Okay, most of you know, I'm a pretty liberal guy
when it comes to fly fishing and what I feel constitutes
a fly or lure or bug, etc. But I gotta tell ya, I have finally
found my limit. And, it ain't pretty. Chenille worms.
Complete with double harness hooks and all. Seems
some fly angler bet a bass angler that he could catch as
many bass with his fly rod as the other could with his
bass outfit. He lost, the story goes, 10 fish to his 1.
The other guy was using Berkley Power Worms for
lures, the fly angler was using his bass flies and poppers.
So out of frustration, he went home and "invented" the
"Chenille Worm" so he could "compete" with the "regular
bass anglers on a more even turf."
I know that I've been accused of using a fly rod and small
poppers to catch bass "just so I can say I caught them on
a fly rod" instead of a spinning outfit. And my argument
has always been that "artificial means artificial" and that as
long as the "fly" represents something that the fish uses
for food that, if you could make an artificial representation
of it for fly fishing, it was "fair game." There are terrestrials,
poppers, scuds, muddlers, wets, streamers, nymphs, etc.
that "traditional" fly anglers sneer at because they're not
"upstream and dry", but us panfish anglers (and a lot of
trout anglers) embrace because they match the forage of
the fish we're trying to catch. But worms?
Why not just go back to bobber fishing? I know there
has always been a controversy concerning the famous
San Juan Worm, which is basically a piece of red chenille
with a hook in it and I do have a tendency to lean against
it. I'm not really even sure why, but to me, it just smacks
of taking things to the ridiculous.
I guess sooner or later someone will come up with the
doughball lure to help them catch carp, and the stinkbait
lure so they can catch catfish on a fly rod. Or, better yet,
just start putting live minnows on the hook to catch crappies
and larger chubs for pike. For that matter, why not just put
real worms or Berkley Power Worms on the line? I mean,
as long as we're tearing down the limits and expanding the
envelope, we might as well go all the way.
Now don't get the idea that I'm going "traditional" on you,
but, like I said, I've at last found MY limits. YOU need to
find your own limits, what ever YOUR comfortable with.
I'm sure the next trick will be spraying flies with fish
attractants. "Yup, pass me one of them there crawdaddy
flies and a little of that there spray...ya think my 20 lb
tippet's enough?" ~ Randy Fratzke
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