Why do you fly fish???

Re: Why do you fly fish???

feeds@kickapps.com (Wee Hooker) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 13:37:59 PST

Thought about this a bit and it's tough to answer. Been addicted to warm and salt water fishing since I was 6. (Odd, becasue dad rarely fished). Gravitated towards largemouth fishing with hard/rubber baits and spinning gear all throgu my teens and 20's. (got pretty good at it too!). Flyfishing got my atention because of the tradition/nostalgic aspect as well as the new chalanges it represented (and still does!) Now, about 80% of my fishing is with teh fly rod and can't imagion not flyfishing. The whole proces is so much more involved and personal for me.

Re: Why do you fly fish???

feeds@kickapps.com (Gerbubble Bug) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 08:37:23 PST

Check out the video on the Northeastern Council Of FFF web site. It addresses why people fly fish and yes it includes bass. Flytackle will enjoy Flip Pallot's comments, which I feel are pretty much on. The video was produced by The American Museum of Fly Fishing. You can see it on www.fffnec.org
Tom

Re: Why do you fly fish???

feeds@kickapps.com (gillbuster) — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 09:15:45 PST

Welcome to "da Basspond"
Glad to have you join us and a great first posting. You should fit right in with our group warm water fly fishermen, we feel the same way about the fishing with the long rod. I assume you are fishing out of Texas from you profile. We look forward to seeing future stories with some Texas size fish, every thing in the Lone star is big. I spent 10 years in San Antonio, Texas area and know there is some monster fish there. Just pull up a chair and jump on in and your 2 cents where you can. Thanks again and welcome aboard from the Bass Pond gang

Tight lines
Gilllbuster

Re: Why do you fly fish???

feeds@kickapps.com (cactus101) — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 08:19:37 PST

I have fly fished since I was a youngster. My dad taught me and although I will bait cast I continually come back to the fly rod. I fish a private lake and I am the only one who fishes the long rod and as a result I catch more fish than most. I often make excursions to fish surrounding waters - a kayak trip about sent me to Davy Jones's locker but I return to the quiet waters around my house. Will be casting a brand new TFO 2 weight this year and I have tied a host of new flies - water gets warm around Austin earlier than you fellows up North so by March 1 I should be looking for bedding bass.
Fly rodding for me is a release from the workday - Wading is the best way - subtle changes are noticed right away - birds, bugs, deer - all seem to not notice you as much when you are in waist deep water,
I look forward to retirement in about 3 years - fly fishing will keep me alive

Re: Why do you fly fish???

feeds@kickapps.com (wayneb) — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 09:51:36 PST

Wow. tuff to put down in words. I spent most of my childhood fishing ultra light spinning and it was a lot of fun. I lost a few fish but then again that adds to the challenge. When I got back into fishing started out with medium weight spinning then progressed to baitcasting. I started subscribing to B.A.S.S. and thought I wanted to go in to tournament fishing. I found that with bait casting I felt disconnected from the fish and it just wasn't as enjoyable as when I fished as a kid. Tournamet fishing is dominanted by bait casting and I didn't find that as enjoyable plus it would have meant a committment of time and money I wasn't prepared for at that time.
I always wanted to learn to fly cast, it took a while to get proficient but once I was able to cast and catch fish consistently. Fly fishing to me is an extension of the type of fishing I did as a youngster, some of my most memeorable fishing experiences. So, in a way I'm reliving my childhood?
...

Re: Why do you fly fish???

feeds@kickapps.com (armyflyfisher) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 19:49:34 PST

I've fished off and on most of my life.......from outings with my dad in the family boat on nearby lakes....to hitting farm ponds and avoiding the landowners as a kid in rural Oklahoma, but always with spinning tackle and bait or the ever loved Rooster tail spinner.

But.....Unlike you guys I didn't pick up a fly rod until just a few years ago....at 44 years old. I was in Wal-Mart and saw a flyfishing package containing a Shakespeare rod, reel, line, backing and a few flies for like $19.99. I'd always wanted to try fly fishing, but thought the price beyond my reach and was initimidated by the perceived "technicality" of it all. I took that rod and with a few small poppers, quickly caught bluegills and small bass in a local lake at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. That quick success had me hooked. Soon I was tying my own flies, and this year built my own rod with another planned.

I hope to be waving a fly rod around for the rest of my life. The...

