and tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems."
-Billy Joel
I like to read old fly fishing books to see what's changed, & what hasn't, in the sport through the years. I also enjoy current fly fishing books & videos that I find of value. Comparing the two is an interesting mental exercise. Talking with the younger anglers-to-be really made me think - for probably the first time, if I'm being honest - that there are many folks who have come to fly fishing since the proliferation of the internet. In fact, I reasoned, there are many who's main source of angling info has only come from the web. Just like everything else in life, it's pretty obvious that fly fishing is effected by the internet (but not so much the fish - & there's something wise about that thought, I think).
Got a question? Answers are just a tap, or click, away. Free-to-view videos & articles are all there for the taking. Experts are just an email away. Hatch charts, stream maps, flow tables, etc are all now available at out fingertips. But it wasn't always this way...........
The other main source of information for fly anglers before the internet were books. There were quite a few of these, even back then. I believe I read somewhere that there have been more books about fly fishing written than on any other sport through the ages. If that's true it makes sense to me, as fly fishers have always been more of a literary group as a whole when compared to other outdoor activities. Books back then were readily available for the time. Remember, there were no online search engines then, so you had to physically search many of these books out & find them at either your local fly shop, from catalogs, borrow them from a friend, or order them from a general book store. Plus, there was always the local public library. The library was a wonderful source of good fly fishing books back in the day. Books, in my opinion, were a fantastic way to study the various aspects of the sport - & still are. Many fly fishing books had an entertainment value to them which was a nice way to help you make it through a long, cold winter between fishing seasons. It still is.
I don't have any hard numbers on this, but I'm pretty sure there were fewer fly anglers in general before the internet as well. It seems there were more anglers overall, but fly fishing was (for a time) almost on the fringe of the fishing world (in some places more than others). Then all that changed when, in the early 1990's, a popular movie called "A River Runs Through It" (based on the book of the same title) came out. Most fly fishers of the day simply called it "The Movie" & saw a major jump in the number of folks carrying fly rods along the streams. In addition to the new anglers, out came a lot more books & few more magazines. Overall a lot more options in tackle & gear became available, too & many technical advancements in each. Suddenly fly fishing was a lot more accessible & in a lot more places than before. Some old school fly fishers groaned about this (& there were some growing pains for the sport), but overall it was a good thing for fly fishing - at least in my opinion.
No matter what era of fly fishing you learned the sport in we must always remember that (for the most part) the fish, the rivers, streams, & lakes are the same in principal as they've always been - they act the same. It has always been this way & I certainly hope it will always be. In that regard fly fishing is a timeless endeavor. When you pick up a fly rod & cast your line to the water with the hopes of fooling a fish, you are connected to both the past & the future: the past because you're participating in & keeping a tradition alive, & the future because you're hopefully being a good steward of the sport for future generations to enjoy it as you have. The thrill you feel of landing a gorgeous fish on the fly was the same for your great-grandfather & will (I pray) be the same for your great grandchild someday - no matter where, when, or how they learn the sport.