He starts off with “Not sure if I should write this or not. Probably that means I shouldn’t. So here I go”. Well, I felt the same way about this note; maybe I shouldn’t write it so here I go.
I have seen what some people call flies that are spoons or plugs in my book. Not flies, some haven’t even had any feathers or fur or thread for that matter.
I am not a purest but I do feel that there should be a line drawn that says it is alright to create spoons or plugs but call them that, do not call them flies. Some that I have seen I might as well just go to a tackle shop and buy a small metal spoon or light weight balsa plug and cast it with my fly line. There would be no difference.
So, when you are creating new tidbits for the fish, please make a distinction between a fly and a spoon.
A very, valid point, to be sure.
The “paint FLIES”, that my 5 year old granddaughter came up with, even to ME, are “not truly flies”, but to her they were so the name sort of “stuck”. (good hooks).
But, this also opens wide the age old debate…
“Strike Indicator”= is a bobber or not?
“A Pistol Pete”, with a SPINNER BLADE on it’s nose is a FLY?
“What’s a cork/balsa/foam material bass popper”?
“What’s a Pencil Popper, if NOT a simple, light weight, PLUG?”
"San Juan Worm, is merely the elite way of saying “plastic bass worm”, but made from Ultra Chenille, tied on a vise, so IT’S a “FLY?”
NO! I’m not condemning, ANY of these items, whether I like them, or not, is not what I’m saying here. I’m only furthering the idea of; “What is a fly”? WHEN, does it go from “being a FLY”, over to “Being a LURE”? (spoon, plug, plastic worm, etc.)
The part that I like about your original post is that you draw a distinction between the two but overtly at least you don’t draw a judgement. I drive some of my fly fishing friends crazy but I call them "baits’'. No they are not live baits but they are all baits indeed. I see all kinds of small minnow imitations that are no where close to a adams fly. I also have no issue with using them.
In most hobbies there are groups of people that put restrictions on themselves as to what is proper equipment. For me it is more about the delivery system than the bait that I choose. I prefer to deliver my baits with a fly rod. The line casts the bait vs. the weight of the bait pulling the line. After that distinction, I personally don’t put any restriction on my choices. As a matter of fact I have been looking at a small bass oreno plug that I thought that my 7 wt would handle with efficiency. Have you seen some of the “flies” that they throw for pike? 9" of fur and feather that looks like a muskie spinner without the blade. I have even thought of throwing some of the smaller crappie jigs. Are they that much different from a bead head fly? OH, THE HORROR OF IT!
So choose a bait that lives up to your self impossed set of restrictions, but if someone doesn’t throw what you think that they should, please realize that those are your self restricting limitations and that they don’t have to be everyone else’s.
JC did bring up some good points. There are some flies that I simply will not use because, in my opinion, they are not truely flies. They, in their manufacture, have crossed that self imagined line into being something else other than a fly. Those flies that I choose to not use for whatever reason are just that, my choice, not some rule or law that others need to obey or even know about. If your “fly” is within the law and you opt to use it, have fun, hope you catch lots of fish if that’s what floats your boat.
the way im see it, in a fly, thread must be used. in a nonfly (lure, crankbait, slashbait, rubber worm, rapala,) no thread is used. if a popper is made with no thread, its a lure. i use thread for my poppers to attach the tail material, or spin the deer hair.that simple. jigs are different. a jigs a jig. weather youre casting it on a fly rod or regular rod, a jigs a jig.
The marabou tails, on all the “JIGS”, down at the local bait shop are TIED ON WITH THREAD, so what are they?
Not, that I care, as I stated earlier.
Whatever someone enjoys using, is the “right thing”, and needs no “distinction of any kind”, and/or, “excuses to anyone,as to why it’s being fished”. Unless, of course, it involves actual “fly only” waters, then it’s up to the F & G boys and girls to sort it out.
Like F-Dave, stated… “there’s as many opinions, as there are fly fishers”.
I used to get that kind of nonsense from my kids when they were about 3 or 4 years old. A bunch of questions there are no answers to!!!
My head hurts. Wish i could go fishhin!
Superman, pshaw! He aint no better’n a high falutin psychologist in my book.
Good-Grief, do you people ever need to get out of the house and onto the water. :roll: You know there is such a thing as taking all of the fun out of something by over analyzing it. I’m with Dan on this one.
A friend has a small but success local business making custom lures. He became interested in trying flyfishing after reading posts on our local bulletin board. He wanted to learn about fly fishing and had a boat so I provided the gear and we went out on the ocean. After some basic casting practice with some yarn, we cut that off and I tied on a ‘fly’ - a 3 inch long deceiver. He looked at it and said “thats a lure” and after about a half an hour caught is first fish on a fly rod and a lure. Over a year later still calls the things he casts with his fly rod a lure, regardless of the size or what it represents. He pretty much has reduced the concept to the basics - its either bait, or a lure. Meanwhile, I can tie my lures (flies) , and trade them to him for his products (jigs, giant spinnerbaits, etc.)
Personaly I would never think of refering to myself as a ‘Casting instructior’. Casting is what folks do with other types of fishing rods. The last thing I want a student to do, is waste time trying to unlearn, what they understand about ‘casting’. I perfer to start right out with a clear understanding of they need to grasp in order to perform with a fly rod and yes that may even enclude the throwing of a spoon flies if they wish.
JC,
Quote; Atlantic Salmon are revered by most. You have a chance to make a cast to a twenty pounder that is nipping things from the surface. Would you use a Bomber? If you had the time, would you tie on a fly you had tied or use one you bought, or would it matter? If double hooks were allowed, would you feel it was more classy to switch to one? What if he was rolling for nymphs and you are a ‘dry fly guy’?
The “Bomber” is a good example of a fly that is used by the locals to initiate a strike. The “Flesh” fly is what the Alaska locals use, along with “Egg” flies. These kind of flies may not be the #1 choice of out of towners, but I think that it’s like “When In Rome, Do As The Romans Do”
Doug http://www.flyfishusa.com/flies/stlddw-4.htm
This isn’t directed at any particular person, including and especially JC, just me venting in general here:
The way I see it, if you are within the law, then anything is acceptable. I might not choose to do something like fish with a flesh fly, but I could if I wanted to. And NO ONE has any right to tell me that I have to (or even should) do it a certain way, or to criticize me if I choose to do something that is not the way they think it should be done. Mind yer own dang business and let me fish is my feeling. If they don’t like me using woolly buggers or nymphing under an indicator, tough. Grow up, accept that you are not in charge of the world, and go away so I can fish in peace.
Why is it so tough for people to just let others have fun in their own way? What is it about humans that makes us try to make everyone else do it the way WE think it ought to be done? I feel that there is no place in this sport for words like “should” and “proper” and “correct” and the like. Have fun, let others have fun, and leave it at that.
—sagefisher—
I’m with Dan on this one.
