Fly fishing?

[Broadjumper]

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HAHA!!!!

 

[AKDoc]

I love fly-fishing...been doing it for forty-years. When you match the hatch/preferred pattern it is magical.
An arctic grayling on a 4wt is a blast...

...as well as trout/dollies/silvers on a 7 or 8wt.



That said and truth be told...(in addition to my fly-rod) I always ALSO have a lite spinning rod and a Five-of-diamonds with me on 10-day floats!

 

[Yoder]

I always thought the same thing about fly fisherman. Growing up I would never see them catch anything. I started fly fishing with nymphs for trout about two months ago. So far I've caught 115 trout. Biggest was a 21 in rainbow. I've never caught that many fish in such a short amount of time on public streams. It's absolutely worth it, especially for trout. It creates such a natural presentation. Dry flies have been a little different. Learning to cast takes a lot of practice.

 

[Marble]

I agree with the 75% part but most of the time the fly doesn't matter as much as people think. In some selective situations when they are keyed in on specific bugs it will make a difference but that's not even remotely a majority of the time.

In the local river I fish here (Sacramento in Shasta County) it's all wild fish and the vast majority of guys fly fish. Sometimes when they are in a feeding frenzy, they are less selective. But they seemed to be very keyed in to colors first, then size and lastly the actual nymph.

Last October I had hoked up 4-5 times in 2 hours. A guide stopped to fix his clients rig and gave me a couple pupas. I hooked and landed 7 fish in 20 minutes. It was getting hit so much they trashed 3 flies. Just one of those times where they were really hot.

I will hit a riffle and try what I think should work. Then keep changing until I hook up. A lot of the guides that float the river will readily share info and give out flies. Super good group of guides up here. Mostly ran out The Fly Shop.

You can have the right fly, but if you don't present it right it doesn't matter.

 

[Marble]

fly fishing is more technical and so requires more time, attention and skill. There, I said it.

I think that's why i like it so much. If I don't give it my full attention then I am not as successful.

 

[Q child]

Fly fishing is super pretentious. It's also been my preferred technique for several years now.
I've never had a fishing experience quite like hooking into a permit on fly gear. It's crazy. It's hard and it's frustrating, but it is amazing when it comes together.

 

[Q child]

I love fly-fishing...been doing it for forty-years. When you match the hatch/preferred pattern it is magical.
An arctic grayling on a 4wt is a blast...
View attachment 563849
...as well as trout/dollies/silvers on a 7 or 8wt.
View attachment 563847View attachment 563848View attachment 563845

View attachment 563846
That said and truth be told...I always have a lite spinning rod and a Five-of-diamonds with me on 10-day floats!

Some very decent fish there.

 

[Mt Al]

Pretentious flyfishermen are pretentious, fly fishing isn't.

I use whatever works on the water I'm fishing, fishing is a blast and I hope someone invents other ways to get it done!

Been slinging flies for almost 50 years. My father liked backpacking and climbing mountains, I liked fishing so we'd pack to a lake in the Beartooths, he'd bag some peaks while I fly fished. A great, if painful, way to learn to cast.

I'll be troll fishing a lake this Friday and my friend will be frustrating himself with sinker lines and streamers on his fly rig so he can keep his 100% fly fishing addiction - for whatever reason. I'll catch 5x whatever he does and we'll both be happy.

 

[Jauwater]

I always have a tenkara rod with me

 

[switchback7]

its along the same reasoning as to why i rather archery hunt big game than rifle hunt - it's the challenge.

 

[Ferrulewax]

As you can see, I’m another pretentious fly fisherman. I would never fish for any unsavory species:

All joking aside- most outfitters will work with you if you don’t want to fish flies unless local regulations are fly only.

 

[jlw0142]

I believe that fly fishing is an art. It takes skill, technique, lots of practice, and a wealth of knowledge to actually do it yourself successfully. Many of the guys that do it are definitely a bit eccentric and are much different from the hunting community, but don't let that discourage you from learning and enjoying it.

 

[displacedtexan]

I believe that fly fishing is an art. It takes skill, technique, lots of practice, and a wealth of knowledge to actually do it yourself successfully. Many of the guys that do it are definitely a bit eccentric and are much different from the hunting community, but don't let that discourage you from learning and enjoying it.

Is learning what the fish are eating, when, and why really that different from how most of us hunt?

 

[jlw0142]

Is learning what the fish are eating, when, and why really that different from how most of us hunt?

No, great point. Very similar. I guess I just meant personality-wise, because the person that started this thread described them as “snobby” and sometimes they can come off like that. I don’t necessarily see them that way, but I think they often have a different culture than the hunting community if that makes sense.


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[Ferrulewax]

Conventional vs fly is the same debate as trad vs compound vs crossbow vs muzzy vs rifle. It’s funny to me that some people will argue for trad or look down at rifle hunters but laugh at Fly guys or vise versa. Just do whatever makes you happy.

 

[Jellymon1]

While fly fishing my local catch and release only river the other day I wasn’t catching any decent fish where I always do. Later I saw a couple with spinning gear come around the corner who had fished the section I was working with at least four 18+” cutthroat on a stick. After the look I gave them I wonder if they thought I was a snobby fly fisherman…….

 

[NCTrees]

No, great point. Very similar. I guess I just meant personality-wise, because the person that started this thread described them as “snobby” and sometimes they can come off like that. I don’t necessarily see them that way, but I think they often have a different culture than the hunting community if that makes sense.


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Like I said in the follow up it was mostly tongue in cheek….mostly. LOL. Minor pot stir I guess and while there’s been a fair bit of back and forth on the “snobby” thing, it’s not something I’m dwelling on. To each their own. I do get upping the challenge and am intrigued when hearing many accounts of how productive it can be.

The real point, was that I’m looking at some rather exotic trips that seem to cater to fly fishing crowd only (mostly?) and was curious, if the poo hit the fan, if anyone had insight on the reaction of picking up old trusty bait caster and / or spinning reel to mitigate the situation without the guides acting like I called their dog ugly and chastising me about not being an “ultra purist” or some such thing. And, I wasn’t kidding about throwing swimbaits to sea run browns.

Great conversation! I sure don’t need another hobby but may have to give it a try. It does sound fun. I bet steelhead are a blast on a fly rod.

 

[switchback7]

Like I said in the follow up it was mostly tongue in cheek….mostly. LOL. Minor pot stir I guess and while there’s been a fair bit of back and forth on the “snobby” thing, it’s not something I’m dwelling on. To each their own. I do get upping the challenge and am intrigued when hearing many accounts of how productive it can be.

The real point, was that I’m looking at some rather exotic trips that seem to cater to fly fishing crowd only (mostly?) and was curious, if the poo hit the fan, if anyone had insight on the reaction of picking up old trusty bait caster and / or spinning reel to mitigate the situation without the guides acting like I called their dog ugly and chastising me about not being an “ultra purist” or some such thing. And, I wasn’t kidding about throwing swimbaits to sea run browns.

Great conversation! I sure don’t need another hobby but may have to give it a try. It does sound fun. I bet steelhead are a blast on a fly rod.

some say the Great Lakes steelhead isnt a real stealhead, but being in MN its all i got LOL and they are super fun on the fly rod

 

[Meshnasty]

If I only fish for carp with a fly rod does that make me a snob?

 

[NCTrees]

If I only fish for carp with a fly rod does that make me a snob?

I’ve gotta ask, is this for sport or do you eat them? I’ve heard folks eat those things? They gross me out. When I was a kid we went to a lake that was having a big carp die off. From carp herpes. Dumpsters full of bloated rotting sore covered carp all over the place, the smell saturating everything for miles. Nasty.