There is an old saying, “Give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.”
This is generally true for most people who fish. Many find it to be a very relaxing, enjoyable hobby and one that on the outset is usually not difficult to master nor expensive.
The average person can learn a spin cast reel in minutes, open faced reels with a touch more time and with the most complicated and expensive bait casters, usually within a day, they are experts. Give a conventional tackle angler a flyrod, and the head scratching starts.
Unlike conventional rod and reel fishing where the lure has a weight and thus is cast, the object of fly fishing is to use the line to carry the lure. It is because of this reversal of physics that takes the new fly angler time to master their craft. Like conventional fishing, there is a fly rod and reel combination for every type of fishing from the smallest streams holding trout to blue water pelagic fish.
The newcomer to fly fishing will find that selecting the correct rod, reel, line and lure is considerably more complex than the conventional angler, but most cities and towns that cater to the fishing industry will normally have at least one fly shop (the colloquial term for a store specializing in fly fishing) wherein the staff is more than willing to help the novice get started. Classes are occasionally offered as well, teaching the finer points of casting the fly line or tying your own flies, which can be a most rewarding experience in its own right.
If you have a serious interest in learning fly fishing, the sky is the limit on getting started. Rod/reel combos can vary in price from less than fifty (50) dollars to upwards of several hundred, depending, again, on the type of fishing the new angler is interested in starting. That said, for the average angler who likes visiting a local stream, pond, lake or river, an investment of less than one hundred dollars is more than enough to get started and to have the correct gear for any fish in one of the aforementioned environments.
Once you have managed to master the cast, you may choose to move from buying your own lures to making them. Fly fishing has the honor of being the one type of fishing where an angler can become almost, excepting supplies, self-reliant. Fly tying typically goes hand in hand with fly fishing and again, the local pro shop will have everything a beginner will need. Besides, what could be more satisfying than to wrangle a fish using a wisp of a rod, a bunch of feathers and a hook that you have tied yourself?