Fly Fishing or Spinning Gear: What has caught you more "trophy" size fish?

[afishinado]

greenghost wrote:
I use a fly rod 90% of the time, so my answer is obvious. If the question were, "Which is the better tackle for catching trophy fish?"
the answer would be spinning tackle, hands down.

A guy proficient with spinning tackle will out fish a guy with a fly rod 95% of the time. Periods of heavy hatches might be the exception. But even then, a spinning angler can easily fish weighted nymphs.
The versatility and effectiveness of spinning equipment is simply unmatched by a fly rod or bait casting equipment.

Sorry, Izaak.

Don't sell Izaak short! Under certain conditions FF is a more effective way to fish. In the case of a hatch, and in low/clear water are two of these conditions. I was a decent spin fisherman and was frustrated trying to catch fish under these conditions. I tried FF and never looked back.

In the above I'm speaking of methods, but there are two seperate questions - tackle or methods? As far as fly tackle vs. spin or baitcasting tackle, yes the spinners have an advantage, especially landing large fish. But like I said earlier the FF method of fishing can be more effective under certain conditions.

 

[pcray1231]

All tackle can theoretically do all things. You can, and I have, fished dry flies with spin gear, a casting bubble does it, but its not ideal. Likewise, you can fish minnows, eggs, worms, etc., on a fly rod, but its not ideal.

As a general rule, trophy fish are not dry fly eaters, in fact bugs of any sort don't make up a huge part of the diet. Big fish become piscavores. Thats why you're trophy trout flyfishermen often use streamers.

Now if you asked which is more effective in catching numbers of trout, you'd have an argument both ways and it would indeed depend on the conditions (water level, clarity, big stream vs. small, rich food base or poor, whether a hatch is occurring or not, etc.). But for true trophies, a proficient angler using spinning gear and live minnies can't be beat, its deadly, and you can cover a lot of water quickly.

There are exceptions. Spawning migrations, such as occur on great lakes tribs, those fish are eating eggs and want them dead drifted, fly gear is better at that provided the distance isn't too great. Big fish will occasionally lock in on bugs, especially if large flies like Green Drakes or cicadas are present. But these are the exceptions rather than the rule.

 

[greenghost]

pcray,
As usual, you are dead on. A guy with a spinning rod fishing minnows -- someone who knows what they are doing -- can be amazing to watch. When I was growing up there was a guy named Joe Kowalski who would string a salted minnow (not live) on a mono line with a bunch of split shot that looked like Rosary Beads. He'd toss them out and rake the stream bottom, rolling every fish in the stretch. Or so it seemed to a bright-eyed 15-year old. He was in complete control of that rig. He could make that minnow dance in front of a trout's nose. He was truly an artist. And the spinning rod was his medium.

 

[MattBoyer]

PaulG wrote:
For trout my biggest trout were caught with a flyrod. My to biggest fish were a 25inch rainbow and a 24inch brown (stockies) both caught in the Wiconisco creek, both in the same week. I've caught a few 20 inchers on Spring Creek over the years.

Dang Paul! I grew up on that creek and my biggest out of there is 18. Hell I catch bigger fish out of Rattling than I do out of the Wic. Unfrigginfair! In and answer to the OP, I'd say spinning, but I've only been FF'ing for around 5 years or so and I'm catching up fast. Biggest trout was a brown around 29" or so out of Pine on a crawler. Biggest on a fly was 26ish out of Clarks a few years back. When I was in my early 20's I had a few years in a row where I was getting between 10 and 20 fish a year over 20", then it tapered off to around 3 or 4. This year I only had 1 break that mark. I guess I'm losing the touch.

Boyer

 

[PaulG]

Matt

I haven't been to the whiskey in a long time, and I don't know why. I have some very good days up there, in the early season. I haven't been there since they make the Ned Smith section Reg.waters...Do you like that area?

I have to remember to get up there this year, maybe we could get together and fish it sometime!

PaulG

 

[wetnet]

greenghost wrote:
I use a fly rod 90% of the time, so my answer is obvious. If the question were, "Which is the better tackle for catching trophy fish?"
the answer would be spinning tackle, hands down.

A guy proficient with spinning tackle will out fish a guy with a fly rod 95% of the time. Periods of heavy hatches might be the exception. But even then, a spinning angler can easily fish weighted nymphs.
The versatility and effectiveness of spinning equipment is simply unmatched by a fly rod or bait casting equipment.

Sorry, Izaak.

Oh good luck with that!

 

[flybop]

Sometimes spin fishermen can out fsh a fly guy and sometimes (other than a major hatch) a fly fisherman can easily out fish a spin guy. I can think of a few times that I out fished my spin friends, and they are good at it, with a fly rod. One time on opening day the fishing was so fast that I had a major advantage in that I did not have to waste time replacing my bait between fish.

Over the last few days while floating the Big Horn my buddy and I were streamer fishing while in the boat. Throughout the day we saw a boat with 4 spin guys who were chucking hardware. To put it mildly we spanked those guys real bad in numbers and size. At dinner one night one of them even said that they were actually convinced that it really is possible to catch more fish on a fly rod than on spin tackle. He even wants to book a day with me this spring to catch his first trout on a fly.

 

[Fishidiot]

No question that there are days whan FFing can outscore the bait/spin guys. A few years ago on Opening Day I was dialed in and catching and releasing a good number of trout on nymphs from a run on which I was accompanied by about a dozen bait guys who were mostly fishless. After about 20 minutes of this some became irritated and left; several others wanted to ask me what "bait" I was using and were unsure what to make of the PT nymphs on my leader. I suggested to 'em that likely they weren't fishing their baits deep enough and suggested more split shot. I don't know if they went on to catch more trout. Perhaps there were a lot of nymphs and the fish were keyed on 'em.

