30 micro-lessons to amp up your fly-fishing addiction
We're off and running on a marathon of Bluesky posting to kick off this year's trout season.
CFStronauts:
Hey! It's been an eventful month. I hope you've been fishing.
I don't spend a lot of time on social media. But lately, when I do, it's on Bluesky.
What's Bluesky? Good question. It's kind of like a new-and-improved version of good old Twitter. Sans all the algorithm-powered advertising and general nastiness.
Posts come in order, based on the accounts you follow. That's it. Revolutionary. They aren't rejiggered to push your buttons, flood your neurotransmitters, then bombard you with advertising like on other platforms. (Looking at you Xstagramtokface.)
30 ways to build your fly-fishing habit
I've been kicking off this fishing season over on Bluesky with a mini-marathon. I'm posting a series of 30 ways absolute beginners can make fly-fishing a bigger part of their lives. And I want to share the micro-lessons here with you as well.
They're arranged by topic area, with more to come as we get further into the month. Dig in:
Getting started
- Day 1: Figure out where you can fly-fish near your home
- Day 2: Find a place to fly-fish a little ways away from home
- Day 3: Find a place to go fly-fishing on vacation
- Day 4: Find a fly shop near you
Getting geared up
- Day 5: Buy your first fly rod
- Day 6: Get only the bare minimum gear you need to get started
- Day 7: Select your first dozen flies
Casting
Getting ready to fish
- Day 10: Learn your knots
- Day 11: Don't spook the fish
- Day 12: Don't worry about having to cast far
Reading water
- Day 13: Find the fish in the river
- Day 14: Find the fish in a lake or a pond
Wading
- Day 15: You probably don't need waders yet
- Day 16: When you get them, wade safely
Presenting your fly
- Day 17: It's all about presentation
- Day 18: Presenting a dry fly
- Day 19: Presenting a nymph
- Day 20: Presenting wet flies
- Day 21: Presenting streamers
- Day 22: Changing your fly
Catching the fish
- Day 23: Recognizing the take
- Day 24: Setting the hook
- Day 25: Fighting and landing the fish
- Day 26: Take a picture of the fish
- Day 27: Release the fish unharmed
- Day 28: Hire a guide
- Day 29: Join a fly-fishing club
- Day 30: Tie some flies
The fly-fishing community on Bluesky
There's a pretty good population of folks who post about fly-fishing on Bluesky already. Including a few CFS readers. 👋
And, the platform's infancy, folks are pretty earnest. There aren't a ton of brands advertising things there. Honestly there doesn't seem to be any formal advertising there yet. I hate to tempt fate, but there don't seem to be many trolls.
Another cool thing about Bluesky is the "Starter Packs" feature. Starter Packs that function the same way Twitter lists used to. Anyone with an account can curate a Starter Pack. It's a good way to get started with a certain interest or subgroup, as the name implies.
Here's a Starter Pack of accounts that post about fly-fishing. Here's one of river folks, who post a lot about rivers and river science.
Here's a Starter Pack I put together of some of my favorite fly-fishing content creators. Maybe I'll do another one of fly shops? The mind abounds with the options.
Anyway: Stay tuned to Bluesky for more micro-lessons about what you can do to build your fly-fishing habit this spring.
Two big asks:
1️⃣ Got any burning questions we should cover there? Reply and let me know.
2️⃣ Got a friend who might benefit from this? Forward this note to them!
"If you fish the wrong fly long and hard enough, it will sooner or later become the right fly."
— John Gierach
