Fly fishing?

[NCTrees]

Alright, so fly fishermen were always those guys who came up from the city in their range rovers wearing tweed hats and the newest waders. Folks we chuckled at as we waded past them in cutoff jeans outfishing them 10:1 dragging spinners. Always struck me as kind of an unproductive, expensive and rather snooty hobby. Maybe I’m wrong and/ or being too harsh?

Anyhow as I get older there are a few trips I’d like to take at some point. Flats fishing for permit, tarpon. Chasing golden dorado. Sea run browns in Tierra del Fuego. And so on. Issue is most all these, seemingly the best of them appear to be fly fishing only? Anyone know if this is generally true and if so, worth it to learn how to use that fairy wand?

 

[sacklunch]

Alright, so fly fishermen were always those guys who came up from the city in their range rovers wearing tweed hats and the newest waders. Folks we chuckled at as we waded past them in cutoff jeans outfishing them 10:1 dragging spinners. Always struck me as kind of an unproductive, expensive and rather snooty hobby. Maybe I’m wrong and/ or being too harsh?

Anyhow as I get older there are a few trips I’d like to take at some point. Flats fishing for permit, tarpon. Chasing golden dorado. Sea run browns in Tierra del Fuego. And so on. Issue is most all these, seemingly the best of them appear to be fly fishing only? Anyone know if this is generally true and if so, worth it to learn how to use that fairy wand?

You sound pretty salty on fly fisherman for some reason. Maybe go snag a coffee can full of night crawlers and dangle them under your bobber at the local lake instead?

 

[Hoghead]

I started fly fishing for the challenge. It is frustrating and fun at the same time. People tell me the same thing about golf, but I just can't make myself chase a little wight ball around next to a bass pond, lol.
I don't top water fish much mostly streamers and nymphs. The first year in the mountains fly fishing was tough. Second year, it really came together for me. Now, on pack trips, I take conventional and fly rods. If you plan to pay money to go fly fishing, take at least a year to learn to cast accurately you will have a lot more fun. I practiced in the local rivers casting under trees to bass and on the lakes for bass and stripers. I will say this it is harder to catch fish and deal with your line, but it is 10x more fun to catch even a small fish on a fly rod. Then, when you finally catch something decent, wow.

Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk

 

[tater]

Flyfishing is like old motorcycles, single shot rifles and quirky women: if you take it for what it is and "get it" you love it. If you don't you won't.
Definitely not for everyone.

 

[Broadjumper]

Flyfishing is awesome. Where you find deer the trout aint too far away. Best of both worlds.

 

[SoutheasternHunter]

I have fished all my life and found fly fishing to be a challenge I wanted to take on. Most of the time I use a guide when going to places I'm not familiear with, but I still can practice at my pond year round,

I have fished for Golden Dorado and Tarpon on conventional gear though in Argentina and Florida. Guides just didn't like our chances on flyrods at the time.

 

[Shane802]

Sounds like your mind is pretty made up on how you view fly fishing so whatever I say will not change your mind. Only thing I will say try a guided trip and make up your own mind instead of relying solely on your stereotype of fly fishing

 

[Nickofthewoods]

Unless the water you plan on fishing has a fly only regulation there's no reason you couldn't try for any of those species you listed with a spin rod and conventional tackle. In fact, it may be easier, more practical, and less expensive especially if you already have some of the equipment and know how to use it.

 

[NCTrees]

A lot of that tongue in cheek. Not salty at all. Curious mainly.

 

[NCTrees]

Appreciate the replies folks. To add context, a few years sago we were on a salmon trip up in BC. The guy we were with was transfixed on those strange single action reels. We lost fish after fish, him too, and the suggestion of picking up a bait caster (levelwind) was taken as if I’d called his dog ugly.

Point being I get the added challenge for local waters, or even trying to up the challenge on something you feel you’ve mastered. But, hands tied to a single style when you’re on a one-off five figure $$ trip? Hmmm. Good to hear there are options for conventional tackle on some of these. I just haven’t found those yet.

Anyone know an outfitter who’d be up for me tossing a Hudd for a few days to sea run browns down in Argentina?

 

[JeffP_Or]

@tater is spot on with his succinct response. I fish it all and though prefer flyfishing, it by no means limits how I approach fishing.

My guess is, at this juncture for Argentina [and similar locales], if you contacted a few outfitters there, they would be able to hook you up with whatever means you wanted or could point you in a direction assuming it meets regulations for their system. They probably cater to the flyfishing crowd because thse are the folks who do the destination travel thing? I know many of the outfits I have done for flats, will certainly change it up for a client if they ask.

I would also suggest, once you get set up to chuck plugs, don't pass up the opportunity to put the fairy wands to use if given the opportunity to try - you might find it worthwhile and a nice change up to the trip.

