Not long ago Angling Trade magazine sent out a survey to get a clearer understanding of “the market.” They asked retailers what percentage of their “total business involves or revolves around products that are either designed specifically for, or can be applied to, fly fishing for trout.”
That phrase “or can be applied to” kills it in my view. There’s precious little fly fishing equipment of any sort that cannot be applied to fishing for trout. Sure, the rods used for marlin or sailfish, but how many people actually do that? In my (not so) humble opinion, they have revealed their trout-centric bias just in the way they phrased the question. I think the magazines share that bias (probably because their advertisers share that bias).
If you made a map of the US, and shaded the trouty areas in green and the non trouty areas in yellow, I’m pretty sure you’d see a lot more yellow than green. And you know, even where there are trout, they are generally not the only fish you can catch. Note to Angling Trade (and magazine editors and advertisers): There’s a lot more to fly fishing than just fly fishing for trout!
A couple weeks ago, a friend and I spent a day trying to see how many different species of fish we could catch (specifically, how many we could catch on a black Killer Bugger, for a contest I issued a while ago in the TenkaraBum Challenge). We both caught ten species - and not the same ten. Between the two of us, we caught fourteen species of fish - only one of which was a trout.
If you colored that map in green and yellow you would make a lot of Green Bay Packers fans happy.
But you are right, many people tend to think of fly fishing as a trout related sport. I guess it is a stereotyping thing. But that mold is being broken more and more as people discover the joy of catching all kinds od finned critters on the fly.
By the way, looks like New Jersey has all sorts of fish in its waters. Nice selection.
The “Warmwater Flyfishing” magazine went under because of advertisers.
They stated that warmwater folks did not buy fly fishing equipment.
How often do you see a rod listed for pan fishing in catalogues?
Same for reels and lines.
End of my Rant.
After spending 30 years of my life fishing bass tournments, I gave it up up due to the overcrowding of the lakes and others cheating to win and I picked up a fly rod, learned to tie my own flies and now have a 4wt, 5wt, 6wt and a 7wt combos ready to fish with me in my vehicle all the time. I have been fishing with fly rods now for over 25 years and tying my own flies. I love to fish and I love using a fly and fly rod. I do not care what species wants to “bite” the fly. I will tie up flies for whatever species I have decided to fish for and go for it. I cannot tell you how many times, while fishing a small lake or pond from the bank, that people have walked up to me and said, “are you aware there are no trout in this lake?” I then ask them why they would ask me that question and they reply that they noticed I was using a fly rod and they wanted me to know there were no trout in the lake. I then explain to them that the rod I am using is called a “fly rod” because it is the only fishing rod out there that is capable of casting a “hand tied fly”. I then show them that no where on the rod is the word, “trout”. I sometimes just want to scream at them that a fly rod is a frigging fishing pole. Then there have been times when I overhear two fishermen talking and they do not know I can hear them and one would ask the other, “I wonder what that guy is using because he sure is catching more bluegill than us?” His buddy would reply, “Well, since he is using a fly rod, he must be using some sort of popper on the surface”, and I am using a nymph. I will state again, I love to fish, I love to catch fish and I would rather use a fly rod than any other type of rod. I have not used my spinning or casting rods since I started using a fly rod. A fly rod is just so much more fun. I think I have managed to catch every species of warmwater fish there is on a fly rod, some while fishing for them and some by accident. I also love to catch trout on a fly rod.
I really think a publisher should come out with a magazine for fly fishing and cover all species of fish. Warmwater Fly fisher mag was a great magazine and someone missed the boat by not hanging in there keeping it active because I feel there are a lot of people like me who enjoy fishing for everything with a fly rod and would subscribe to it.
I sure didn’t start out fly-fishing for trout in 1960s southern Indiana. I was only 15 when I bought my first fly rod & reel. I studied on it some and bought a 7-weight 8.5 foot rod that set me back about $15 and a Pfleuger Medalist reel for about $9. I think I gleaned about 10 acres of a corn field to get the money. I didn’t have the money to buy fly line yet, so I tried out some cord we kept in our junk drawer. Turned out it loaded the rod quite good, but it sunk - fast; and waterlogged it was difficult to cast. So I cut off about 60 feet, singed the ends, and waxed distal end up with melted candle wax. A friend gave me some flies and poppers. I used 8lb test mono line for a leader (I still remember that blue spool) - didn’t understand a thing about tippet then. How I managed to catch bluegill and bass on that rig, I cannot now say - but I did. Line still eventually sunk - usually sooner than later. Burnt a lot of candles that first year. But it was a load of fun!
