A well-known angler recently said of fly fishing downstream - "…one
knows instinctively that to present a fly that way (downstream) needs
no particular expertise nor practice. It is merely an extension of bait
fishing…"
Well, he's half right: Fly fishing downstream is an extension of bait
fishing all right, but the implication is that neither requires any skill
or expertise.
Dead wrong.
All fly fishing is an extension of bait fishing. What is a fly, after
all, if it isn't fake bait? What is a San Juan worm, if not a fake
worm? … a glowbug, if not a fake fish egg? … What is a streamer,
if not a fake minnow? …a blue-winged olive, if not a fake mayfly?
The fish don't know our flies are fake, or they wouldn't try to eat
them now would they?
Flies are bait. Hand-crafted and carefully presented no doubt,
but bait none-the less. Ergo, fly fishing is an extension of bait
fishing. I've been doing both for nearly fifty years now, and
while I'm certainly no expert at either, I'd have to be a numb
as a stone not to have made that connection. A good deal of
what I know about fly fishing I learned by fishing bait. Most
of the fly fishermen I know will tell you the same thing.
The tools and techniques employed by bait and fly fishermen
differ cosmetically but, in the grand scheme of things, they're
essentially the same. A rod, a reel, a length of line, and some
form of bait are used to entice a fish. Whether it's live, dead,
or manufactured bait is a moral distinction that is of no
consequence as far as the fish are concerned. Hooked is hooked,
and whether you fooled them with a San Juan Worm or a red
wiggler from the backyard manure pile doesn't amount to a hill
of beans in anyone's mind but your own.
Whether you fooled them with a wet fly or a dry fly is more a
matter of personal preference than skill. Fishing dry flies may
be more fun, but nymphing is inherently more difficult, and - it
could be argued - more effective. I don't think there's much
room for debate on that issue, but then you don't have to take
my word for it; read the books, ask other anglers. Hell, try it
for yourself.
Whether you're facing upstream or down at the moment a fish
strikes is a matter of significance only to those who like to
quibble over such details. After all, these are rules of
engagement we made up to pleasure ourselves. Or, as John
Gierach once put it, "We're the ones having all the fun
at this. The fish actually don't like it much."
This is not to say that I don't find fly fishing to be more
satisfying, gratifying, or demanding of certain skills than
baitfishing. It is not to say that I don't find fly fishing more
esthetically appealing than fishing live bait. It is to say that,
in the end, the purpose of both is to stick a hook in a fish's
mouth, and drag it against its will to the net where, depending
on your current state of mind (or the law), you will either
dispatch it or return it to the water to fight another day, and
that's that.
Fly fishing, regardless of the plethora of propaganda to the
contrary, is still a blood sport. Each of us goes about it
differently, and for reasons that are entirely our own. We
choose to dead drift nymphs, cast dry flies upstream, or
swing a brace of soft hackles to a downstream lie because
that's what we enjoy. They're all equally demanding - and
fun. To say that one method or the other is superior is not
only elitist; it's dead wrong.
~ Dennis Smith
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