The Elitist Fly Fisherman....Reality or Myth?

[PatrickC]

Elite:
a. A group or class of persons or a member of such a group or class, enjoying superior intellectual, social, or economic status.

b. The best or most skilled members of a group.

Hmmmm. Well, there are intelligent and rich people that fly fish, but probably more rich intelligent people that fish some other way. And, while I consider fly fishing to require many skills, it requires no more intricate skills than other types of fishing, so we would be hard pressed to say fly fishermen are more skilled than other types of fisherman.

I don't think fly fishermen are elite in the world of fishing. There are probably more snobs fly fishing than in other types of fishing. While being a snob may imply you are a member of a "higher social class," it in no way implies your skills are superior. Being a snob just means you're a boob...don't be a boob ;-)

 

[attackone]

actually mike anyone can fish that section of yellow creek, all they need to do is pick up a fly rod not that hard at all

 

[troutbert]

mike_richardson wrote:
T.A.P. i would say 95 percent of our active or key members are catch and release guys. What the main conscern are the special regulation areas. The hot button is the fact of fishing for instance, yellow creek.

There is a section that has a wire across the stream for the FLy Fishing Only Section. They do not like the idea that if I am fishing with them, I can go across and they cant. (I do know that that section of stream was saved because of the dedication of fisherman to keep it open and the main conscern was litter, and I applaud that effort) but i think what gets T.A.P. is that the stream is still stocked from funds derived from the sales of licenes and such that is mostly coming from bait fisherman.

The Yellow Creek Bedford County flyfishing only area is that way because that is what the landowner wants. This is true of some of the other flyfishing only areas. Where the landowners control the access, we need to respect that it's their property, and be thankful that they are providing public access for fishing.

The options in these cases are:

1) flyfishing only, i.e. open to any angler willing to fish with a fly rod and flies.

2) closed to the public.

These sections are open to any angler. You just have to be willing to fish with a fly rod and flies. You can borrow an outfit, you can buy an inexpensive but quite functional outfit.

Remember that back in the day, before spin gear came in around the early 1950s, everyone who fished for trout used a fly rod. And most people used both bait and flies. So fly rods and flyfishing is not some new exotic creation. It is traditional angling.

Several people mentioned the skilled old time baitfishermen. There are still some of those guys around here and many of them fish with fly rods. I talk with those guys every chance I get because they "know stuff." Not just about the streams and trout. But also local history, etc.

But many of those guys carry some flies and fish those as well as bait, when the conditions are right, i.e. when the trout are "jumping." And if they want to fish a fly area, they can just tie on a fly and have it. They are not prohibited from fishing the flyfishing areas.

It's kind of like a restaurant that says no shirt, no service. That's not discrimination. Put on a shirt and go eat. Or not. It's up to you.

 

[pcray1231]

For anyone who's ever made the switch, it's not that easy. You're asking them to buy new equipment and start a new learning curve to participate, and it may be some time before they could see any success.

I do understand that part of it. It's throwing a major hurdle in there for them to enjoy that water. And they helped pay for it.

So long as it's a very small percentage of available water I can still support it, so I would oppose TAP on that. And in cases where it's landowner preference "FFO or posted", I get that too, and would again oppose TAP. But I do understand their position and concern and I do sympathize with it.

But I would agree that, in situations where they are sufficient to preserve the fishery and satisfy the landowner, all-tackle regs are preferable to ALO or especially FFO. And the reason is to provide more opportunity for all angler types.

But I find it difficult to even respect this particular group, who claims to want "inclusion" and preserve high quality fisheries, yet still opposes all-tackle special regulations.

 

[bikerfish]

are we elitist? no, just better than everyone else!
there are fly fishers, and there are master baiters.
;-)

 

[attackone]

pcray I started out fly fishing 4 years ago, heck I didn't even know what a nymph was, didn't have a teacher everything I learned about fly fishing I either read it online, learned myself or someone along the stream gave me a pointer....it was tough in the beginning but I still caught about every time I went out....nymph fishing really isn't that much different from bait fishing other the the equipment that is being used....I fish a lot with my grandfather who is a great bait fishermen, but he will still go to the fly areas with me and not say a word about it

 

[csoult]

 

[StarvinMarvin]

As soon as I saw the title and 5 pages I knew it was gonna be a fun read

 

[Mountainbrookie]

mike_richardson wrote:
I think i might have triggered this thread from another forum. Am I wrong Brookie? 😉

Do I know you? :lol:

 

[mike_richardson]

Pcray.,

T.A.P would be for special regulation catch and release AT. Also top would be in favor if modified tackle restrictions like barbless hooks and such.

