Here's an old school bag for those interested;

http://www.goertzenae.com/html/fly_fishing_bag.html

And lanyards that carry a little extra.

I might use more filson if it wasn't so bloody heavy.

lefty

This is a pretty good 6-part series on trout fishing. Solid info from a guy that looks a lot like Letterman.

lefty

What is it you feel you're lacking? Line control? Presentation? Reading water? A lot of this is time on water, so you have to get out there.

Is there a stocking program near you? Those fish are usually easily caught and will give you a lot of experience with the hook set and landing fish.

Check out the club as they may have beginner fish outs.

Join an online forum and look for guys near you that may offer to take you out.

Ask at the local fly shop - a lot of them organize trips for novices.

lefty

Watch the video I just posted. 

lefty

Always hated the way these things crimp my leaders - maybe this is an answer?

lefty

Lawn casting is fine, but as CW says has zero to do with casting on water. Every piece of water is different than the last and requires a unique approach. When you approach a new piece of water you have to take the time to A) figure out where the fish are; and B) decide how best to get to them. 

If you do want to practice on grass take an old leader and tie a loop at the end. Put a screwdriver through the loop and push the screwdriver into the ground. Pull out 30' or so and step back until there a slight tension on the line and practice roll casting. The tension replicates a water load on the line.  

Some nice old reels.

Museum Pieces: The Development of the Fly Reel in the 19th Century

The age of this reel is unknown, but it shows basic features we still use today.   all photos by American Museum of Fly Fishing in Manchester, Vermont.   Modern Choices Nowadays, fly fishermen have dozens of options of reel styles, many of which feature effective drag systems to help fight fish. Originally, however, the reel was simply a place to hold and dry your silk-gut fly line. Even the click-and-pawl mechanism was originally designed to stop the reel from over-running, not as a true drag meant to put pressure on a fish or protect tippets. Before drag, designers were more fixated on a faster retrieve and created multiplier reels. However, these were mostly so heavy and bulky that they went out of fashion.   Unknown Origin This spike-mount reel is a mysterious design of great age. Possibly Irish in origin, it continued to be made into the 1880s. Instead of the conventional reel foot, there is a spike on the base of the reel that would fit through a hole in the rod butt. The reel is then fastened by a wing nut that threads up the spike until the reel is firmly in place. Whether it was better to mount the reel above or below the rod was the subject of much debate. The First Travel Reel? The folding crank style is believed to have originated with the March 20, 1843 patent of James Jones, a London tackle manufacturer. This type of reel had the advantage of being more compact and streamlined when the handle was folded, thus making it easier to transport or store. However, it could also malfunction and fold at inopportune moments, such as when the angler was playing a fish. The Birdcage William Billinghurst (1807-1880) was a well known gunsmith from Rochester, New York who won a patent for a side-mount reel built of wire and castings in 1859. This is now considered to be the first American fly reel. He later nickel-plated the reels for sales appeal. The unique appearance of these reels has prompted some to refer to them as “birdcage reels.” Do-It-Yourself Model This is a homemade side-mount reel, made of nickel-silver (an alloy of nickel, zinc, and copper) with numerous perforations and attractive floral cutouts. In addition to reducing weight, the ventilation helped air dry the horsehair or silk lines in use at the time. Keeping these lines dry made them cast better and improved their longevity. Reel as Art This attractive Birmingham reel, featuring bas relief angling scenes on the plates, was commercially produced in at least two sizes, both as a crank-handle reel and as a revolving plate reel. It appears to be a Victorian-era British product. However, the design was reproduced in Germany during the 1970s, and it is now difficult to differentiate the original reels from the reproductions. Custom Clamp An extraordinarily fine New York ball-handle reel. Single-action versions of the reel are not common, but they were better fly reels, since this handle style is less tangle-prone than the offset handle of a multiplier. This was perhaps a custom piece, since the machined construction of the clamp-mount fitting is also unusual and of superior quality.

lefty

Grass casting is worth it only if you can't get to water. 

I learned the basics on casting ponds and was reasonably okay. Then I got to a river and found myself faced with 20 different casting problems that made all my practice pretty much useless. The easiest cast is a downriver load and a plop upriver. Mend once and you should get a good enough drift to fool a fish. That cast (mastered across both sides of the body) is used more than any other.

lefty