Fish Perfume article-- factual error that could get you busted

[WarrenP]

I guess I just do not understand why any fly fisherman would want to add scent to their flies to catch fish. No, I do not consider myself a purist. I love using a fly rod to fish with and I take a lot of pride in catching fish on flies that I have tied. To me, the challenge with fly fishing/fly tying is to be able to construct a fly that fools the fish species I am fishing for and being able to present that fly to the fish. I can afford to purchase fresh fish for the table if that is what I want. I fish for the enjoyment and the peace and quiet it provides. If I just wanted to be able to catch every fish in a stream and do that with a fly rod, then why not just string corn on a hook and have at it. Why purchase/tie a fly and then soak it in fish formula, or string a piece of worm or corn or anything on it so the fish will eat it? Flies are not cheap but a can of corn will last a long time and hooks are cheap for this.

I guess this boils down to 2 types of fisherman:

One who must catch fish for whatever reason and would do whatever it takes to do it and...

Those who just enjoy the fly rod, enjoy the fly tying and enjoy the challenge of fooling the fish on their level and no cheating allowed...

I am in the second group. I am a nymph, wet fly, streamer, bugger fisherman. I do not use dry flies. I enjoy catching fish as well as the next guy, but, do not intend to add anything to my flies to achieve that. I guess I just do not understand what drives a person to have to catch fish on every trip. I have had trips where I have only caught a few fish and fished all day and enjoyed the entire trip. I enjoy the challenge with everything I do in life. I would not get any satisfaction from adding scent to the flies I tie so that they would catch fish. I could not look someone in the eye and say my tying skills are so good that my flies always catch fish if deep down I know that I added scent to them so that they did catch fish. I take pride in my fly tying and fly fishing skills.

Adding scent just does not sit well for me. When I changed the way I fished and went to the fly rod and tying my own flies, adding scent of any kind seems like "cheating" to me and I would not enjoy that feeling. There are some "big names" in fly fishing that I have a lot of respect for and if I found out that they "cheated" to become the "name" they are, I would be very disappointed. There are 2 ways to become well know in the fly fishing world and one is by learning and applying the extra work needed to succeed and one is the "short cut" by cheating. To accomplish the one you need a lot of pride in what you do and the other way is to just do whatever it takes to get to the top and once there you would not be of any help to anyone else because you never learned anything to get to the top.

I guess it boils down to the fact that I wanted to learn how to tie flies and how to fly fish not how to catch fish. I know how to catch fish and that does not take a lot of skill. It is something anyone can do if they have no problem with "baiting" their catch. Just like there are hunters who will put the time in the woods to hunt down a bear and then there are the other hunters who will build a fire and boil sugar to attract a bear and then shoot it. One takes skills and talent and the other takes no skill or talent. The end result is one has pride in their skills and what they have accomplished and the other just wants to add to their trophy wall and ego.

Once again, I will retreat to my corner and please understand nothing I said is met to offend anyone. We are all different and we are all driven by different things. You add to your reputation your way and I will add to mine my way.

Sorry for the long post...