One of the amazing things about people who fly-fish is that on any particular fishin' day, they always seem remarkably upbeat - whether or not the fish are bitin'.

The sport is not entirely logical. I mean, first you attach a fake fly to the end of your line and stand in the middle of a river dressed in a bizarre get-up, all the while struggling to keep your balance on the rocks while casting your line into the great beyond. Then, after all the hubbub, you have the nerve to believe you can con some poor fish into thinking you're not even there.

Oh, boy.

But, no two ways about it, fly-fishing is awesome. Even the clumsiest beginner can derive pure bliss from casting a line onto the water and reeling it in again. And many of those beginners do catch some great fish.

"When I'm fishing, I am never thinking about anything else in the world but fishing," says Dave Stanley, owner of the Reno Fly Shop. "You can fly-fish just about anywhere you find 20 feet or less of water. We've got almost 100 lakes and rivers within two hours of the Reno area."

It is not, its fans admit, an athletic sport. The most difficult skill in fly-fishing is called "the cast." This action involves throwing your line out in such a way that the fly on the end of it alights on the water just within reach of the fish. It can take years to perfect this skill and many old-timers will tell you that perfection is unachievable.

When well-executed, the cast is beautiful enough to make your heart sing. When done less than well, you and your line may find that you have developed a sudden, unspeakable relationship with a very large tree.

Judy Warren has been fly-fishing since she was 4 years old and today she teaches the sport.

"You have to develop a basic knowledge of the different types of casting first," she says. "Then you have to be able to read the water, so you can figure out where the fish are. You need to be a good hunter."

Tying flies, she says, comes a distant second to the above on the learning curve. Understanding which fly to fish with in any given situation comes with hard-earned experience.

Also important for fly fishermen is to learn about the local fish - which include an astounding variety of trout such as rainbow, bookie, brown, Lahontan cuttroat and golden. In some Sierra lakes, Warren says, you will find mackinaw and kamloop.

At the Gilly Fishing Store in Sparks, employee Don Hamby has noticed that the number of beginning fly-fishermen is on the rise.

"I think it's because there's more of a desire to get back to nature these days, and fly fishing kind of fills that niche. This isn't the type of fishing where you just throw some bait in the water and drink a beer. This one you really have to work at - you're actually hunting for the fish while you're fishing."

Warren says she is seeing a large increase in the number of women first entering the sport.

"In my experience both as a teacher and as a member of several fly clubs, I'm seeing more women than ever. Many are single - which says to me that they are not doing this just to accompany a spouse. They're going for themselves. Women, I think, want to get outside and they need a sport where they can get away from people and find something they can do well by themselves."

This is a good family sport and one that is not prohibitively expensive to get into for the first time. A good beginner rod/reel/line combination may be had for about $150 and a box of flies will cost you about $25. Purchase your Nevada fishing license - $26 for in-state residents - and you're ready to hunker down on the banks and start casting.

If your dream is to stand in the river and fish, you will probably want to purchase waterproof waders as well as special felt-soled boots to help you on the slippery rocks. But be forewarned, once you have cast that first line, every fishing gizmo and gadget you lay eyes on ever after becomes an instant must-have.

"What I love about fly-fishing is I can forget who I am out there on the water," Warren says. "It's humbling and it brings out the child in me."

And what happens when she doesn't catch one fish?

"The day is just as fine whether I catch one or I don't," she says.