There was a barbecue somewhere in Port Isabel over the weekend, and the folks sitting around drinking Shiner had quite the story to tell while the pig finished up in the pit. It was the kind of barbecue I would have loved—sunshine, great weather, good people … some great food and beer.

Just good friends enjoying one of those patented South Texas winter days before the throngs of tourists and spring breakers show up and generally throw everything into chaos.

I'm guessing it went something like this:

“Pssssstt ... buddy ... wanna buy some magic dust?”

There’s a common misconception among new anglers that time-tested virtues like awareness, experience and knowledge are less important to our overall success than the various & sundry items that we can order on Amazon or purchase from our local fly shop.

What do I mean? Well, it seems as if an awful lot of beginning anglers have convinced themselves that the new rod they’re about to buy, or the fly line, or the waders, or that specific fly pattern, or the sunglasses, or the brand new reel, is the key to achieving fly fishing nirvana with a minimum of fuss.

Which is where all that ‘magic dust’ comes into the picture. We have apparently brainwashed ourselves into believing that if we’re just willing to pull out our credit cards and sprinkle a little special hoodoo powder on our fishing - “Dude, check out this killer new rod. I’m going to wail on those fish now!” - then our new gear will more than make up for our lack of expertise.