Went out to pond this am. First fish I caught was when I cast the line out and was reeling it in just under the surface. I do this when I want to put the line on the reel. Since it worked once I tried it again. This was the only way the fish were hitting the fly. Is this fly fishing or more llike spin fishing?
Rick
Could you have stripped the line instead of reeling? I know when fishing for steelhead you have to use the reel. It is fly fishing if there is a “fly” on the end of a tippet, off a leader attached to a fly line…
I had tried two or three different stripping routines that did not work.
Rick
Flyrod? check
Fly tied on? check
Proper cast? check
Fish response? check
Having fun? check
Yep, you were fly fishing.
Bluegills striking while reeling in is not uncommon. I usually make one last long cast away from where I’m catching fish to get all the line I used that day out and reeled in neatly. Surprisingly often I end up reeling in a fish.
If you cast a fly with a fly rod on a fly line, it’s fly fishing.
There’s no useful difference between reeling in the line and stripping it in…
…but if you want to feel better about it, you can use two handed continuous stripping, and you won’t have to take the line back off the reel between casts.