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Thread: What is fly fishing to you?

  1. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Larry S View Post
    Ok folks; how about Tenkara? Is this fly fishing?
    Asking for a friend.......
    Best to all,

    Larry S
    Sun Diego
    A big part of what i love about flyfishing has so much to do with the reel, big fish peeling line, clickers screaming etc...so ive never gotten into it despite doing a lot of backpacking in the summer. I guess they developed it in Japan separately to western flyfishing? Pretty cool that two very distant cultures came to similar forms of fishing from observing fish feeding on insects, unless one was influenced by the other.
    Really good thread, i do want to add in case my post came off as dismissive or rude, that I very much have a lot of respect for the tradition of the sport especially with SH fishing, and those that have been doing it longer than ive been alive.

  2. #12
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    In my opinion it comes down to using the right / best tool for the job. Fishermen wanted to present insect imitations to finicky fish. They couldn't cast the light weight lure so they invented the fly line and fly rod. The line provides the necessary weight to cast the fly, and the rod provides the lever arm and momentum to move the line in the preferred direction, typically at a very specific target. Coincidentally the fly rod also helped protect the light weight tippet required to fool the fish into eating the lure.

    A fly rod is not made for lifting heavy fish from deep water - a short, stiff boat or trolling rod is much more efficient tool for that. Can you do it with a fly rod? Sure, but it's not the best way, either for the fisherman or the fish. A fly rod and fly casting is a much less efficient way to cover large expanses of water compared to a spinning rod, especially if you are fishing below the surface. And the deeper you are fishing the wider this gap becomes. While it certainly is possible and entertaining to surf fish with a fly rod, it is not the most efficient and simplest way to surf fish.

    A fly rod is made for casting, not trolling, there are better tools for that. So while a person might catch a sailfish trolling behind a boat using a fly rod, it technically is not fly fishing in my opinion because no casting was done. If they have fun doing that I'm happy for them. But unless they went out and found sails basking on the surface or slashing a baitball, snuck up on the fish and actually cast a fly - it wasn't fly fishing.

    Same goes for using a sinking line and a jig fly, letting it sink 30 feet down in a lake and jigging it up and down for crappie. You might do that with a fly rod, but it is not fly fishing. Using the light weight flexible rod might be fun, emphasizing the fish's power, and if people enjoy that I'm happy for them. But it isn't fly fishing.
    Last edited by DLJeff; 05-21-2021 at 08:32 AM.

  3. #13
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    What a great post of a great topic Charlie! I have a friend that builds fly rod blanks with spinning reel reel seats on them. He enjoys the fight of the fish better on a light fly rod blank over a traditional spinning rod blank. Maybe these should be marketed for the bobber and untraditional fly rod fisherman? I know a lot of center pin fisherman are using long light spey rod blanks for their pinner builds. Maybe eagleclaw needs to market those spinning/fly rod combo kits again.��
    Last edited by Mark Kranhold; 05-21-2021 at 08:57 AM.

  4. #14
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    What a great question.

    It took me a few decades to figure out that while I may have been "fly fishing" for a long time I had never really been "fly casting" with any real understanding of that part of the sport. So I have, in my head, split the one sport into two...then put them back, over the past 16-18 years, into one and with that I cannot agree more with what Bill wrote above.

    For me fly fishing is a myriad of things beyond the fly, fly rod, line, leader (sans indicator), the cast and the innumerable leaves, branches, rocks and the (just once) flying rodent that gets the fly before it hits the water. I need to put myself into a place where wild fish live to feel like I am fly fishing these days. While I have "fished" using a fly rod for a few other fish over the years (rock fish, albacore...) that was not flyfishing, that was fishing using a rod built to cast....not much casting involved. I no longer do that. When I want "meat" I use the path that is easiest.

    The cast, be it short or stretching my abilities at distance or even the "Fall River Twitch, becomes an important part of fooling a fish as does choosing the fly, leader and approach. Having had some great instruction (later in life) about the casting changed the feeling for what constituted the entire sport and I am grateful for the change.

    Is Tenkara fly fishing...someone asked. Hmm, they use flies but there is no casting. Euro nymphing using all mono line? Again, flies are used for "bait". My feeling is call what you do exactly what you want to call it. I will not say, "That is not fly fishing", but it is not what I do to fly fish.

    Add some split shot? Gosh, I am guilty of that as I love to catch those beautiful McCloud trout and they seem to live Under the rocks! So, yes I add split shot there but not so much it interferes with the cast.

    Fly fishing to me is the "whole enchilada" of being there (where the fish are...or seem like they should be!); Planning to be there; Tying; Prepping (Change those old leaders); The drive; The walk; The waders...the leaks!; The osprey, bear, otter, beaver, other humans, the presentation, the take, the loss!, the hand net and release.

    Difficult to explain...even fifty eight years after that first cast.

    As Bill wrote: "This is my perfect opportunity to piss off thousands.....yahoo."

  5. #15
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    Based on a lot of the responses, it seems like Kiene's and other places that sell Euro nymph rods, bobbers and tenkara rods should be called a tackle shop rather than a Fly Shop...

  6. #16
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    Tight Loop, thin leader
    Small drift behind the boulder
    Silvery fish takes

  7. #17
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    Fly fishing, the cast
    waiving through the morning mist
    but I gear fish too

  8. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Woodman View Post
    Based on a lot of the responses, it seems like Kiene's and other places that sell Euro nymph rods, bobbers and tenkara rods should be called a tackle shop rather than a Fly Shop...
    Your right.......we are whores too. When I owned my "fly shop" I had to be very "politically correct".......now I don't.

    I guess these drift boat guide who fish 90% with indicators should be call just "fishing guides".....?

    There are guides who never use indicators.....but people seek them out. David Armocido only guided with dry flies in Nor Cal.


    I don't make a dime out of this any more, in fact I pay all the expenses for this Forum myself.
    Bill Kiene (Boca Grande)

    567 Barber Street
    Sebastian, Florida 32958

    Fly Fishing Travel Consultant
    Certified FFF Casting Instructor

    Email: billkiene63@gmail.com
    Cell: 530/753-5267
    Web: www.billkiene.com

    Contact me for any reason........
    ______________________________________

  9. #19
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    How's that sense of unburdened freedom feel, Bill?

  10. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Kiene semi-retired View Post
    Your right.......we are whores too. When I owned my "fly shop" I had to be very "politically correct".......now I don't.

    I guess these drift boat guide who fish 90% with indicators should be call just "fishing guides".....?

    There are guides who never use indicators.....but people seek them out. David Armocido only guided with dry flies in Nor Cal.


    I don't make a dime out of this any more, in fact I pay all the expenses for this Forum myself.
    Thank you Bill! Your site is a great resource and you are a real treasure to have for us in California!

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