I'm going to paint with broad strokes here, so I'm ready to be blasted...

It has occured to me that there must be some basic difference in personality between the Fly Angler, and the Float Rod Angler, and that difference, as I see it, is this:

The float rod angler fishes for one reason and one reason only - to catch fish. He cares not to commune with nature - to let the water sip away a world of worries. He is a fish catching machine, one that must out perform the other fishing catching machines standing three feet to his left, and four to his right! He does not seek solitude: all he wants is a productive run,and he is willing to stand side by side with other float rod anglers, jockeying for position, claiming his territory with his casts. I was reminded of this today as I walked along a new stream to where I had been told there was a nice little run (maybe 70 feet in length). When I arrived, I found that there was a nice little run, and fourteen float anglers crowding the banks!

The fly angler, on the other hand, enjoys the fishing experience. A good day is not always measured in fish caught...A good day might be the result of seeing a deer and faun swim across the river. It may be stumbling across a new hole, or discovering a hatch you'd never noticed before. It might be sharing flies with another angler, or putting your fly rod into the hands of kid a letting him flail about until he catches a creek chub (of which he is very proud!)

I think fly anglers enjoy solitude (or at least quiet camaraderie) to competition. We'll pass up the crowds at the honey hole, for a less productive, yet uncrowded, stretch of water.

You know, I've never come across a float rod fisherman "way up stream", but I've come across many a fly angler in the most out of the way places - and the fly angler always seems happy.

What are your thoughts?

[This message has been edited by Andrew Mann (edited 30 October 2005).]

[This message has been edited by Andrew Mann (edited 30 October 2005).]

[This message has been edited by Andrew Mann (edited 30 October 2005).]

[This message has been edited by Andrew Mann (edited 30 October 2005).]