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.
𝗩𝗜𝗦𝗜𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗕𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗡 𝗪𝗘𝗕𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗘
1500+ articles about fly fishing for wild trout in wild places.
https://troutbitten.com/
𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗡 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗕𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗡 𝗣𝗢𝗗𝗖𝗔𝗦𝗧
https://podcast.troutbitten.com
Agree that elitism applies to flyfishing. It’s generally a “cleaner-less dirt” practice.
It focuses more on natural trout food and specific imitation of structure and materials. Not as generalized as bait or spin fishing.
I grew up bait and lures and mostly spin casting. An all-gold Size 0 Panther Martin, size 0 Mepps with the red tube treble and light bronze blade, silver blade also and a small Rapala floating silver and black minnow fished with split shot close enough to affect the wobble and depth. All three mostly cast upstream and retrieved with the right speed and angle to get a trout’s interest and concern.
But that isn’t a real focus on fishing natural looking/acting insects and crustaceans and a variety of small fish (black nosed dace to sculpin).
Flyfishing requires some knowledge of the natural environment and trout food and presents a big difference in actually imitating trout food presented in an imitation of natural behavior.
Not just the rod and the reel.
Casting and floating or other are some things that other methods just can’t perform.
E.g. casting a size 18 Adams or ant 🐜 are great trout catching opportunities that fly fishing gives.
But one of my favorite baits is a crane fly larvae fished with a spinning rig.
But agree that people do align themselves with “sides” with competitive pro athletics.
The general sport of trout fishing is not that way, in reality.
Flyfishing does require more knowledge of aquatic and land life available and desired by trout.
But applying the same competitive mentality as was created with bass tournaments is completely unnecessary.
If someone wants to take sides about the different casting techniques and interpret one as just being defined as superior that’s nothing to do with fishing.
Some techniques require different KSAs - Knowledge, Skills and Abilities.
Don’t play this game of assigning superiority of one fishing method over another. Depending on the species and the imitations and water structure it’s always up to the individual to decide the best method.
And, as this is a flyfishing group, it is difficult to understand the constant complaint that flyfishers are too haughty.
It’s about the same as complaining that Ford truck drivers consider themselves better than others on the highway.
Especially now with gas prices that seems as juvenile as anything.
I wish I still had my 16-foot station wagon where I could keep three rods rigged and ready for three different techniques, and I could easily access the engine and do most of the maintenance and repairs easily.
Was the station wagon driver superior to the truck driver?
This is a flyfishing group.
![[WR]](/data/avatars/s/46/46991.jpg?1788113944){kind=avatar}
