I can definitley relate to Dave’s transisition from the salt to the trout. I grew up fishing Rocky Mountain streams and high alpine lakes for native trout and honestly didn’t know that anyone fly fished for anything else for quite a while! Well, much as Dave has changed his fishing passions due to relocation, so have I. Living in the midwest (although it still seems east to me!) I am quickly becoming a lover the various warm water species and the fly angling opportunites and differences here. In the passed 8 months I have only fished for trout 4 times, and one of those times was back home, so only 3 times here.
Honestly, before moving here all I could picture was sharing the water with a bunch of “rednecks and hillbillies” with no respect for nature (please note the quotation marks). I have been quickly educated to the contrary and after spending hours researching–especially here–and fishing for Blue Gill, Crappie and bass and even carp from time to time and now I can comfortably say that I am a Warm Water Weenie!
My point in this post is just to say that it seems that some anglers (certainly not all) have some prejudice towards a species or style of fly fishing and those who pursue that style. Living in the western US and fishing the Rockies, I was extremely prejudice toward anyone who didn’t fish for the almighty trout (all trout species were acceptable though) and who in the world would want to waste their time fishing for BLUE GILL? I have been humbled and educated and I invite those of you who may have a similar feeling toward another facet of this wonderful way of life to TRY IT BEFORE YOU KNOCK IT! You might be surprised.
Great article Dave!
Can you relate or admit to becoming a Weenie you never saw coming? 8)
Wild One: Looks like you and I traveled the same road. I was raised in Utah and almost all of my fly angling was for trout or trout or trout. After I retired and moved to Oregon I found that my new home has a lot of warmwater fishing but I didn’t really get carried away with warmwater as I figured they were for those who didn’t flip the long rod. Then I bought a computer about 8 years ago, surfed the net and discovered that tthere was a whole world of fly fishing I was missing out on.
Thanks to members of FAOL and other sites I now spend much more time chasing crappie and gills than trout even though there is excellent trout fishing in my area.
As a bonus for me there is very little pressure on the warmwater fishery in my area while some of the trout lakes are crowded.
I’m just the opposite. I’m coming from warm water fishing and moving to Colorado in a couple of weeks to fish the streams of the Rockies for trout.
I don’t think any fishing is better than another, but I am looking forward to living out the rest of my life on the streams of Colorado. (maybe some lake fishing along the way ;))
I used to put my fly rod away sometime in June and not return to the waters until fall because the trout fishing died off where I live. But with fishing for WW speices, I can fish nearly year round.
I mostly fish for trout. In my opinion, they are the most beautiful of fishes. The colors are wonderful. They live in environments that are just as pretty. I fish for them almost exclusively on streams. It is what I enjoy about fly fishing. I don’t think there is anything wrong with pursuing and specializing in a certain aspect of fly fishing or a certain game fish. I don’t feel I’m missing out on other opportunities for different fish or different environments. In fact, I am tickeled that more fly fishers are getting into warm water and salt water. . . it takes some of the pressure off of the places I like to go. So a big thanks to all of you who pursue the other fishes.
For years I fished exclusively for trout.
I remember a time some 25 years ago when I told a fellow in a fly shop that if you weren’t fishing for trout you were wasting your time.
I look back on that moment alot now.
What a fool I was
