... or maybe, more aptly, where's the point ??

For me, fly angling is mostly about hunting trouts - finding them and getting them to come to the fly, whether it is sight fishing with dries or nymphs, fishing to rising fish, or reading the water and fishing it effectively with whatever fly seems right for the situation. Landing fishies is not a high priority, although I do like to document my outings with some pix.

Been thinking about trying this on and off for the past couple years. Fishing with flies with the hook cut off just about where the back of the barb is. This morning, when tying some FEB salmonflies for today's outing, I cut one hook off just behind the barb before putting it in the vice and tying the fly.

The weather was cold and the fishing was pretty slow ... until I started fishing the "pointless" FEB salmonfly mid-afternoon.

At the point I went pointless, I got onto a little pocket of water that can be really good, although a couple days ago I only had one fish rise to and take the salmonfly there.



Today, the water was a bit lower and the pocket a bit better defined. In a matter of twenty minutes or so, I had between 12 and 15 fish hit the fly, and most of them tried to eat it but didn't hook up because there was no real hook to hook up with. I did have a fair number on for a short tussle, and came close to landing two of them.

Before I quit this little pocket, I put on a pointy hook and landed this nice little fishy. He's pretty typical of the fish that hit the pointless fly. A few were somewhat larger.



On the way home, I tried another spot which can be really good, but hasn't been so far this year. Before my stop there, I talked to an acquaintance who told me he had fished it hard with both nymphs and dries for a couple hours earlier in the day. Only one pocket was full - like with half a dozen trouts that tried to eat the pointless salmonfly in the space of about ten minutes.

Kind of a mixed reaction to the experience. Landing fish is so ingrained that there tends to be a moment of disappointment when there isn't a solid hook up.

But the good news is - catch and release is a "given." And no fishing time is wasted with all that catching stuff. The action in both places really was fast and furious. The fishies weren't disturbed by having their buddies charging around the pocket with a strange object in their jaw, and they just kept on coming to the fly. It occurred to me at one point that some of the fish that weren't really nicked / scared may have come back for a second shot at the meal they missed ??

Bottom line. I plan to keep on fishing pointless hooks some of the time, and regular pointy things the rest of the time. At least for the time being.

John