No Need for Apologies

Having fished my entire life (thanks to my Dad, God rest his soul), and only fly fished for the past six years, I wonder why some people feel the need to apologize for having fished using other methods and other gear before succumbing to the seduction of the thin stick and boxes of bugs. I know that the two-piece cane pole (NOT the collectable type) with #8 black sewing thread and whatever hook we could find in Dad?s tackle box, gave me as much, or more, of a thrill while catching panfish in ponds and streams within a bike ride from home, as my first steelhead on a #6 Olive Wooly Bugger that I tied myself. My first bait-casting reel (Akron Pfleuger) that I bought with money from doing odd jobs at age 16 is still in my collection and still works flawlessly after 40 years. I landed more fish with that reel than I could ever count, and still smile when I see it in the cabinet along side of my first spinning reel, a Mitchell 300 (anyone still have theirs?).

I have great memories of towing my 17? Bass Tracker to Canada, year after year, with a rod box containing 17 bait caster and spinning rod/reel combos (my wife made me count them prior to a trip, then rolled her eyes and walked away) used for bass and pike. Fly-in trips had no less than 8-10 rods so I could be rigged and prepared for whatever situation came my way. I enjoyed myself and caught lots of fish, in spite of not knowing how to spell fly rod (...two words? ...hyphenated? ...who cares!), much less how to use one. It wasn?t until a fly in on the Ivanhoe River in Ontario in 2002 that I started adding a fly rod to that accumulation, and promptly endured the teasing and ridicule of my hard core fishing companions, none of whom had ever held a fly rod, much less cast one. The ridicule ended when they all turned out at the crack of dawn, steaming coffee in hand, to watch me push off from the beach using an oar, and quietly positioning myself within a long cast of the weed patch in front of the camp. I had tied some #4 Clousers the night before, and using my 8wt I cast the big bug right into the middle of the weeds, and quickly started stripping as fast as I could back to the boat. My friends on shore watched in awe and amazement as a wake appeared behind the Clouser and the 30? Northern snatched the fly off the surface and headed back to the weeds. After a brief fight I brought the fish alongside the boat, retrieved my Clouser, and released the fish to fight again. No more teasing, and no KP that night.

I also remember the look I received from a club member as we passed on a local steelhead stream a couple of years ago, he carrying his fly rod, me carrying a fly rod and a 10'6" Noodle Rod with a spinning reel. At the next club meeting he quietly mentioned to several members that I had a "Spinning Rod" with me while steelhead fishing, as though it were some form of disease. Guys like him make fly fishing look bad, and it's no wonder some refer to it as an elitist sport. Too bad their heads are so deep in the sand.

Like my Dad, I put a fishing pole in our children?s hands at an early age (Zebco 202 combos). The looks on their small faces as they caught gills and chubs are rekindled in my memory as some of the best times we spent together, and they learned early on about C&R as well as how to harvest only what we needed for a meal. All three of them are great adults, and somehow got there without a fly rod. Go figure!

For me, the fly fishing experience is part of my lifelong evolution in fishing. I now take time to enjoy nature while on stream, and I care less if I catch a fish or not?the boat was sold two years ago and an inflatable pontoon and waders (3 pairs) took its place. It?s now all about the whole experience we call fly fishing, and I don?t think the methods used during the previous 50 years are anything that I, or anyone else, should be ashamed of or apologize for. I like to think of myself and other who have taken a similar path as being well rounded and well rooted anglers, who just happen to be fishing with fly rods at this point in our lives. I pull out the ultralight spin outfit every now and then just because it?s fun to do, and I'll never apologize for having learned how to find peace and have fun in more than one way.

Joe

Joe,
That was very well stated. Thanks for being the voice of reason. One day too soon, when my legs give out, I'll go back to gear and an aluminum boat. Actually, that time is starting to overlap with my fly fishing now.
God Bless,

I am not ashamed to say I have 10 rods in a rack in the ceiling of my van. They are spinning and casting and trolling from deep sea to ultra light. I also have 8 flies rods and reels to cover about most fishing situations. I like to fish and I try to be ready for whatever situation that may come up. I did not feel the need to give up all others forms of fishing when I decided to take up fly fishing. I think your post is great. John

Lee Wulff summed it up best
"Somewhere in the wide range of activity between the hard physical effort of wading for long hours against a swift current in a rocky stream, casting steadily, and the indolence of lying quietly in the sun waiting for a bobber to go under there is a type of angling to suit everyone?s mood and everyone?s pocketbook. Fishing is fishing wherever it is found? Angling?s problems are never solved."
1939

I'll never apologize for use of conventional gear. I may note - in jest - about using 'other gear' when on fly fishing sites - however, that is purely in respect to the forum I'm in.

