Learning how to fly fish and becoming a successful Angler is a five step process. No matter how great the scenery is or how uplifting all the fresh air is, casting a line where there are no fish is NOT fishing. Fishing where the fish are not, is just line-wetting. Catching a fish is the penultimate experience.

1. First of all you have to find some fish, or at least know a place where you are likely to find fish. This isn't just a matter of packing up all your gear and tramping down to a patch of water and throwing your line into the water. It’s a matter of knowing the favourite food of trout. Knowing where this food is to be found. Knowing the basic behaviour of trout and knowing where there are lies. (Lies are areas where several currents converge and concentrate drifting nymphs and other food sources, so that a trout lying close by in quiet waters can whip across and grab a tasty morsel then go back and ‘lie’ quietly conserving energy.
2. Next you need to know which fly or lure will be the one which will attract that trout Something that will tempt the fish lying in quiet water to nip over, and snatch it. Now this isn't an easy thing. In order to know which fly will be the tempter, you need to know what sorts of food are to be found in that patch of water. Get it wrong and those suspicious big fish will just stay quietly where they are.
3. Now, decide which is the best way to put that fly or lure near to the trout without scaring it and then put it there. Now this is quite difficult and is a skill that you can learn. This is where another part of the skill comes in… casting your fly. I’m not going to get into this with any detail simply because there are books, videos and classes available to teach you the skill of casting a fly or lure. You will find references to a few of these on the author’s blog. (See the author’s bio box at the end of this article).
4. Once you have hooked your fish, play and land it and either kill it quickly or release it. It’s very important to handle your fish as humanely as possible especially if you are intent on releasing it back into the wild. If this is your intent, then use a barbless hook so as to cause as less trauma to the fish as possible. Keep the fish in the water, hold it very gently around the tail so you don’t damage its underlying skeleton, face it into the current and as soon as it recovers enough to let it go, release it. Being humane is good for several reasons: Releasing the fish gives another angler the opportunity to catch it but if it is traumatised it might die or become so wary that it will never allow itself to get caught again.
5. Finally, enjoy the scenery. The landscape around most of the places you will catch trout in the wild, is usually worthy of more than a casual glance. Take a few moments to enjoy being out in the glorious countryside and give a little thanks for it.

Fly fishing a sport for a life-time. Learning how to fly fish is the first step into a great hobby or passion. Enjoy!