[HR][/HR]I love this thread…how bout we toss it back up on top!
In all my years of fishing… I can count on one hand the fish I do not think I could have landed with a long forgiving rod with a fixed line n this includes some rather hefty pike n musky…it’s the carp that make me wonder lol
Warren - well said. I too was strictly a bass fisherman for about the same lenght of time and then I saw “The Movie” and bought a starter rig from Cabelas and now about 25 fly rods later couldn’t even tell you where I’ve stored my many bait-casting and spinning rigs. I’ve been fly-fishing exclusively now for 20 years. My bucket list is to catch as many different species of fish on a fly rod as possble before I die. So far I’m up to 40 different species which includes everything from freshwater flathead catfish to saltwater redfish, but my favorites of course are trout and bass. I have a photo of each species taken on a fly and proudly displayed in my man cave. I hear the same comments you hear about fly-fishing from others and would add the following to those you mentioned: “How are the bluegill hitting?” “What kind of poppers are you using?” “But I like to fish for bass” “I like catching bigger fish than what you’re after” Very frustrating comments when I’ve caught Northern Pike up to 40" and Channel Cat up to 28" and Carp up to 27". If they stop long enough to talk, I quickly correct their misconceptions but I’m not sure they really believe me unless they witness an actual catch. It’s still fun to poke fun back at my bass tournament buddies who have stayed on the “dark side” with their broom handle rods and winch type reels used to ski bass on the surface all the way up to their super-charged bass boat.
My first introduction to Tenkara was about 6 years ago when a customer walked into my favorite fly shop while I was there with a Tenkara rod he had brought back from Japan for the owner. He showed us how to rig and cast the rod. I kept looking at the rod and the way it was rigged and it triggered a memory from when I plied the dark side of fishing while at college in NW Tennessee and we fished a lake called Reelfoot. While my buddy and I flailed away with our spinning gear many of the locals used 12 to 15 foot one piece cane poles rigged similarly to the Tenkara rod. At the time some of them were switching over to telescoping fiber glass rods in the same lengths. It didn’t matter whether they fished cane or fiberglass. My buddy and I would come in with our stringer full of hand size crappie and bream while the locals came in with their coolers full of bull bream and slab crappies. Sorry for the digression but it does tie into tenkara fishing. After the owner handed over a sum of money larger than I would even think of paying for the rod, I figured it was a nice idea but not at that price. Recalling my college experience I checked out my Cabala’s catalog and they had telescoping graphite crappie rods and the price was right, under $25. Ordered an 11 foot one, and when I got it, rigged it the way I had been shown. Took it out to the shop and we compared rods. Not sure whether he was ripped off or not but the rods were made by the same company, a bit of difference, and mine sure looked like the expensive rod. I did try using it a couple of times but it really wasn’t suited for the tree covered streams of SE PA. I did take it to a reunion of college friends back in NW Tennessee three years ago. I fished it off of the dock at the place we were partying and caught a couple of crappie and bream on small white woolly bugger. You know how college reunions are things got very, very fuzzy, and I can’t remember whether it slipped from my hand and dropped into the water or I unscrewed the plug in the bottom piece to see what it looked like inside and all the nestled pieces dropped into the water.
I’m planning on ordering a new one, if Cabala’s still carries them and give it another shot.
As far as fly fishing, I’ll fish for anything that will take a fly I’ve tied, probably between 20 and 30 percent of my fishing time is spent fishing for trout, mainly in the early spring. The rest is spent fishing warm or salt water.
Warm-Water Tenkara,
What a great thread! I fish the Texas Hill Country streams and rivers, and stocker trout are only available during the winter. My wife and I, however, have really enjoyed Tenkara fishing the past year-and-a-half and have caught bluegills, green sunfish, red-bellied sunfish, channel catfish, Guadalupe bass, largemouth bass, and crappie. It’s been an absolute blast to feel that rod come alive when you hook a nice fish. Mostly we fish lightly-weighted killer bugs in areas that are not targeted by many other fishermen. Hey, if you get down to Texas, try the first and second low-water crossings at the Lost Maples Natural area or by the waterfall at Blanco State Park. I love the stocker rainbow trout, but they are only a small part of a much-larger sport.
