DULUTH, Minn. _ If I were to write a book about this endeavor, I'd call it "This Is Extremely Frustrating And I Will Never Stop Trying."
It's a working title.
This month I decided to make a difficult and rewarding sport even more difficult and rewarding by learning how to tie flies.
I'm already a novice fly fisherman, having netted just a few baby brookies on North Shore streams in the past few years. Despite going to college in Missoula, Mont., I didn't manage to pick up a fly rod until I left _ too busy picking up pint glasses, alas. Once I did, I fell hard for the analog approach to angling and the quiet waterways that are my namesake.
I always thought fly tying would be a great way to keep the fly fishing flame alive in the winter, so I eagerly signed up for three nights of lessons at Great Lakes Fly Shop in Duluth. Here was a chance to get intimately familiar with the trout-slayer's arsenal and level-up my burgeoning passion.
And good thing it is a passion. For a style of fishing often derided as elitist, it will humble you real quick.
