“One person fishes only dry flies, but the next fishes dries to rising trout only inside perfectly circular rings. Anything less is simply unsporting, you see.”
Fly fishers are a funny lot, to be sure. I’ve often said, “If there’s not an argument, it isn’t fly fishing. This Saturday we bring you a little wisdom on the topic from Domenick Swentosky at Troutbitten. Have a read and see where you draw the line.
“WHERE THE LINES ARE DRAWN”
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“Lines” . . . ? “Arguments” . . . ?
Aren’t they just personal preferences?
Some of us just prefer to fish in a way that ensures natural eats confirmed by visual surface takes. As a dry fly specialist, I have no argument against any legal method, save the use of pegged beads. This article seems to imply that dry fly fishermen look down on other methods. Not true. We make no argument against the efficiency of nymph fishing or the excitement of a streamer yank. I think this whole idea of dry fly purists looking down on other methods has been incited and exacerbated through internet articles and comments. On the stream I have yet to see people arguing face to face over the superiority of their fishing preference. Frankly, I think its a bit of a straw man argument that these so-called lines actually exist. Either that or the nymph and streamer people are just a bit jealous. Ha!
Exactly. There aren’t really these “purists” that soley fish dry flies to rising trout upstream. Maybe there is a dozen of them but for some reason people feel obligated to make themselves feel like they “do it best” or “just as good” by writing articles on the matter over and over. A very annoying thing in fly fishing culture.
I rarely fish nymphs for the simple reason that it bores me. I don’t have anything against people who do. I do have a problem with people who catch 20-30 fish standing in the same spot using the same fly. Usually people who do that are nymph fisherman. Once you have caught 4 or 5 fish in one spot, expand your horizons. You could try a different technique or move on to another spot.
Rick – I see you have an aversion to “pegged beads”. Is an un-pegged bead ok? (Free sliding over the length of the tippet. Is a glo bug ok? Really the only difference I”ve seen between fishing a glo bug and a bead is that a lot of fish get hooked deeper in the throat than is usual with a bead.
Just try fishing some Alaskan streams with anything but a glo bug or a bead in August or September and be prepared to go fishless.