Fly Fishing Elitists - Enough Already by Troutbitten

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Troutbitten recently offered an honest take on an old issue: fly fishing has suffered under the weight of its own elitism for far too long. That baggage touches nearly every corner of how people approach the water—from tackle choices down to internal debates over flies and tactics.

As Domenick put it:
"How is fly fishing any better than fishing with gear? It's just not... So fish what you like, and if you don't like how somebody else does, I'd say keep it to yourself."

He also pointed out how arbitrary the boundaries become once anglers start picking sides:
"That elitism—that 'I'm better than you because I have a fly rod in my hand' crap—has sadly carried over and infested every microcosm of the sport... It's ridiculous, because we're all just anglers."

I’d take that a step further: species carries the exact same baggage. You see the same tribal camps, some way too passionate for me, that form around warmwater bass and panfish, stocked rainbows, wild browns, or wild brook trout—often with some groups even claiming their pursuit is somehow purer, tougher, or more legitimate than the next. At the end of the day, it's just fishing. Go have fun.

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1500+ articles about fly fishing for wild trout in wild places.
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There are many aspects of flyfishing that make it "better" for me personally. (Body count is obviously not one of those aspects.)
I can hardly act elite about it when anyone from any economic, ethnic, religious, etc. background can give it a try.

 

Dear Dave,

Honestly, it's all just feeshin'. There are times when I want to fly fish and times when I want to toss TRD's on a spinning rig or spinnerbaits on a baitcasting rig. So that is just what I do. YMMV.

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂

 

Well said, Dave.

It's sort of funny that any fly fisherman would feel this way to begin with. As Kelly Galloup regularly points out, professional bass anglers, as a group, are the best fishermen on the planet, and it's not even close.

Years ago I bought a small boat and tried my hand at depth-controlled trolling. Down riggers, diving devices, planer boards, lead core line, lure selection and behavior while moving, boat control, understanding sonar, etc., taxes what little fishing skill I have as much as, or more, than fly fishing does.

IMO, any style of fishing can be as simple or complex as you make it. And, making it simultaneously challenging and enjoyable is the most important thing of all, or why even bother?

 

Do other hobbies also have participants that feel the need to regularly remind everyone how not great the activity is? I see a rant about how fly fishing isn't special about every two months, I'd guess.

As said above, fly fishing IS better because I enjoy it better. I don't care if other folks spin fish, just as I don't care if other folks collect stamps or play Dungeons & Dragon. It's just that none of those things have anything to do with the thing I like a whole f.cking lot, which is fly fishing.