim McLennan was after being taught by him. Needless to say, I liked him enough to take another course of his. I highly recommend his courses. Also, if you sign up through Country Pleasures, they give you a 10% off coupon with it. At least, they did last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teck71 Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 I took the fishtales school and leaarned a crap load but i have also heard good things about the others as well. another to look at is hansons down town. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhurt Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 If you ask me for my opion I would say take Jim's class. Jim is a legand on the bow and has written may books on the subject and has even had a Movie done about him (River Runs through, with Brad Pritt) Now out of the other two I would suggest the Fish Tales course. I do most of my shopping in this store and find the people that work there are extremly friendly and ALWAYS willing to help out someone regardless to their ability with a fly rod. I am sure the Country Pleasures Course is just as good as the other two but personally I do not know much about it so I would ask some people that have done the course through them and see what they have to say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headscan Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 Jim is a legand on the bow and has written may books on the subject and has even had a Movie done about him (River Runs through, with Brad Pritt) Jim is a legend on the Bow, but "A River Runs Through It" is by Norman Maclean and takes place in 1937. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteZahut Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 I (and my wife) did the basic fly fishing course through Country Pleasures about 6 or 7 years ago. At that time we got the discount coupon too. It was absolutely awesome. I thought it was smart too that all during the day they suggested you switched rods so you could feel the difference. Each one of those rods had a number so if you wanted to go back to the store at some point to use the coupon you could just tell them which rod you liked. I buy all my major stuff from there and will continue to do so. I have not gone into the other shops mentioned but I can imagine based on what was said by others that you would likely have a similar experience there. So all I can say is that the course at CP was fantastic and would recommend it to anyone. We also did a guided float through them as a second level-type course geared at what we wanted to learn next. That was even better. I also hope to do something with Jim some day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhurt Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 Jim is a legend on the Bow, but "A River Runs Through It" is by Norman Maclean and takes place in 1937. whoops must be thinking of something else, maybe gettig back at that trin that *hit on me.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPHAMI Posted July 15, 2009 Author Share Posted July 15, 2009 Thanks for all the advice. Country Pleasure had a last minute opening this Saturday so I signed right up. Cheers, Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrinhurst Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 Thanks for all the advice. Country Pleasure had a last minute opening this Saturday so I signed right up. Cheers, Geoff Best money you'll ever spend. Make sure you post to let us know how it went. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPHAMI Posted July 25, 2009 Author Share Posted July 25, 2009 It is amazing the things that you don't know... that you don't know. I couldn't imagine trying to figure out fly fishing without a course like this and I'm glad I didn't just wing it. Caitlin and Jim at Country Pleasures did a great job explaining the fly fishing basics starting from the rods, reels, line weights, types of flies and when to use them, commons mistakes, tackle choices, etc, etc, etc. I really liked how we did 45 minutes in the classroom and then we always went back outside to cast for about 45 minutes. It was a good mix of theory and practice time casting. Now I am aiming to put the instruction to good use. I spent the morning on the Bow today breaking in my new Sage Flight #6. I caught a small rainbow and hopefully I will catch a few more tomorrow. Cheers, Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrinhurst Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 Awesome. Welcome to your new addiction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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