BUT, without having the Mitchell's, Zebco's, or hickory sticks with heavy thread catching panfish - if it wasn't for having been started with those rods and reels - most fly fishers just wouldn't be. Very few people start off on the fly rod - and those that do ... (insert envious emoticon here) .....

darrell,

I to use different types of fishing gear (spinning) I am 99 % fly but when the stream gets blown out I use a spinning rod and a crab lure and always catch bigger fish.

Fishing is always fun.

JaD

I'm a PROUD bass fisherman and B.A.S.S. member who uses conventional tackle for 99% of my bass fishing.

I'll take throwing Senkos or jigs with a bait-caster over streamers and poppers on a fly rod any day and I have caught the hogs to prove my belief in the superiority of this type of tackle for this kind of fishing.

But the biggest reason I went back to conventional tackle after years of being a fly-fishing snob, (my description of me), is that I was shutting out lots of friends and friends to be who couldn't or wouldn't fly fish.

Now when I'm fishing I converse with all the fisherman and have made quite a lot of new friends and have been told about a lot of hot spots from the hardware boys. They always seem amazed when a guy toting a fly rod knows so much about hardware and isn't toting an attitude.

But hey, fish the way you want and enjoy yourself, that's what it's all about.

What has come under fire in the featured article that motivated this thread, is the tendency some of us have to mix methods of fishing. I don't condemn or deny the writer for his point of view. However, he wrote from experiences I could only wish to enjoy. All people shouldn't be held to standard that all cannot attain.

I fish lakes, exclusively. Not by choice, but out of necessity. I don't have the ability to sight fish the depth of my local lake, as I did on the only stream I've had access to. There I didn't need a fish finder, a boat, a motor, lures with spinners and spoons, 30 lb test monofilament in Stren-blue. I only needed my fly rod and my fly. And it was purely fishing, not purist fishing.

I can't fish to satisfy other people, that would be ludicrous. It's my fishing trip, it's my rod, it's my way, it's my business. Someone who finds fault in my methods, has only found the fault within himself.

I don't violate the printed rules for fishing. What's wrong if I do use a fish finder and fly rod together? Have I violated some commandment? Have I offended nature? And if so, who do I pay penance to? Who will rid me of my sorrow, sin and shame?

For most, the tendency to search for the things people do wrong is often their way to justify self-righteousness. And that is just wrong. Where was "Thou shalt not..." written into fly-fishing that disallows the use of devices to better the odds of catching a fish under adverse conditions? Wasn't that why floating lines were developed? Didn't the early fly-tiers just tie the fly using their bare hands? How long was it before the vise was an acceptable accessory to tying? And, yes, what about those polarized lenses that were so readily accepted by the world... Hmm? How about those who fish with nets? It's been done for centuries, probably long before fly-fishing. Where's your net? Are you using it properly?

And, while we discriminate methods, I get the feeling that some think that my methods deny me an acceptable quantity of caught fish. Am I the only one who feels that underlying insinuation? Am I suppose to catch fish every time I put line to lake? If I never feel a nibble on my fly during 6 hours of my wrongful endeavor, should I remain there indefinitely to meet some subconscious criteria?

I use a kayak to fish from, you don't have to, but you'll want to when you try to fish from my tree lined shores. And I'll put a fish finder on my kayak because I want to, I need to in the deep water I fish. Your kayak doesn't have to have one just because mine does, but you'll wish you had one if you ever fish the deep, dark water I fish.

My angling world allows for more than one person to reside. It allows for diversity within socially acceptable limits. There are certain things we must control because we stand to destroy the irreplaceable if we do not. That's why we have fishing regulations for the way we fish, but don't try to enforce unwritten regulations that only a few can create. It's not fair and it ruins the fishing. It ruins my fishing because my fishing is different than yours. And, if the differences makes me and my fishing wrong in someone's mind, oh well. I'm still going to fish differently, and like it.

I hate to be this critical of someone or something. I anger at becoming angry. I say, "Fish, and let fish." Cross the stream if I offend thee.

What LotecJoe said. My knees don't like the cold water and At 62 I can't leap from rock to rock to good anymore. So my spinning and fly casting is blending a bit more for me too. Good thread by the way. Good comments by all. :lol:

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I wonder why some people feel the need to apologize for having fished using other methods and other gear before succumbing to the seduction of the thin stick and boxes of bugs.

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I also started fishing using conventional tackle and I still do use it and don't apologize for using it but as others have already stated, this is a "fly fishing" site so I try to keep my posts mostly limited to that field of fishing. Some may feel the need to apologize for straying from fly fishing topics but most of us know that they are not apologizing for using other fishing methods, just that they strayed from fly fishing topics on this site.

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I wonder why some people feel the need to apologize for having fished using other methods

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I'm not only proud to be a multi species angler, but also proud that I can handle spin casting, bait casting and fly fishing gear to catch what ever species I desire.
No apologies needed.Being able to fish with any gear effectively not only makes you a more capable fisherman, but also more informed of the big picture of sport fishing.
Angling is too much fun and too good for your over all health , mind, body and soul to be critical of the tools one uses in this endeaver we call "fishing".