Re: Why do you fly fish???

feeds@kickapps.com (B52 bugger) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:30:29 PST

Important event in my life. I bought a Sports Afield Annual 1957. I was 13 years old. An article on tying sponge bug caught my attention. Consisted green sponge, black thread and black hackle. My dad and I were fishing Lake Noquechoke in Dartmouth, MA. I was standing on a bridge and fly casting being careful in not hooking cars going by in back of me. In stead of casting I dropped the bug in front of me. In the fading light I saw this huge mouth of a Calico Bass rising from the depth to take the bug. Seeing that fish take the bug was my real first rush. My life was never the same. I have to confess, I do spin and plug cast occassionally just to keep in shape.

Fly fishing is the best thing to do standing up with your clothes on

Re: Why do you fly fish???

feeds@kickapps.com (Gerbubble Bug) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 17:08:54 PST

I fly fish, therefore, I am
Tom

Re: Why do you fly fish???

feeds@kickapps.com (BigJim) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:54:20 PST

Hard to explain. I fish with many forms of tackle, and I enjoy them all, but I enjoy fly fishing the most. I enjoy catching fish, but don't have to catch any fish to enjoy being out fly fishing. I can say that about other methods too, but it's still not the same.

I too got interested in it when I was young primarily from seeing flies in magazines. I don't really know why it interested me but it did. I was also a kid who struggled in school, my attention span for school things was very short, but I could sit & read about fishing for hours, and would re-read articles about fly fishing over & over & over again, especially if the article contained pictures of the flies being used.

I can find solitude, natural beauty & all those other nice things without a fly rod, but I've learned to better appreciate them because of fly fishing. Maybe it does have something to do with the fast pace of life, I don't know.

I actually...

Re: Why do you fly fish???

feeds@kickapps.com (Rockthief) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:55:08 PST

fly fishing is my best stress-reducer. Nothing else works as well. It helps me to find the peace inside of me that often gets hidden by negative things.

Re: Why do you fly fish???

feeds@kickapps.com (gillbuster) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:47:01 PST

Fly fishing for me is like being injected with total solitude, satisfaction and serenity… If I don't get out doing some fishing every week or so, I get agitated, I need a fix…. Life today is such a fast pace, family/work demands are so high and so stressed at times; this is my mental health get away, stop to reflect on what is important in life. Some people work out at a gym, some take yoga, some go drinking and dancing…me it is the love for the outdoors

Partially, I guess you could say fly fishing is also the thrill of the hunt... whether it is catching a 4 inch sunny or a bragging size fish… I just love to feel the tap, fight on the end of the line and bend in the fly rod. Trying to outsmart a fish with a buggy looking fly or creation that I have made is a...

Re: Why do you fly fish???

feeds@kickapps.com (Flytackle) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 01:19:18 PST

I too have been fishing since just a lad, always loved it, and longed to try the fly rod from the first time I saw one. I bought a St. Croix glass rod and a pfleuger reel and a handfull of royal coachman dry flies from a fellow in Montrose PA. and believe it or not I caught a brookie! I couldn't stand it I was so excited. Ups and downs, good times and bad, the peace and contentment I find when out fishing has been a great blessing. Alec

Re: Why do you fly fish???

feeds@kickapps.com (spinzo) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 05:16:40 PST

It's part of me. I really can't explain it. I grew up in a house where no one fished, and I didn't know anyone who fished. I'm not even sure how I was introduced to the idea of fishing, but my earliest memories are of sitting on the banks of a vernal pond holding a stick with a button tied to the end of a string and waiting for something to bite. I must have been a very patient child since there was nothing in that pond (which dried up every summer) but frogs and snakes, salamanders and the occasional turtle. All I ever knew was that I had to fish, and I would spend my free time either fishing or preparing to fish. The first fish I ever caught was a tiny brookie that bit a worm dangled in a small pool that formed beyond a culvert a few hundred feet down the road from the house I grew up in. I was 4 years old. A little bit older I was allowed to walk to the nearest pond where I'd fish for sunnies and bass. At that time I was using a Zebco 202 and my...

Why do you fly fish???

feeds@kickapps.com (gillbuster) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:36:54 PST

I read another email site and the question was asked "Why do you fish? what are the reasons that make you drag out the long rod and spend countless hours pursuing little green fish"? Curious to hear what some of the members of this site have to say about the enjoyment of fly fishing...