I'll weigh in one this one as well.

There is nothing wrong with using scent on a fly. The idea is to fool a fish into thinking the fly is real. One of a fishes biggest assets is their sense of smell. It is just one more criteria fish use to determine what to attack. And it does nothing to diminish the fly fishing experience, at least for me. I protest any regulation that tells me how I have to fish (within reason), as long as I follow the creel limits. 8 fish per day is 8 dead fish, whether I caught them on a fly rod, cane pole, trot line, a cast net, or shot them with a bow and arrow. Ecologically, it makes no difference. None of these methods hurt the environment any more than fly fishing does. It's simply harvesting 8 fish, which the law allows. The method you use should be up to you, as long as it's reasonable (dynamite, for instance, is not reasonable because you can't control the number of fish you kill with it, can endager others, and makes holes in things...likewise shooting them with firearms....)

Sometimes I do fly fish to 'get away from it all', but sometimes I do it to 'put food on the table' (there is nothing like fresh fish for supper). I personally hate tournaments, but if that's your thing, then you have my blessings.

I have to agree that "FLY FISHING ONLY' spots are discriminatory, and maybe not even legal. Spin fishermen, bait-casters and even cane-pole fishers pay their license money same as everyone else, and have the right to use the same water. If they ever designated a piece of water for BAIT-FISHING ONLY, you would hear anglers screaming from now until Doomsday.

Can't we all just get along. The earth is made up of 75% water. Surely that's enough room for everybody.