Lastly, the whole BC single action reel thing - how many fish can a person keep by law? I bet this set-up gives the person an opportunity to hook and fight multiple fish over a day without being compelled to keep them since you kept losing them? I spent a recent day on a boat with 6 guys on the Columbia - limit is one fish, and a clipped hatchery fish at that. At the end of the day, the five other guys tagged their fish - 3 of them their first fish to the boat. I was the lone hold out who didn't get the 'magic' rod [by their terms] HOWEVER I did hook and fight over a dozen chinook to get my one taggable fish. All while the others looked on for hours and went for a boat ride. I would have much rather had my day than the other guys - plus, we all went home with the same thing!

So sometimes, it just ends up being what a person really wants from a trip. I really do think one of the ranches down there will accommodate you!

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

NC-

I fully agree w you. Always seemed to be Snobby. The "Fat Man's" sports. Cigars and expensive whiskey and look the part with Orvis everything. Generally an Eliteist type thing. Pay to Play.

I am getting more into it. Now it's generally the Eliteists....like Costner and Winkler booking the river for several $$$$ per trip. Or it's the new crop of FlatBrimmers.

But either way, I see it differing from hunting Eliteist. Should be pretty much Catch and Release. Which evens the playing field a bit. Even if a skilled fisherman beats your ass on the water, the fish are generally returned to be fished again.

I paid to fish the flats in Cozumel a few months ago. I wanted the experience. The fishing pretty well sucked. The guide quickly went to Spin tackle. And began to fish as well. Then hooked a Bonefish and handed me the rod. My wife asked why I didn't want a photo with the fish when I landed it. I felt like a 6 year old. Not my fish. After an hour I hooked and landed a Bone on Spinning gear. Then before the trip was done, I successfully hooked and boated a Bone on the fly. Took a photo and checked the box with that fish.

 

[IdahoBeav]

I primarily fly fish, but I love bass fishing baitcast-monofilament. Trout just don't do anything for me unless it's on a fly, but not just any fly- dries and streamers. Nymphing is boring. I've never fished for the species you listed, but I could see them having a similar effect to fly fishing as trout do for me.

As for the elitism and snobbery many associate with fly fisherman. My observation is that there is a close similarity to the western hunting community. Just replace Orvis with Kuiu/Sitka/etc.

 

[displacedtexan]

Just about all my fishing anymore is fly fishing. I enjoy the process and figuring out how to fool a fish vs just flinging a florescent sparkling worm on a shiny spinnerbait.

You can buy a closet full of Orvis and Simms, or a cheap rod and some hip boots at Bass Pro. Same as hunting gear, do you want Sitka or Walmart camo? You can kill deer in both.

 

[william schmaltz]

You sound pretty salty on fly fisherman for some reason. Maybe go snag a coffee can full of night crawlers and dangle them under your bobber at the local lake instead?

What if he calls his bobber an indicator?

 

[IdahoBeav]

What if he calls his bobber an indicator?

I hate those things, and it seems that 90% of "fly fisherman" these days strictly nymph fish. Every year I run into guys on the water that will be running a bobber and double nymphs during a PMD hatch with fish rising.

 

[EastHumboldt]

I tried fly fishing for a while, and I just didn’t have the patience. I’m pretty good with a spin rod and it was hard to miss strike after strike when I knew I’d be hooking up with my spin rod. One of my Flyrod wielding buddies that used to fish the same water with me would out fish me about 10 fish to1. Otoh I was using largeish spinners and my fish tended to run bigger than his. I don’t think it’s snobby at all, and it’s a worthwhile skill to have in your arsenal if you have the patience to develop it.

One day I was hiking my dogs in a nearby mountain valley. It was spring, so there’s snow melt in little Seasonal rivulets Running all over the valley floor. One of these tiny Streams had a pool about the size of a bathtub. There’s this guy standing there Who looked like he walk-through an Orvis store, and bought one of everything. He had about $3000 worth of gear hanging off of his spendy vest and waders. He was whipping the water in that bathtub size pool to a froth with a flyrod. I asked him if he was catching anything. He said no, but this looks fishy! In my head, I thought “it certainly does, but not the way you mean it”. I thought about trying to educate him a little bit, but he didn’t look very receptive. I wished him luck and went on my way with a chuckle.

 

[sacklunch]

What if he calls his bobber an indicator?

Depends…what if it’s a yarn indicator? That’s certainly not a bobber.

 

[11boo]

You better start small before swinging a 12W for tarpon.

 

[dtrkyman]

I love to fly fish, even guided some and I totally get some of the shade thrown at the purist fly guys. But every activity has the d bag crowd no doubt.

I get myself in trouble with those serious guys cuz it is easy to get them fired up, I love pointing out how they like catching invasive species on a bobber.

Salt water fly fishing is where it's really at!

I do love to back pack in some remote canyon and catch cutthroat on dries, definitely my favorite.