Fly fishing is more popular than ever

[pcray1231]

For me fly fishing is a sport. It's semantics for sure. But what good's a forum if we aren't going to argue about something? lol. My 2 cents:

Ok, so there are competitive sports, like football, baseball, backetball, soccer. Fishing competitions, whether they be bassmasters or a fly fishing comp, exist but are not really the core of the activity. Fishing is not a competitive sport.

Outdoor pursuits, like fishing of any type, hunting, etc. Somebody mentioned as a source of food. If you're doing it for food, it's a job, not a sport. And certainly some do. But most of us do it for sport. Recreation. We may occasionally eat what we kill. But lets be honest. When fly fishing we're outfitted with $1000 worth of gear. How many fish would that buy us? Hunting is the same way. The $$$ to travel to where I hunt, the time put in. If it's about food, it's the worst deal EVER. I'm paying like $200/lb for venison and a handful of stocked trout per year.

I fish and hunt for fun. Kayakers, rock climbers, hikers, mountain bikers, spelunkers, geocachers, skiers. These are all recreational activities and I have no issue calling them sports. They each have subsets, which fly fishing is one for fishing. I'm not alone, magazines are called sports afield, we name stores called sporting gentlemen, and guides call their clients "sports".

 

[PennypackFlyer]

There was an interesting article in the Fly fishing magazine I recently read. The last article mentions about getting back to the healing part of nature. I mainly flyfish to be with nature. But at times have been known to take on a challenge from an opponent. Regardless of what some may say, if you look at I day where you don't catch any fish as a day with nature, you will never feel skunked.

 

[wbranch]

The Internet has been helpful for many people but it has also hurt fly fishing because of all the posts about how great this or that river is. I've contributed to the problem with hero shots of big fish. Guys see that and they want to catch them too. I 'm glad I started to fly fish decades ago before the Internet. When you found spots by doing the research and legwork.

 

[wildtrout2]

I totally agree with what wbranch said. But, I have to say, that without the internet I would not have learned about a lot of the streams that I love to fish.

 

[pcray1231]

There's no question people travel further to fish these days. It's not such a local thing. And when travelling people naturally hit the famous spots.

On the flip side, I think all of the info available, maps which show nearly every trickle with trout. Highlighting the brookie chasing blueliners as well as the trophy hunters. Has the tendency to spread people out. I've fished a few hundred streams in PA, all over the state, instead of hitting the local stream over and over and over.

 

[Bruno]

I fished Elk Creek in Erie yesterday and when I pulled in there was one other car. I fished for 5 hrs and saw 4 other anglers. When I walked back to the lot it was full. 30 guys all within 100 yards of the lot. Just take a stroll and you will be fine.

 

[EcoDog]

Bruno wrote:
I fished Elk Creek in Erie yesterday and when I pulled in there was one other car. I fished for 5 hrs and saw 4 other anglers. When I walked back to the lot it was full. 30 guys all within 100 yards of the lot. Just take a stroll and you will be fine.

Having fished a lifetime in the freestone streams of the West, you're spot on, just hike a bit upstream or down and you'll lose most of the parking lot anglers and have an uncrowded experience. Most of the time...

 

[OldLefty]

I've written a couple articles on my blog www.therantingangler.com about some of the issues arising out of the fact we're seeing an increase in trout anglers with an emphasis on fly-fishing. I'm working on a third and final piece which I hope to have up soon.

There are a few writers that are pushing some notions that I believe are dangerous and may very well lead those who don't view fly-fishers in a positive light to find additional support for their positions.

One of the posts here had an angler refer to his photos as "hero shots."
I tend to interpret a hero shot as a photo that is posted to brag about the catch. If that's not the intent I wouldn't call it a hero shot. The other term is "grip-n-grins." Both of these are being used in a less than positive context.

I was actually accosted for posting an image on a social media site of a fish in my net in the water. True, fish was not completely submerged. Guy ripped me up one side and down the other. Has anyone experienced similar reactions?

 

[Dave_W]

OldLefty wrote:
Has anyone experienced similar reactions?

Yes, we've had threads in the past get hot over a criticism of someone else's fish photo, which is invariably unwelcome and results in the OP pushing back.

It's tiresome and has led me to ask many time for a cease fire on the issue of fish handling.

Regarding the topic of this thread - FFing becoming more popular - I think there is some "new convert psychology" involved. This involves FF newbies embracing the C&R ethic, a good thing, and then reacting judgmentally toward old timers who have held up fish for photos for decades. . . or, perish the thought, killed the fish and ate it. :-o

Many of us started fishing long before the internet: we began with spin gear, and often in conjunction with hunting. We kept some fish to eat or mount on the wall. Fishing was understood as within the realm of blood sports (as it still is). In my view, many new FFers have come into the sport without this grounding in the nature of sport fishing. It's generational, to be sure, and like many such matters, isn't subject to easy remedies. Respectful dialogue between anglers is a step in the right direction and I hope PAFF can play a continued role in this.

 

[afishinado]

Good posts from both Dave's ^

As with most things in life (and FFing), while both sides, each on opposite ends of the spectrum battle it out, the right thing to do lies somewhere in the middle.

 

[pcray1231]

Take anything people are passionate about, and you'll hear someone griping and claiming to be holier than thou.

My rule is pretty simple. Think.

There's no hard and fast rules. One guy is fishing 70ish water and being ultra careful, goes home, looks at a message board, and sees a pic of a fish being photographed out of water, gets mad, and accuses the other guy of not caring. What he may not know is other guy is fishing in water that's 55 degrees. The one being less thoughtful of the fish here is actually the complainer, he's fishing in 70 degree water.

The truth is, it depends. The toughness of a fish is very dependent on the circumstances. What's the water temp? Was the fight prolonged? Did the hook come out easily? (if so, there's more time/less stress for that pic). Is it a big healthy fish or a delicate little guy? Do you have your camera handy or can't you get that pocket open right now?

I choose not to cast stones. I take pics. Sometimes. Sometimes they're out of the water when I do. Sometimes not. Sometimes I think it's bad to take a pic. Sometimes I choose not even to fish. And that very same day what's "right" may be COMPLETELY different in that stream over the mountain there. So when I see someone else posted something, I don't know the situation. I have no standing to criticize.

Just encourage people to think and leave it at that.

 

[LetortAngler]

Happy that many people are getting into the sport. But as more people get into the sport, more water tends to be posted. In recent years it’s amazing how much property has become privatized due to this. This is a big reason why I’ve been contacting the PFBC (and other various groups) about acquiring more public lands along fantastic wild trout streams for years. One recent example as I mentioned on here early this spring where a very large section of the gorge on Yellow (Bedford) was bought for as little as a couple grand an acre and was immediately posted, cameras - the whole deal. Why would the PFBC not acquire that? For a measly 20k they could have secured that huge piece of Class A water but instead spent hundreds of thousands for some boating docks and a couple hundred feet of some Steelhead stream? You can’t conserve and enjoy a stream if you can’t even see it in the first place. Land acquisition along wild/marginal trout streams, imo, should be a priority for agency as we see growing numbers of anglers.

 

[Lkyboots]

I guess things change and some new fly fisherman are looking for some kind of spiritual awakening. I've been fly fishing for almost 60 years so I just call it fishing. As far as more fisherman I can say most of the streams I fish are empty by the middle of May.

I just bought my Granddaughter a new Frozen the movie fishing pole. She's 4 and hope her first fish will be a Trout. If she decides to fly fish she'll have enough flies to last her and some pretty nice fly equipment.