Quote Originally Posted by WarrenP View Post
After spending 30 years of my life fishing bass tournments, I gave it up up due to the overcrowding of the lakes and others cheating to win and I picked up a fly rod, learned to tie my own flies and now have a 4wt, 5wt, 6wt and a 7wt combos ready to fish with me in my vehicle all the time. I have been fishing with fly rods now for over 25 years and tying my own flies. I love to fish and I love using a fly and fly rod. I do not care what species wants to "bite" the fly. I will tie up flies for whatever species I have decided to fish for and go for it. I cannot tell you how many times, while fishing a small lake or pond from the bank, that people have walked up to me and said, "are you aware there are no trout in this lake?" I then ask them why they would ask me that question and they reply that they noticed I was using a fly rod and they wanted me to know there were no trout in the lake. I then explain to them that the rod I am using is called a "fly rod" because it is the only fishing rod out there that is capable of casting a "hand tied fly". I then show them that no where on the rod is the word, "trout". I sometimes just want to scream at them that a fly rod is a frigging fishing pole. Then there have been times when I overhear two fishermen talking and they do not know I can hear them and one would ask the other, "I wonder what that guy is using because he sure is catching more bluegill than us?" His buddy would reply, "Well, since he is using a fly rod, he must be using some sort of popper on the surface", and I am using a nymph. I will state again, I love to fish, I love to catch fish and I would rather use a fly rod than any other type of rod. I have not used my spinning or casting rods since I started using a fly rod. A fly rod is just so much more fun. I think I have managed to catch every species of warmwater fish there is on a fly rod, some while fishing for them and some by accident. I also love to catch trout on a fly rod.

I really think a publisher should come out with a magazine for fly fishing and cover all species of fish. Warmwater Fly fisher mag was a great magazine and someone missed the boat by not hanging in there keeping it active because I feel there are a lot of people like me who enjoy fishing for everything with a fly rod and would subscribe to it.
Warren - well said. I too was strictly a bass fisherman for about the same lenght of time and then I saw "The Movie" and bought a starter rig from Cabelas and now about 25 fly rods later couldn't even tell you where I've stored my many bait-casting and spinning rigs. I've been fly-fishing exclusively now for 20 years. My bucket list is to catch as many different species of fish on a fly rod as possble before I die. So far I'm up to 40 different species which includes everything from freshwater flathead catfish to saltwater redfish, but my favorites of course are trout and bass. I have a photo of each species taken on a fly and proudly displayed in my man cave. I hear the same comments you hear about fly-fishing from others and would add the following to those you mentioned: "How are the bluegill hitting?" "What kind of poppers are you using?" "But I like to fish for bass" "I like catching bigger fish than what you're after" Very frustrating comments when I've caught Northern Pike up to 40" and Channel Cat up to 28" and Carp up to 27". If they stop long enough to talk, I quickly correct their misconceptions but I'm not sure they really believe me unless they witness an actual catch. It's still fun to poke fun back at my bass tournament buddies who have stayed on the "dark side" with their broom handle rods and winch type reels used to ski bass on the surface all the way up to their super-charged bass boat.