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