salmonoid wrote:
The operable word in all of these wintertime debates is "versus". For debate value, we keep placing entities or ideologies in competition with each other. Stocked vs. wild. Elitism vs. commoner. Bait vs. fly vs. spin. TU vs. land conservancy.
The reality is there is room for all viewpoints. And contrary to how one viewpoint may view another viewpoint, the viewpoints are often NOT mutually exclusive. For instance, TU is about coldwater conservation, but that conservation is going to have a whole lot longer effect if its done on a stream where the land in the drainage is preserved. I don't see TU buying a lot of land; I do see conservancies buying a lot of land. I don't see conservancies doing a lot to enhance stream habitat, but I do see TU having the potential to partner with conservancies to do that.
If a stream is enhanced and is on conservancy lands, and even if fishing is prohibited there (which I personally don't like, because, selfishly, I'm a fisherman), the fish still benefit from the stream habitat improvement and the land preservation efforts. Thankfully, our local conservancy only has a handful of properties where fishing is prohibited (I suspect because of deed restrictions at the time of land gifting). But there's open water above and below the one property they own, so that little stretch becomes a bit of a sanctuary for the fish, or at least thats how I view it. I'm not sure who the Eastern conservancy is that prohibits fishing; as a land owner, they have the right to do so, which trumps my right to feeling entitled to fish their streams.
Regarding the thousands of stream miles in the state that are fishable for trout, I find it amazing that groups take positions on the fraction of a percent that they can't fish via a mechanism of their preference. Get over it. Life isn't fair and we don't always get our desires. I guess its the old grass is greener on the other side view; its that which one doesn't have that is more desirable, simply because one doesn't have it. Be thankful for the 99.8% of waters that ARE fishable. Fly fisher people and bait fisher people are generally not a threat to stream habitat loss; the artificial divisions created by the "versus" mentality are a real threat to our ability to put a common front against real threats to stream habitat loss.
There is Iron in your words of life.
This "elitism" claim boils down to a progression of complexity. We all start out on tri-cycles and training wheels. The easiest way to teach a young'un to fish is with a closed face, casting rod. It keeps the line in the water more and increases the chance of catching. Bait also increases these chances. Typical progression moves to spin tackle and lures and then to Flyfishing. Each more complex and difficult to master. How far you move through the progression demonstrates your curiosity and desire to try new things and reach for more challenging goals. These traits generally spill over into other portions of your life including your charity and volunteerism contributions.
Those trout anglers not willing to explore fly fishing for whatever reason generally find themselves associated with put and take clubs. Its a good fit but make no mistake, it demonstrates the challenge has stopped for these anglers. They are caught in an endless cycle of put and take. Feathering their nests for each season and dropping the activity when it appears the results don't support the effort.
Those anglers that pushed themselves to not only try flyfishing but struggled with success, seek advice, lessons and other research to improve, think differently. The pursuit drives them, their desire for more and more information leads to knowledge and data about abundance in their quarry. Some find TU to learn to flyfish cuz thats where the flyfishers are. But the flyfishers are there because by and large they understand there is more to this thing than putting fish in and taking them out. Habitat improvement and access are their progressive goals on improving their passion. Most who join TU to learn to flyfish don't have the vision or desire to put their time into those goals but usually understand and appreciate those that do so they hold onto membership but do not invest their time. Very, very few TU members are not fishermen, very very few are spin fishermen, this is no accident. Cold water conservation is not a instant reward endeavor. You have to have the intellectual curiosity to learn and vision and desire to pursue these goals. This is the way TU/flyfishermen feather their nests.
Thats why there is division. The short term, immediate reward camp puts less thought and effort into their passion. They are invested in the seasonal renewal through stocking and removing trout.
Conversely, the long term thinkers and doers in TU feel invested in the natural reproduction of their passion. Their result takes much more effort and protection from harvest to be successful. Often their results are not tangible. In addition their efforts can be diminished by the short term, immediate return crowd.
The two groups can and do overlap in interest level and effort. Many flyfishermen like to catch fish, the put and take clubs make trout yearly and it can be hard to resist. Drawing the lines between the two becomes the challenge. The line is in a different place for every person. Some anglers, "the most elite" cannot waver on their passion to protect wild trout because of their investment or understanding of those others who sacrificed to produce these results.
These are the "two sides" in the war of trout. They are tangible groups with names and manifestos. They have investment, goals and product produced. They are easy to find, define and attack. But there is another angle in this angling war...the guerrilla fishermen. These are the anglers who have the intellectual curiosity to research the best spots, use them and invest nothing for their reward.
These "users" are in both camps. Flyfishers and spin fishers. Elitists and inferiors. You know who you are...just know this, your experiences are enhanced by the efforts of someone else. To me these are the elitists, those entitled to all the spoils with very little toil on their part.
I have respect for the first two groups....not so much for the third.
There that ought to push a few pages.
:lol:
