NEITHER THINKING LIKE A FISH NOR LOOKING LIKE BRAD PITT:

NORTH SHORE -- It was just after dawn, and America's most famous fly fisherman (if we're not counting Brad Pitt) was standing behind my car, getting his rod ready, and half-listening to me prattle on about all the reasons I hated fly-fishing.

"Don't overthink it," Tom Rosenbauer tossed out to me, like that was an option. "What we do is really stupid, and if you think too much about it you'll quit fishing."

But I was not interested in quitting fishing. I quite like catching fish, which is something that actually happens from time to time when I'm using a conventional rod. No, I was thinking of quitting fly-fishing, the most insufferable kind of fishing, and certainly the least effective.

Last year, I tried, and tried, and tried to catch a striped bass with a fly rod. And I failed, and failed, and failed again. But here's the worst part: I felt handsome doing it.

Which is somehow Brad Pitt's fault. If he hadn't looked so darn handsome playing a fly fisherman in "A River Runs Through It," then I never would have gone to fly-fishing school, never would have bought all the absurdly expensive gear, never would have tried to learn the balletic -- and maddening -- mechanics of casting a fly rod.

But feeling handsome can only go so far, especially if you are not Brad Pitt.

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