Why do I Fly-fish? I had this same conversation with Jayl when fishing with him this past weekend. As a background to how I began fishing, like many on the board, I grew up spin fishing with bait and lures for all types fish. I fished since I was five years old. By the time I became a teenager, I learned to read the water and present bait in a natural drift and catch fish…many fish. Along the way, I discovered the world of spin fishing with lures. It added another dimension to fishing and added a lot fish to the stringer.
At one point while fishing in a trout stream (Fishing Creek near Benton) when I was 14 or 15 years old, I watched trout rising to a hatch and ignoring my bait and lures and I had an epiphany; there was a whole other way to fish…fly-fishing!
I borrowed an old fly rod from my Uncle, bought a few flies at the sporting goods store, and my FF adventure began. Since I had no one to teach me, I learned on my own. I used split shot and lobbed in the flies much like I did when bait fishing. I began to catch fish right away since I knew all about finding the fish and dead-drifting and swing through the prime spots on the stream. During a hatch I struggled a little with casting dry flies, but caught on quickly and began to catch fish on top.
From that point on I always brought two outfits with me on a fishing trip; a spin outfit and well as a FF outfit. At one time I even had a bass boat and tossed all kinds of lures with both bait-casting and spinning outfits. Eventually, I was the only nut on the lake fishing in a fully rigged bass boat using a fly rod casting poppers and hairbugs in the cover.
As time went on, (into my mid to late 20’s) I used the spin outfit less and less and finally left it at home altogether……but why is that?. Well for me, I found FF a lot more challenging and interesting. First of all, when you fly-fish you naturally become curious about the bugs that inhabit the stream. Add to that, the challenge of tying flies to imitate them, which opens up another dimension of fishing and adds a whole new world of challenge and seeking knowledge. Those that don’t tie never really know the satisfaction that comes from experimenting tying a fly the actually works well to fool trout and tying your “secret” flies using your custom-made blends of materials tied using your unique technique.
Another appeal to FF is that fly-casting in itself is enjoyable, and learning to cast and mend can be a challenge in itself, like casting on a small tight stream, or trying to reach fish and get a good presentation on a big river.
I found bait fishing and lure fishing did give me as much of a challenge as fly-fishing. Let’s face it, hand a neophyte angler a spinning rod and a handful of lures and a bucket full of bait and he/she can learn to spin fish fairly well far quicker than they would trying to learn fly-fishing.
So I guess I really evolved into a fly-fisherman. First, because of the the joys and agonies of casting, also the added dimension of learning about entomology and the time involved in acquiring the skills needed for fly tying to make my own “lures” for catching trout. One other thing that makes FF so challenging is trying to learn many of FF fishing techniques and rigs for fishing dry flies, the varied ways of nymphing, fishing streamers, etc. All this keeps me coming back for more.
I liken my love for FF to my love of bow hunting for deer over rifle hunting. While FF not often the most efficient way to fish all the time, it is the most satisfying for me. But fly-fishing is far from an exercise in futility that some make it out to be. Many times a skilled FF will out fish many of “less evolved” spin fishermen 🙂 on the stream But at some point, at least for me, just catching a lot of fish really isn’t the draw for fly-fishing, it’s all really in the challenge of FF and trying to learn all the facets of the sport, with the added “bonus” of the beauty of the surroundings along with the beauty and wariness of the quarry.
At one point while fishing in a trout stream (Fishing Creek near Benton) when I was 14 or 15 years old, I watched trout rising to a hatch and ignoring my bait and lures and I had an epiphany; there was a whole other way to fish…fly-fishing!
I borrowed an old fly rod from my Uncle, bought a few flies at the sporting goods store, and my FF adventure began. Since I had no one to teach me, I learned on my own. I used split shot and lobbed in the flies much like I did when bait fishing. I began to catch fish right away since I knew all about finding the fish and dead-drifting and swing through the prime spots on the stream. During a hatch I struggled a little with casting dry flies, but caught on quickly and began to catch fish on top.
From that point on I always brought two outfits with me on a fishing trip; a spin outfit and well as a FF outfit. At one time I even had a bass boat and tossed all kinds of lures with both bait-casting and spinning outfits. Eventually, I was the only nut on the lake fishing in a fully rigged bass boat using a fly rod casting poppers and hairbugs in the cover.
As time went on, (into my mid to late 20’s) I used the spin outfit less and less and finally left it at home altogether……but why is that?. Well for me, I found FF a lot more challenging and interesting. First of all, when you fly-fish you naturally become curious about the bugs that inhabit the stream. Add to that, the challenge of tying flies to imitate them, which opens up another dimension of fishing and adds a whole new world of challenge and seeking knowledge. Those that don’t tie never really know the satisfaction that comes from experimenting tying a fly the actually works well to fool trout and tying your “secret” flies using your custom-made blends of materials tied using your unique technique.
Another appeal to FF is that fly-casting in itself is enjoyable, and learning to cast and mend can be a challenge in itself, like casting on a small tight stream, or trying to reach fish and get a good presentation on a big river.
I found bait fishing and lure fishing did give me as much of a challenge as fly-fishing. Let’s face it, hand a neophyte angler a spinning rod and a handful of lures and a bucket full of bait and he/she can learn to spin fish fairly well far quicker than they would trying to learn fly-fishing.
So I guess I really evolved into a fly-fisherman. First, because of the the joys and agonies of casting, also the added dimension of learning about entomology and the time involved in acquiring the skills needed for fly tying to make my own “lures” for catching trout. One other thing that makes FF so challenging is trying to learn many of FF fishing techniques and rigs for fishing dry flies, the varied ways of nymphing, fishing streamers, etc. All this keeps me coming back for more.
I liken my love for FF to my love of bow hunting for deer over rifle hunting. While FF not often the most efficient way to fish all the time, it is the most satisfying for me. But fly-fishing is far from an exercise in futility that some make it out to be. Many times a skilled FF will out fish many of “less evolved” spin fishermen 🙂 on the stream But at some point, at least for me, just catching a lot of fish really isn’t the draw for fly-fishing, it’s all really in the challenge of FF and trying to learn all the facets of the sport, with the added “bonus” of the beauty of the surroundings along with the beauty and wariness of the quarry.
