How many of you get these kinds of comments when you tell others you're a flyfisher?

[neal_david50]

I get a lot of "I didn't know there were trout" comments here in Texas. I just explain to people I catch tons of bass and bluegill and they become interested. One guy sat in his truck and watched me pull out fish on several consectutive casts. I think he was amazed fly fishing actually worked!

[Apachetrout]

I think allot of non flyfishers are amazed that fly fishing does work. I fish midges allot and spin fishers are always stunned that flies that small catch large fish. Sometimes midges even amaze me with how effective they are.

[Uncle Jesse]

I have a friend in AZ who grew up in UT and lived in CA. He has never really bass fished and is amazed at the sizes of hooks and lures for bass. 1/0 or larger hooks for plastic worms are not uncommon.

[WarrenP]

Just about every video you watch on fly fishing shows a person doing many false casts to remove the water from their dry fly. No one explains this in the videos and most people believe this is something one must do when fly fishing and they feel that they cannot do that. No one explains to new fly fishers that this action is required for dry fly fishing and is not required for "wet" fly fishing. The "casting" of the fly is the part that keeps most from trying fly fishing. I wish someone would do a video for "beginner fly fishing" and explain the "why" for some of the casting. I honestly feel a new person to fly fishing should start out with just fishing a wet fly like a bugger so that they can concentrate on the "fishing the fly" part and not have to worry so much about the "casting". Some new people will progress from that starting point to the dry fly fishing after they have used a fly rod for awhile. For me, I like nymph fishing and seldom use dry flies. I can see the rewards for dry fly fishing and may, someday, start to get serious about dry fly fishing, but, for now, I enjoy nymph fishing. I tell newcomers to just purchase an inexpensive fly rod and just go fishing and not worry so much about the casting part. If they become "hooked" on using a fly rod, they will eventually spend more time perfecting their "casting" and presentation. New comers just need to experience the "fun" of using a fly rod. One must get them "catching" fish first and then they will "want" to get better at the casting. I know that the "flip side" is the art of the presentation and not the "catching", but, if we are going to attract new comers to fly fishing, they must first "catch" fish.

[Uncle Jesse]

Warren, You my friend are so right. It's the fun of catching fish on a fly rod that makes the experience enjoyable. A couple years back I was invited to a cricket drowning trip. I put a spinning reel on a 8.5 ft. 5 wt. and could lob a bobber with a cricket under it up on the bream beds on a day where flinging line would have been a real challenge especially from the center of a large jon boat with two friends. From the center of the boat I bested my friends using extendo poles 4 ft. longer than my fly rod. I had a ball.

The way I got my friend and myself off the top of the list of worst trout fishermen in Georgia was to tell him throw your nymph with strike indicator downstream of your float tube and follow it. He went about 50 ft. from where we put in before catching a fish.

[papaguss]

I agree, and thus lies the issue. IT's all Uncle Nygaard's fault.

In the early twentieth century my great grandfather fly fished pike in sweden and brought that love obver here. PIke flies are wet. he stayed wet. in the forties when he had a son fishing, he had a buddy. My gramp's Uncle Nygaard. He was a dry fly fisherman. and my gramps to to dry flies because, as he put it. " I liked him better"

thus my dad learned dry, I taught myself so I am going to go after anything that takes a bite... I want fish.

My son though.. he wants to be like everyone else so here he is... nine, and won't throw on the bugger, although his dad caught a thirty-three inch pikeminnow ( endangered so I cut it loose and then remembered I had the danged camera... ) and a couple other fish. Gramps was skunked.

My son wants to see the fish slurp the fly. and be like his grand dad and gramps.. so I work with him on the casting... and always have a bugger on my shoulder waiting for him to want to fish.

[BSwan]

"How many flies do you have to catch to make a decent meal?"

[jmw]

I'm not sure if the looks I get are out of reverance or pity. You know, the same looks you get in Hobby Lobby as your caressing the craft fur for the right legnth and texture. Or the stares you get shopping the Sally Hansens display at the local drug store. People do seem to be interested as they watch you in public, but these are probably the same people that buy the tickets to the freak shows at the carnival. Seems to be a line of demarcation for catering to fly fishers here in the Midwest where I travel for business. South of the Ohio River seems to provide less at the local tackle shops . Theres even a big box store a stones throw from Lake Barkley And Kentucky Lake that has a total of zero items aimed toward the fly fisher. Shame though, Kentucky has some of the best and prettiest smallmouth streams around.

[Gnu Bee Flyer]

A friend of mine was flyfishing about 50 feet downstream from a worm dunker. My friend was doing quite well on 12-14 inch trout. He had caught several very nice rainbow when the worm dunker called out to him "What Ya using?" My friend said "Bead Head Copper Johns on a sinking tip." The guy yells back, "Oh well if you don't want to tell me...." then he continued to cast and re cast his worm & bobber rig to no avail. After many more bows came to net for both me and my friend the guy finally waded down to our section of the pool and asked me what I was using. I showed him my bead head doc spratley and told him what it was called. He looked a bit sheepish and said, You mean that other guy wasn't just making fun of me? I laughed and said no He is using a beadhead copper john fly on a sinking line. Long story short.... We loaned him an el-cheapo rod and reel setup, gave him some flies then showed him the rudiments of the cast. Now there were 3 flyfishers teasing the trout that day. He did quite well the rest of the afternoon catching several very nice bows. I've Never seen him again since that day but somewhere I know there is a new flyfisher out there.

[papaguss]

I shore stalk out here in AZ, and now my son has a very interesting time ofit ashe throws out his catfish stuff, tehn puts on his fanny pack, strings his fly rod and goes for trout waiting for the catfish. he gets some looks, butnot nearly smany asmy daughter using the toptwo sections of a 3 piece 6wt 8ft rod as a tenkara setup with a san Juan. She's two and loves fishing with her daddy and big brother.

Some guys get to asking me aobut fly fishing lately because the kids and I are raking in teh fish and letting them go while they are strugglingto keepte kids with them during the boring fight with patience waiting for teh neon powerbait to work.

I have to say, it's loads of fun watching my two yeah old as she's shrieking and admonishing the fish.