There’s a belief floating around the angling community that the fastest way for beginning and intermediate trout fishers to improve their skills is to sign up for a top quality class or attend a first-rate fly fishing school. I’ve thought about that assumption a fair amount over the years, and while schools make a ton of sense for some folks, they’re not necessarily the right approach for everyone. If you’ve been wondering whether you should invest the time and money to attend a fly fishing school, or participate in angling classes, I’d suggest looking through the information below. If you find that something really resonates, you may be better off skipping school and finding another path forward.

As a kid on a party boat charter off the coast of Galveston more than 40 years ago, I learned first-hand that having a banana on board a fishing vessel is a more egregious sin than letting the engine oil run dry, hoisting the Jolly Roger, or even throwing the captain overboard. Much of my first taste of this maritime wives tale was theater, but even initiating a seance and conjuring up the ghost of Fletcher Christian, I was told, would be more forgivable than pulling a banana out of your lunch bag while out at sea.