IMHO,flyfishing is defined more so by the method of delivering the "fly" than by using the fly itself.As far as I'm concerned,there's flyfishing,and then there's fishing using "flies",which are not neccesarily one in the same.Is a steelhead fisher that uses a noodlerod,centerpin reel,mono line and a bobber with 3 nymphs drifting underneath it flyfishing?I say no.Trolling streamers with spinning gear for ice-out landlock salmon...no again,not flyfishing.Oddly enough,take that same steelheader with a "flyrod" and flyline,fishing the same 3 nymphs under an indicator....and now he is in fact flyfishing.There are likely dozens of more comparisons to be made,for example,if I was using an ultralight spinning rod and reel to deliver a conehead muddler 30ft. to a trout lie,I would say I was spinfishing using a conehead muddler as the "bait".Cast that same muddler to the same lie 30ft away with my 5wt,and now I'm flyfishing.Ask an eastcoast Atlantic Salmon angler what constitutues flyfishing,where the methods,gear,and unweighted only flies are steeped in tradition and legally defined,and you'll likely get a far different answer than if you asked the same on the banks of Alberta's Bow River where indicator/nymphing is the method of choice for many.To each his own I guess?
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