DO WE REALLY "FLY FISH"
If I asked you when was the last time you went trout fishing, bluegill fishing, bass fishing, crappie fishing or any of the other species of fish, after some thought, you would be able to answer my question, but, can you honestly say you went fly fishing? If you did, the lure of choice would be rather easy to acquire. Any road kill that has baked in the sun long enough should produce all the flies one could want.
According to Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary Eleventh Edition, a fly can be:
1: a winged insect –usu. Used in combination (mayflies) (butterfly) 2 a: any of a large order (Diptera) of winged or rarely wingless insects (as the housefly, mosquito, or gnat) that have the anterior wings functional, the posterior wings reduced to halters, and segmented often headless, eyeless, and legless larvae –compare MAGGOT b: a large stout-bodied fly 3: a fishhook dressed (as with feathers or tinsel) to suggest an insect.
With that definition, are we fly fishing? The answer is, no. We are fishing for a certain species of fish using a fly created on ourfly tying vise that represents an insect that fish like to eat. So, we are not fly fishing, we are fishing with flies, but, have no fear because the same dictionary gives this as a definition for fly fishing: a method of fishing in which an artificial fly is cast by use of a fly rod, a reel, and a relatively heavy oiled or treated line, so, I guess we can still say we are "fly fishing".
Now that we have that cleared up, let's move on to another thought in my mind, if you are ready and still reading this.
In the fishing world we have mono fishing line made from monofilament, we have fluorocarbon fishing line made from fluorocarbon and we have fly line made from (you saw this coming) flies! I don't think so!
Now onto fishing rods: There are times I am fishing a warm water stream, pond or lake using my fly rod and have had people come up and ask me if there are trout in this particular body of water. I tell them that the water is too warm for trout to survive in it and so there are no trout in it and why did they ask me that question. They respond that they noticed that I was using a fly rod. I then explain to them that nowhere on the rod I am using does it say trout rod. It is a fly rod which is the only rod made that is able to cast a fly for fishing for all species of fish.
Another thing I have noticed is that when others see you using a fly rod fishing warm water, they assume you are bluegill fishing with poppers. When I explain to them that I am fishing with streamers and nymphs below the surface, they get that look of "deer eyes in headlights". We need to relate better to other people who fish that a fly rod is capable of fishing many types of lures and as fly tiers, we need to relate that we can create many different types of flies for fishing and that a fly rod can be used for all species of fish and not just for trout. I think once we accomplish this, we can attract more people to the art of catching fish with a fly rod and flies.
If you are still reading this, you are probably wondering why I wrote it and I cannot give you an answer. The above were just some random thoughts going through my mind. It is no wonder the English language is so hard to learn since we have so many different definitions for the same word spelled the same way but used differently in a sentence.
Now I think I will go fishing with flies for whatever species of fish that wants to eat them.
Warren Patterson ("WarrenP" on FAOL)
Tullahoma, TN