TELLURIDE, Colo. -- An invitation to a wedding in Colorado provided an excuse for a week's vacation exploring mountains and mesas, long-abandoned mining camps and sprawling ranches.

But it was the prospect of fly-fishing that lured me most. The delicate sport was a pastime of my ancestors and was depicted in an embroidered picture that hung for years in my grandparents' living room.

The sport's mystique had grown in my mind from the time I was a teenager, when I was given an amber-colored bamboo fly rod that once belonged to my grandfather. On the brass cap of its aluminum-tube case, he had etched a year: 1930.

Although I had used the rod to learn the basics of casting on my front lawn, I never pursued the sport seriously. So this was an opportunity, after many years, to take a proper crack at it.

My girlfriend and I started early one morning and, with the help of a guide named Henry Jones, sloshed through a rocky stream for half a day, clutching rods that swayed like antennae with every lumbering step. We learned a deceptively simple technique called roll casting, watching Jones and trying to mimic his expert moves.

Jones had driven us to a branch of the Dolores Creek outside Telluride, a small town known mainly for its ski slopes and resorts. He assured us we would reel in fish, even though recent rains had swollen and muddied the waters.

Jones had sized up several gushing sections of the creek before we began, stopping at the roadside, peering from the rolled-down window of his Jeep and making prophetic comments. "I've been fishing since I could walk," he said in a Kentucky drawl.

When we finally settled on a starting point, we pulled over and donned Gore-Tex waders. Jones assembled our rods for us and affixed to our lines the tiny plumed hooks that would be our bait.

We stomped through underbrush before stepping into the water and marching through whooshing rapids, pausing to flick our lines into glassy pools where fish, we were advised, were likely to be lurking.

But the minutes ticked by without a bite. So Jones stopped us and changed our flies, neatly severing our lines and attaching new hooks plucked from the many recesses of his beige vest.

A few minutes later, I tried again, thrusting my elbow downward like an engine's piston -- as we'd been taught -- and unfurled the line across the surface of the water. And then it happened: The hook, masquerading as a slow-moving insect, vanished with a splash. My heart raced.

"Fish!" Jones shouted.

My line tugged slightly and I began cranking the reel, pulling from the water a small but feisty brook trout. It was a modest catch, to be sure, but one that gave me huge satisfaction.

Fortunately, that was just the beginning. Soon our rods were gently flexing with the weight of more fish, one after another.

Then came the prize catch of the day: a heftier variety of trout known as a cutthroat. It had gobbled my hook and given me a start. Grasping the slippery fish, I posed for the requisite photo before unhooking and releasing it, as we'd done with the others.

The fish we landed were just a sampling of the trout that swim the area's waters. Its main rivers -- the Dolores, the San Miguel and the Uncompahgre -- are also home to rainbow and brown trout, according to Tom Craddock, co-owner of Telluride Outside, the guide service we used.

Guided trips with Telluride Outside are $280 for two people for a half day or $395 for a full day -- perhaps a bit steep for the budget traveler -- but they include ample instruction and the use of high-quality equipment.

The prime season for fly-fishing in the Telluride area runs from July through October, though anglers can fish there year-round. And they may find other reasons to travel there, Craddock said.

"The remoteness and the scenery around here are a huge attraction," he said.

IF YOU GO

GETTING THERE: Telluride, Colo., about 350 miles from Denver and nearly 9,000 feet above sea level, has a small commercial airport. You can also drive from an airport in Montrose, about 70 miles north of Telluride.

COST: Guided fly-fishing trips with Telluride Outside cost $280 for two people for a half-day or $395 for a full day. Custom trips may also be arranged. www.tellurideoutside.com; (800) 831-6230.