Cast into areas that have submerged features like logs or rocks. RELATED LINKS VIDEO: A Fly Fishing Guide

Fishing is a much-loved outdoor activity that runs the gamut from hooking giant, muscle-bound sailfish on the open ocean to sitting at the edge of a lakeside dock letting perch and sunfish nibble on a nightcrawler. But few categories of the sport come with as much lore and romanticism as the noble art of fly-fishing, which many see as the most difficult, most gentlemanly, and most rewarding contest between man and fish.

Craig Kulchak is an outdoor writer and Project Management Consultant whose love of nature began in childhood, when he enjoyed countless fishing, hunting, hiking and skiing trips with his family. Kulchak has published a novel and writes for several outdoor magazines, all while sharing his passion for the wilderness with his wife and three sons. Here he offers some fly-fishing tips for beginners:

• Look for underwater structures.
  When searching for places to cast, always look for structure in the water, like a submerged log, a large stone, or the tail end of a pool. Fish, which don't want to have to work any harder than necessary to collect a meal, tend to congregate and set up feeding stations in these areas.
  
• Use nymphs in the morning.
  In the morning, when the water temperature is still cool, you will want to fish with nymphs. Nymph fishing means presenting a fly that's showing the insect in its juvenile, or larval, stages.
  
• Use dry flies in the afternoon.
  In the afternoon, the sun warms the air and water, and you will probably see hatches of small black flies. This is your opportunity to do some dry fly-fishing, which means presenting a fly that resembles the adult insect.
  
• Wear polarized sunglasses.
  It's always a good idea to have a pair of polarized sunglasses. Polarized lenses eliminate glare off the water so you can see the fish clearly and make a cast accordingly.

For more about fly-fishing, check out the following websites:

The American Museum of Fly Fishing
www.amff.com

Fly Anglers Online
www.flyanglersonline.com

Fly Fishing.com
www.flyfishing.com

The Fly Fishing Forum
www.flyfishingforum.com

The Flytyer's Bench
www.flytyer.co.uk