Have you always dreamed of catching a trout on a cold, clear stream but fear hooking yourself in the ear? Orvis, the country’s best-known maker of fly-fishing tackle, can help. From April through June, the company offers free clinics tailored to beginners at stores and participating dealers nationwide; the 101 course includes an hour of casting instruction and one hour of rigging. More advanced 201 classes are held at a local pond, river, or creek, where students may catch their first fish on a fly. (Find dates and locations at orvis.com/flyfishing101.) But before you pull on your waders, you can study up with the Orvis online video tutorials, which cover everything from how to tie on a fly to how to read a stream. Here, five lessons that cover the basics:

To see all of the Orvis video lessons, go to howtoflyfish.orvis.com.

Read fly-fishing writer John Gierach’s piece on the thrill of opening day.