“In 1947, Joe Brooks published Bass Bug Fishing, the first book devoted exclusively to that subject. Finally, it seemed, fly fishermen had fully embraced bass as quarry that deserved as much respect as trout and salmon, and fishermen in general accepted the fly rod as a deadly weapon for catching bass.”
-William G. Tapply
The next line was not so cheery. “But then something happened.”
Wanna guess what?
And they all said…AMEN 
bump
The invention of spinning tackle…
Buddy
Sort of… Spinning gear was introduced from Europe. Given its ease of use, it soon dominated the field of Warm Water fishing. Fly rods were left to gather dust in cellars and garages while bass and pan-fish fishermen went on to create a boom in spinning and spin fishing tackle. IMHO it is still too early to say Warm Water Fly Fishing is making a comeback.
Bear,
I think we can safely say that warmwater fly fishing is making a SERIOUS comeback.
Look no further than the most recent Cabela’s Fly Fishing catalog.
The Bass/Panfish flies are located in the catalog BEFORE the trout flies.
That ONLY happens when they sell better…
Good Luck!
Buddy
I think I’m a classic example of the current growth trend in WWFF. I grew up in VT fly fishing for trout in flowing water. It never even occured to me to cast a fly in still water. Now I live in deepest darkest suburbia of NJ where development is destroying a lot of trout habitat. Basically, if I want to fish after the spring stocking season, it’s mostly a warm water thing. Suprisingly, I have become more of a warm water guy than a cold water guy because fishing with spring crowds on the stocked rivers aren’t really my idea of a good time.
We’re the sport’s best kept secret. JGW
Got a catalogue the other day (Cabela’s I THINK…?) and it had CARP FLIES listed. Yep, new horizons ARE being sampled.
…lee s.
“Sell” is the key when it comes to catalogues. I doubt if they (catalogues) are true indicators of the state of fly fishing any more than Victoria’s Secrets is a clue to what women are really wearing every day. If we have the same Cabela’s, the page count is 6 trout to 2 WW. It is 8 to 2 if you include Steelhead with trout. It is a start, though I am not sure I want everyone to get into the act anyway.