And why does everybody think you have to fly fish only as soon as they see running water?

Flyfishing is to fishing as bowhunting is to gun hunting. Until you've done it, you don't understand.

I've seen guys beat the water with spinners and never get a bite and had a flyfisher move in behind them and catch a limit in minutes.

I love using UL spinning gear in rivers and streams (4lb test). Fighting a 5 lb brown trout or a bass on UL spinning is every bit as fun, at least for me.

I think the long whippy rod makes it a little more exciting fighting the fish, and that, if you are using dry flies, you can witness the bite. There are times where fly gear is the best option for drawing a bite, especially for trout feeding specifically on tiny insects.

Otherwise, there isn't anything much more to it except for the perception some people have that it takes more skill to use flyrods instead of just different skills.

For a long time I have made 9-10' spinning rods from 6 & 7 weight fly rod blanks. I started because I wanted to be able to cast farther with ease than with a conventional rod.

An oversized red is lots of fun.

I have done/do both. Not everybody sees the river runs through it and turns into a fly fishing nazi...

PS, I'm not saying it's the only way. Hell, I've spent a lot more time spinning than fly fishing. I only took up fly fishing this spring.

But I caught a hell of a lot of fish and now understand where the flyfishing nazis come from. I'm only about 65% fly nazi now.

don't really like to compare the two. Fly fishing is just sucha different experience. You're using a totally different technique that makes experience.

I'm firmly in the camp of "use whatever the heck works"

and thoroughly enjoy both types.

I had a friend that was a 100% fly fishing only nazi, and was convinced nothing else could be as great. He had mainly fished for trout in colorado his entire life.

Since he loved trout on dry fly's I took him to some stock ponds that I knew had a killer topwater bite in the springs.

his second cast with a big popper a 6 pounder BLEW the thing up, He jumped about 5' high, screamed like a little girl, and dropped my rod into the pond.

I now have a convert.

I have had success in the one time i actually got to use a fly rod. It was in colorado. I was able to do it for a couple weeks.

All i know is that if you havent done it, you definately should. Its so much more....i don't know...involved. I don't know what it is about it, but its a lot more fun in my opinion.

I've tried it, but I have ADD when it comes to fishing...

fishing for the relaxation is not me...

To me it's about the presentation of the bait with skittish gamefish (i.e. all stream trout). You can lay that fly in there without spooking anything.

I don't fly fish, but if it's what worked better, I'd do it.

Now, for the excitement part, it's hard to beat this b!*ch blowing up on a Skitterwalk 20 feet in front of you while wading and hearing your line singing off the reel. I'll take a topwater jackfish over just about anything that swims. Someday maybe a billfish will top it.

From March:

There are times and places to use each. There are places where I can destroy fish with a flyrod where I have seen people with spinning tackle go fishless. And there are plenty of places where spinning tackle is much more effective. I personnally prefer fly fishing though simply because it's more entertaining.

I like the response from above to use whatever works. I really enjoy fly-fishing when I am in small water, creeks and streams. Some of the greatest times I have are with a 5 wt rod walking in creeks around Lavaca and DeWitt county. You can drop a nymph or tiny popper right on a perch nest and have a great time catching those sun perch and war jaws. A bass is a bonus. A small spinning lure tends to startle the fish but the fly is perfect and once you get the hang of it is actually easier to get into tight spaces. This type of fishing is, believe-it-not, very threpeutic for me.

On the coast the fly-rod is on many occasions better when you are fishing for popping trout under lights. The trout seem to know every artificial tout and speck-rig out there but they will hit the clouser or the shrimp. Sometimes nothing works.

Baxterlives, do you live in Austin?

[This message has been edited by 95 Buzzbait (edited 5/21/2007 5:47p).]

Flyfishing can be more fun and can also be more difficult. The bow hunting example is the best comparison. It is all what you like to do. It is also not for just trout or saltwater. You can catch any fish in texas on a fly rod. Maybe not when the fish are deep, but it can be done.

d

I've been flyfishing in Alaska for 8 years in a row now (annual outfit trip). Year one, 2 of us out of 8 fly fished. This year, every guy on the trip will be flyfishing. There is something elitist about the flyfishing industry (Orvis, Sage, Simms, etc), but I don't buy into that part. There's nothing else like catching a 15 pound Salmon on a flyrod versus a low-life baitcaster (just kidding boys - don't anyone get your panties in a wad).

I think it also might have something to do with where you are located. There isn't a whole lot of fly fishing for the most part in Texas, and I've never seen a 7-6 swimbait rod throwing a 4 oz. swimbait in a trout stream. I've never gotten into fly fishing mainly because it is not the "preferred" method of fishing here in Texas. I wouldn't mind trying it in a good trout/salmon stream, though.

[This message has been edited by Rebbasser (edited 5/21/2007 9:45p).]

I think part of the appeal is the process of trying to become a more complete fisherman. IMO, a great fisherman is someone that can survey the situation and select the proper style/technique to catch the most/biggest fish. It might mean throwing live/dead bait with a baitcasting rig, dropping a tiny dry fly with a 4 weight or throwing a smaller lure with spinning tackle.

All of that being said, some of fly nazis wear me out. I'v been salmon fishing with guys that were disgusted by a baitcasting rig and then steelhead fishing with guys that were ripping salmon fishermen because the salmon wasn't "majestic" enough. Go figure. As I've grown older, I appreciate spending time with family and friends and the weight of the stringer doesn't mean as much. But cold beer is still very important.

Speckled trout...so true. Last weekend I took my 3 five-year nephews fishing for perch with CANE-POLES and crickets. So fun yet so simple.

Rebasser,

You need to try flyfishing topwater poppers for bass. A lot of the time a flyfishers can do better than a conventional bass lures because bass haven't seen that many flies as opposed to a spinner bait.

There definately is a degree of elitism to flyfishing. But, there is also some arrogance to bass fishing. For example, the redneck with a three hundred HP bass rig blowing up the lake.

chocolatelabs, I have done some fly fishing for bass using popping bugs-it really is a lot of fun, I just for some reason don't think about doing it-I've got a flyrod, I just don't use it.

I had a great dey on Sunday out of POC. Caught 8 reds on a fly rod. One 27 inch fish was 10 ft into my backing on his first run.
The appeal of most fly fishing to me is that the "lion's share" of it is sight casting (ie. you're hunting the fish), not that you can't do the same thing with a spinning rod.
It's just more fun,to me , to tie my own flies and then catch a limit of reds or a tarpon on "my" flies.

" Big coons walk at night !"