I agree, Keith. And that is why I first clicked on this thread. But I will say that when it comes to fly-fishing media and shotgunning media, there is sort of an elitist bias to the MEDIA. That was my big point: don't confuse the media with the consumers. It doesn't really make a lot of sense to the casual observer. So I tried to explain it a bit. BUT...you have to admit, you just don't see fly fishing ads and tv shows about guys camping out at a bluegill hole with their grandsons. It's all about the high dollar gear and glamorous destinations...Purdy and Holland & Holland shotguns and tweed jackets. When was the last time you saw a guy on a hunting show shooting a Remington 870?

But you DO see fairly typical ads and articles about bass fishing, deer hunting, catfishing, and so forth. The reason is the SAME as why a cheap spincast rod costs $20 and a cheap fly rod costs almost $100. There aren't that many fly fishermen, but it costs the factory close to the same to mfg both production runs. But they can sell 10,000 spincast rods and only 500 fly rods. Do the math, gang. So, if you're spending $30k to advertise to fly angers, who you gonna target? You're gonna target the high end customer. It's all numbers.

The problem is when we buy into the media myth as some sort of reflection of reality. Frankly, here in the Ozarks, you'll meet 100 broke fly fishermen for every 1 "captain of industry yuppie fly fisherman." I prefer to judge reality based on REALITY, not based on the media.

I can see griping about the media. But griping about all the "rich fat cats in fly fishing" IS reverse bigotry and it displays one's inability to distinguish fact from fiction.