 

[mike_richardson]

I also commended the group that kept yellow creek ffo project open to fishing. I am a fan of this actually and disagree with other members of T.A.P. on this and any other sections of streams that fall under this restriction. Open fishing is better than no fishing.

 

[djs12354]

FarmerDave wrote: There are #censor# everywhere and some of them flyfish.

I think Farmer Dave nailed it with this one. 🙂

 

[Shock]

Elitist or not; Flyfisherman don't aspire to become bait fisherman.

On the other hand, I don't know any flyfishers who did not start out as bait fishers.

In my opinion, looking down on fisherman who don't embrace the complication and challenge that is flyfishing is hypocracy since we have all done it.

I think in the bigger picture we need more people fishing as a way to protect our freedom to fish. Besides, the gear fisherman you chat with on the stream this year may be a beginning flyfisher next year.

Shock

 

[PennypackFlyer]

THE END!

 

[k-bob]

There are some old, expensive, exclusive FF clubs in PA, so there probably is some elitism, and I assume these places are more social and not just about fishing. But if these prestigious clubs preserve habitat, they are fine with me. PA has a lot of the small wild brook trout streams that I like, and there are plenty of them available if I just look around.

 

[salmonoid]

mike_richardson wrote:
O Snap! Blue stringer time!

When you say raccoons.........you mean the mullet and stringer brigade, amirght??

I wish they would not post that list ..... Way too many unemployed truck followers

These are just a few remarks on the last thread about stocking.

No Brookie elitism is just a myth...

Its a message board, where humans come to articulate their thoughts and feelings. Some humans are better at articulating than others. Some humans are better at interpreting the actual intent of the original articulater than others. But, in the end, its just a message board, populated by imperfect humans, some who post honest answers, some who post sarcastic answers, some who post misleading answers, and some who do all of the above and then some.

I don't view stocking thread discussions so much as a bait vs. fly thing, as it is a stock vs. wild thing. For that matter, I don't even like to phrase it in those terms - its not something that is 100% one against the other. I fish for trout with whatever I can catch them with; I'll adapt tackle to water conditions or sometimes my own fickle feelings on certain days. I don't view one as better than the other or more "pure" or even more "traditional". Does one have to use a bone hook and sinews to be a traditional angler? If one leaves some of the fur dry on the bone of whatever beast was slaughtered to give up the bone, does that make one a traditional fly angler?

There's elite, as in good at what they do - there are elite fly fisher people, spin fisher people, bait fisher people. That has to do with skill in technique. And there there is elite, as in attitude and the belief that one is "better" than someone else. The former I respect. The latter, I don't care for too much..

 

[RCFetter]

When I saw the title of the thread I immediately thought of Maclean's "A River Runs Through It." In the book and the movie, they looked down on a bait fisherman. St. Peter was a dry fly fisherman.

Also, fly fishing is characterized as an art form, at least relative to other types of fishing.

In Gierach's "Death, Taxes and Leaky Waders," he writes about purists and snobs. He mentions English chalk stream fly fishermen who believe anything other than catching a trout on a dry fly is poaching.

Consider the number of high-end equipment and accessory manufacturers. I'd bet they outnumber manufacturers of spin and cast manufacturers. There's no doubt in my mind that the industry targets a higher income market than producers of spin and casting equipment.

I don't think fly fishing is considered as elitist as it was 30 yrs ago, but it is elitist.

 

[Burgh]

I think the perception stems from the fact that most FF seem to approach fishing from a cerebral angle. The guys that I fish with are all interested in the how and why.......entomology, presentation, flow, stream conditions and even preservation (of wildlife and habitat). When I was primarily spin fishing....these were not things that I was overly concerned with.
I don't know that elitist is the word I would use, more educated about a hobby....yes. At least this is the case for me.

 

[pcray1231]

T.A.P would be for special regulation catch and release AT.

Mike, that's good to hear and heartens me. But I would seriously consider changing the website to clarify this. It expouses opposition to C&R, Trophy Trout, and the like, which are not equated by many to exclude bait. I think it probably makes you more enemies than you deserve.

 

[dryflyguy]

I - and I'll bet most other members of this forum - used to be a spin fishermen. And I've never looked down my nose at them now. We're just both fishing the way we want to - and I have no problem with that.
I even used to take my daughter - and more recently, granddaughter - spin fishing with bait when they were little. Just wanted to see them catch fish.

As for the afore mentioned subject of yellow creek - I can't understand why anymore would get PO'd about a section of creek that's less than a mile long being FFing only. Those spin guys can fish the whole rest of that creek, which has many miles of ATW.
Do these guys also get ticked about the many stream sections set aside for children only?