fly fishing forums = snobs and internet blowhards....right?

krayfish2

krayfish2

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That's what many think or feel but I'm here to tell you differently.

I made the mistake (joking) of getting my nephews into fly fishing over the last 2 years. We've had great fun but it's cost me several broken rods. Since the oldest one is now able to work, he's on a gearhead mission that would make BigBass look like a casual observer of fly fishing gear. LOL.

I put a post in the swap forum to help the youngster find a decent rod at a price he could afford. I got several replies and some PMs. The last of which won't go without recognition. Proformance (aka Norm), sent me a message that he wants to give one of his TFO rods to my nephew...with one stipulation. He learned on that rod, taught his daughter to cast with it and now will "pay it forward" by giving it to Elijah. In turn, Elijah must do the same by giving it to a new angler in the nest year or two. When I told the nephew, he wanted to know how much money to put in his account so he could buy it. I said "$0". He didn't understand right away but the lightbulb did go on though. I'm in the process of selling 75% of my fishing gear in hopes of being able to fund a drift boat. I don't have spare rods for these kids to use /break. LOL.

He and I both want to say thanks Norm. Hellish nice thing to do. So I guess fly fishermen aren't so bad after all. We will pay it forward.

Also owe thanks to DaveS, Bruno, NickR and any others that have taken from their own fishing time to help my nephews.
 
My first pair of waders were given to me from a forum member here. I was just asking questions about waders and the next thing you know I was giving out my address! It was such a nice gesture because I was not financially in a good place to be starting an expensive hobby...between jobs, working part time etc... Things are going good now so I'll have to pay it forward soon!
 
Nice story no doubt.
 
And don't use the rod to pull the fly out of the branches! Nice gesture. I have given former students "steal deals" on good serviceable equipment. It usually hooks them for life. Kudos to you Kray for taking the young folks out on the water. It's good stewardship for the future of our sport. Rock on!
 
Kray has given me something for free. He probably doesn't remember. So have others.

I think the fact that so many vets here donate time once a year to teach new fly fishers is amazing. And I've seen a bunch of people offer to help through out the year as well.

You guy's aren't so bad for a bunch of snobs.
 
Great story, good people.

GenCon
 
No doubt - some generous folks around here.

It is worth remembering, however, that one should be familiar with those to whom you wish to donate or support. We have had a couple scam artists and similar situations where posters were not who or what they claimed to be in recent years. It's the internet of course - buyer (or donor) beware.

With that said, Krayfish is right to thank YOU for making this a good place out of the water. I'll second that.
DaveW
 
well call me a snob then.. because I feel we'd all do the same thing for the younger generation

nice gesture and great story
 
Krayfish,

Thanks! You have a lot of good karma on the way and a lot of that probably rubs off on your nephew. Fishing with your nephew is just like fishing with one of the boys...hope to get out with you guys this spring.
 
I have had two member also help me out in my introduction to fly fishing. Seems like most fly fisherman are great guys who are friendly and helpful. Thanks to pcray for taking me out for my first time and showing me the ropes and giving me a pair of his old waders and to TDB for tying materials so i could tie my first flys (ugly as they are).
 
Most of us are in the same boat willing to help out..that is....until... you hog are secret fishing spot.
 
Nice story. Good to hear...last I time I remember he had lost interest due to discovering girls. Now I know how to get you back up to the SR
 
Hats off to Norm! Nicely done. And good for Kray to out him for it. Sort of reminds me of a guy I met from this board who has spent the last several years sharing his vast knowledge of the Delaware river, and surrounding fisheries.


And no big deal fishing with the kids. I get a kick out of them. Kids are practically made for fishing. They go together like fish and water!
 
K2, et al.,

I think you might be a tad bit hard with the title of the thread, at least when it comes to this forum. But, I see now it was more a means to draw readers in and I salute your creativity!

This is a damn good forum with a lot of good people (at least perceptually- I am new here). I said as much to a moderator in personal correspondence. Yes, there may be a few stiff personalities on here but holistically, this is good. Then again, there is a blatant difference between smug snobs and blatant buttholes.

