Its legal to fish the redds. But I would say unethical. Snagging fish is illegal but then you run into the whole debate of whether its intended or not. Ive heard that if a fish is determined to be snagged DNR requires you to either land the fish quickly or break it off.

Bait guys can do some pretty boneheaded things too, but they rarely snag fish due to the nature of their rigs. Its not really a fly versus bait versus spin debate anyways. Id say if you put it in their mouth more power to you.

My point being if you go out fishing and every time you hook up its in some place other than the fishes mouth you would try to change things up. I wouldnt care if someone was out fishing a Tarpn rig, as long as they were catching them legally and showing a little respect.

And I agree that perception can account for alot. I guess Im too much of an idealist.