When deliberately targeting big trout, I do believe that, all things considered, spin fishermen have a distinct advantage. If you were sent out to a stream or river in PA and told that if you could catch a 20" trout you'd win a million bucks - I'm sure many of you would take your fly rods. Me? I think I'd take a spin rod with some jigs and minnow plugs - especially on big water like the Yough, Clarion, or Lehigh. You can cast further, fish deeper, buck the wind better, and no issue with backcasts and vegetation.

 

[MattBoyer]

I really do like that stretch and I usually try to hit it in March, but I probably won't get out there until mid April this year. There are a few places upstream that I also like to hit that produce well. I'll definitely keep you posted as to when I'm heading up.

Boyer

PaulG wrote:
Matt

I haven't been to the whiskey in a long time, and I don't know why. I have some very good days up there, in the early season. I haven't been there since they make the Ned Smith section Reg.waters...Do you like that area?

I have to remember to get up there this year, maybe we could get together and fish it sometime!

PaulG

 

[pete41]

well-for what little its worth-and leaving aside the smaller dapping cricks-and creeks in general and going with bigger waters[read western]
I would say a really good trout fisherman using either tackle will catch more fish than the average fisherman using either tackle,more often than not.
More the skill level than the tackle.
A good local fisherman that knows their waters has a slight edge over a more skilled visitor.IMHO

 

[eballat]

Hey Sal,

The hog of a brown i caught on Elk Creek i just caught this past November. It was the perfect time to fish. The browns were in full spawn and most guys were bow hunting the rut. I caught the trout on a cotton candy crystal meth tided on a size 12 scud hook. I missed one the day before i landed the 31 incher that may have been longer. Not quite as heavy though.

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear eballat,

Spinning gear by a wide margin.  I've caught a lot of nice fish of all species on the fly but comparing catch rates between fly and spin tackle makes it no contest.

I prefer to fly fish but spinning gear is far more productive, to me the point isn't even worth arguing because anyone that would argue the point is either clueless or simply flat out sucks with a spinning rod.

Regards,
Tim Murphy

 

[Hook_Jaw]

Ive caught nice size trout with both but far more spin fishing then fly fishing but caught a number of big trout 18+ in cicada and green drake season

 

[Squaretail]

Spin.
Just just dont like using it anymore. Once my skill level got to a certain point, it almost became mechanical.

 

[JakesLeakyWaders]

I enjoy fly fishing more than spin fishin. A trophy fish on a fly rod is much more satisfying to land and the fight and is more of a tug of war when using a fly rod, when compared to the somewhat spiritually diminished spin method which reminds me of winching a car onto a tow truck.

Other than a big fat 16" wild brookie that I caught while spinfishing for bass behind a beaver dam in Susquehanna Co. and a 20" inch rainbow I caught on a Gary Yamamoto pumkin spider jig on a Gamagatzu high performance hook I caught fishing for bass in Lake Marburg, I would have to say all of my other bigger trout were on fly rod and 20"- 22" inches is about as big as I've caught. I have lost a few around 24" and one was a palomino, but for me a trophy is 18". Any thing stocked over 18",
and anything wild over 12" gets me really excited.

Actually I am ecstatic over catching any wild trout any size!

 

[sage]

You have to throw meat to catch meat. You can catch fish with a 16 sulphur BUT not that many big fish over 15in. Now if you throw a #2 streamer, you'll catch a lot more BIGGER fish. Example, I fished couple different streamers this past Saturday for about 2 hours. I caught 6 fish. The smallest one was 18 and the biggest one was 26.

 

[FarmerDave]

Although my answer seems to favor fly gear as the more effective equipment, I agree with most of the posts that say it is easier with spin gear. That has been my experience, too. I just favor fly fishing most of the time.

By the way, great question, eballat.

 

[Fishinmagician]

I would have to say for trout and steelhead,hands down flyrod.For the salt spinning gear,for instance stripers over 40# I consider a trophy,last year on the fly rod I landed a striper that went 18# i consider that a trophy,to me anyway also a big bluefish which i didn't weigh but was about 12#this year i will concentrate on the flyrod more in the salt.Depending on conditions,I won't fish it in 30 mile an hour winds.
tight lines,
Don

 

[PoconoPuke]

Best trout I ever hooked was flyfishing the Thornhurst stretch of the Lehigh. I scratched him with a dry, he stopped surface feeding and hooked him with a nymph. He took me to the middle of the river where he stuck the nymph on a submerged tree. I suspect he's done that dozens of times before. If I had put any more pressure on my Orvis Battenkill I would have snapped the rod. Never even got a look at him.
I figured I'd rest him for a week . When I returned a week later, the farmer on who's land I park tells me some fella took a trout out, it's tail was dragging the ground as he carried it by the gills and his rod was busted but he was still grinning anyway.
This is what happens when you rest them for a week.

 

[pete41]

``Best trout I ever hooked was flyfishing the Thornhurst stretch of the Lehigh. I scratched him with a dry, he stopped surface feeding and hooked him with a nymph. He took me to the middle of the river where he stuck the nymph on a submerged tree. I suspect he's done that dozens of times before. If I had put any more pressure on my Orvis Battenkill I would have snapped the rod. Never even got a look at him.
I figured I'd rest him for a week . When I returned a week later, the farmer on who's land I park tells me some fella took a trout out, it's tail was dragging the ground as he carried it by the gills and his rod was busted but he was still grinning anyway.
This is what happens when you rest them for a week.''


That gets my vote for the best ``Fish story"' I have seen on here yet[mine included].
Think its going to be another``I'm bragging,pat me'' ramble and has the surprise twist you don't get in many fish tales.
Good one,Sir-I salute you.lol