I am on no less than six fly fishing forums and have "liked" several FF pages on facebook. I have read the words of far too many people who are full of themselves on them. At least one site I frequent was once a great forum. It has degenerated to garbage in the past 18 months. It had some good fly tying threads, pics and patterns. It had a seriously knowledgeable membership who would not give the game away in public, but if you were accepted, you would get PMs and email helping you out with most any logical FF conundrum. Slowly, a younger crowd became dominant; guys in their 20s through mid 40s. (I am within that age group) Some were good but others were obnoxious a-holes. The latter ran off the majority of the best and brightest.

It is now the hip place to be if you enjoy personal attacks, photobombs of someone elses personal glory, beer of the month debates and other nonsense.


I am still there. I have taken a poker mentallity, "I'll see you and raise you". The clique has great disdain for me. I am OK with that. As people drop off more and more, I see a day when that forum has less than a dozen active posters because most have long since tired of the BS. I am glad that isn't here.

There are other forums just as bad, but different in the modus operandi. I won't go in depth... my fan club tends to follow me.

I have met more than a few GREAT friends on FF forums. Many I fish with, some I teach casting with for the wildlife commission. I have been given gear or sold gear at great prices. In the end, we may all be guilty of some degree of hubris, but there is plenty of good amongst fly fishermen as a community.
 
Wow, thanks to everyone for the kind words, it was not the point.
When I got into Fly fishing about four years ago I was clueless. When I joined PAFF I had not even been to a stream with a fly rod. The first time I met anyone from the forum was the Steelhead Jam four years ago.
The people I met that first morning at The Steelhead Jam Are friends until now and for the future. I've met people from other parts of the state and floated rivers that will blast people out of they're drift boats.
If I wanted to thank everyone from PAFF that helped me or has become a friend, I'd have to spot burn everyone and buy DKile some scrapple.
Kray2 AKA "my friend" was the absolute best host when I went up to the D for a weekend float.
So, when the opportunity showed up, I tried to say THANKS K2
 
pro4mance,

Good job once again, it takes a village! I will be expecting to see you all the Jam with scrapple in hand!!



 
I've run into Norm a handful of times when he was just starting out. Saw him catch his first wild brown on Spring a few years ago at the JAM. Most likely on that rod. I try to get someone new into the sport every year and usually end up handing them a fully stocked box of flies, and a bunch of other gear. The joy of seeing someone catch their first fish on the fly and then beg to do it again is well worth the cost of the free gear to me. I got a ton of great advise on this board when I started and I can never say thank you enough. Great stuff!
 
There really are a lot of good folks on this site who are willing to reach out, offer advice/time, and/or pay it forward with acts of kindness and generosity. Krayfish2 took the time to invite me a few times (which didn't fit my schedule at the time) and I was finally able to commit back in August to fish the WB with him and a few others from this site. While the fishing for him was good I struggled, but took home such a wealth of knowledge and true appreciation for the invite that it has me itching to go back. I gathered tips simply by watching him fish and taking note of presentation, technique, etc. He is a class act like many others I have interacted it with on this site and it keeps me motivated to teach others about this sport (and of course buy more gear). I'm think many think that fly fishermen are snobs because they assume it's a sport for only the wealthy, pedigreed, or obnoxious, but I see it as a learning experience to find roots in fooling a fish to think that your presentation is really nature at work.
 
I was fortunate enough to find this forum when I was beginning to FF. I've had hours of instruction from forum members and great conversations. I've had equipment and flies handed to me (and have passed them on to others).

As with many other pursuits, you will encounter folks who will not give you the time of day, and others (like many members of this forum) who will go out of their way to enhance your abilities and experience.

Enjoy your time with the good folks, and feel sorry for the others. They don't know what they are missing out on by not taking time to share what they had to learn themselves.

Many thanks to all on this forum for helping me and other challenged anglers!
 
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