Start Casting: Blue Ridge Outdoors

Becoming a fly angler takes time, but the effort is worth it. In its purest form, fly fishing is a passage to serenity, an escape to stand amongst the slow drip of seasonal change and watch the sun bow over the ridgeline. The beauty of fly fishing is that the rewards are endless. As you keep casting, you gain a deeper understanding of a cycling environment. 

“Be open and be patient,” offers Wesley Hodges, guide and owner of Wesley Hodges Fly Fishing, a sporting lodge and outfit in Eagle Rock, Va. “If you’re going to learn to fly fish, be a sponge to everything around you.”

At first, you’ll begin to master your local pond or river and its keepers. But then there is another pool just beyond the bend that houses a stout chunker below the log with a tendency to swallow up sinking flies. Your next outing might be the day you two finally meet.