Quote Originally Posted by CO_Flyfisher View Post
IMO, fishin's fishin.

Some people say (I personally know several) that if you aren't fishing a dry fly on top of the water, you aren't fly fishing.

Personally, I've used a bubble on a spinning outfit with a FLY at the end of the line (very underrated tactic BTW) in NY for Steelhead with GREAT success! In fact, especially on the Niagara river, this gave me a very BIG advantage over the "fly fishers" in that I could get out into the river a lot further and still get a good drift (egg patterns most of the time). The fish out there were in far better shape (didn't look beat up and half dead), and actually put up a good fight.

Was I "fly fishing"? Given that I personally tied the egg patterns I was using to catch the fish (see below), I would say so. Who cares what the rod and reel look like?


I've met hundereds of Great Lakes steelheaders that would disagree to a man. Many spinfisherman and center pinners use flies. Your picture is not of a fresh run fish, either. Many people flyfish for steelhead-which means actually casting using the weight of the line, as opposed to chuck and duck, for the challenge and sport. A fly that has thread and one material that imitates a common bait, cast on a
spinning rod is really stretching the meaning. NY state regs. would agree. However, you look to have had a great time and the Niagra isn't a that much of a flyrod friendly river. Spey, switch, and longer one handed rods do a great job of fishing farther drifts. I have no problem how you caught it, but it's not flyfishing.