Excellent post Don. Timothy
-----Original Message----- From: Don Ordes [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Monday, June 10, 2002 10:39 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [VFB] "Etics" Question- DonO OK, My turn- An epistle on rules, ethics, and manners in flyfishing. We have a 'saying' down in Baja: "The only thing worse that trolling flies is not catching any fish." And it sometimes goes beyond that. Read on. I guess if you are a purist or a record-hunter, you'll wait and wait, ready to cast, for your chance to 'fly-cast' at a raised sailfish (or whatever)- if that ever comes, on a trip. If you are a rich or avid purist and record-hunter (per IGFA rules), then you will get lots of chances on lots of trips. On the other hand, if you are a sport-fly-fisher and have spent your precious 2-week vacation and $5000 to be in that spot at that time and the sails (or whatever) aren't coming up to the teasers (which could be for many reasons- fishing pressure being one), and the guide says to troll your biggest flies to help raise the fish up, you have a choice. What you decide is totally up to you. But if you do decide to troll flies to get a rise, don't feel like you're a bum. Guess what- even the pros troll their flies! And guess what else- even record IGFA billfish are caught by LEGALLY trolling flies! HOW? you say. The rules state that the fly must be cast from a boat with the motor in neutral and the the hook-up must come with the boat motor in neutral. This doesn't say that the boat has to be stationary. So what they do is raise the billfish, get it all fired up on trolled teasers, and at the moment before the cast is made, shift the boat to neutral. The boat takes quite a few feet to come to a stop, and during this time the cast fly is skittering across the surface, enticing a strike that may not have come on the fastest stripped retrieve alone. What does that mean? That many fish in the fly-fishing record books were caught on TROLLED flies. So what does this mean for the 'occasional' fisherman? If you want to make a fine distinction between 'flyfishing' in the purest form and 'caught on a fly rod', then go right ahead. Probably nine-tenths of all fly-caught fish would qualify in the second catagory, then. If you are in a float tube and are moving by finning or by the wind, and the fly -dry or wet-has extra movement because the tube is moving (even by the wind), you are trolling. But are you also not flyfishing? My opinion, if it's worth anything... There are many 'aspects' to flyfishing (and the list doesn't cover everything): 1. Some tie their own flies, some build their own rods. Some even build their own reels. This is different from the 'other' kinds of fishing, unless you're one of the very few that build lures. 2. Then there is the art of casting the fly. This definitely sets the flyfisher apart from the rest. 3. Then there is the 'fishing' of the fly, after you get it to the water- the presentation-be it movement or dead-drift. 4. Then after the take, there is the playing of the fish, the landing, the release. So how many rules are you going to make as to what qualifies as flyfishing? Where will you place the most emphasis- #1, 2, 3, or 4? Do you have to see the fish at all? Do you have to cast at your particular quarry? What if a second fish grabs your fly before the intended fish can take it? Does it not count as flyfishing now? Are the rules now getting in the way of enjoyment? A trout fisherman may make a 100 60' casts over 4 hours to catch one fish. A bill fisherman makes maybe one 20' cast, hooks a fish, and takes 4 hours to land it. Two different types of 'flyfishing' altogether, wouldn't you say? So casting for the saltwater billfisherman fades to insignifigance compared with playing the fish. Ever felt a 14wt fly rod? It's a STICK. Casting was not meant to be its forte. Fighting and wearing down sea-monsters is what it's made for. But for bonefish, it's totally the opposite. How many rules do you need to have fun catching fish on a fly rod with flies? If you can't enjoy it without rules, make up as many as you need to qualify it as flyfishing in your mind. Someone will disagree with at least one of them. But if you can enjoy yourself without gazilliions of self-imposed rules, good for you, too. C&R, barbless hooks, heavy tippets for faster landing/releasing (less fish stress)- these are all fishing manners and ethics, not rules (unless you are in C&R only waters). My 'rule' is pretty simple. Did you legally catch the fish on a fly rod and tied fly? If you did, then you obviously were flyfishing as opposed to any other form. And dry-fly fishermen/purists, when you were wind-dabbling or skating a dry caddisfly downwind on the surface and took a fish? You were flyfishing too, were you not? But you used the wind to help you catch a fish that you did not see. Is that not equivalent to trolling? I've fished saltwater all kinds of ways, including flycasting and fly-trolling. Trolling flies can be MUCH more difficult and physically challenging than casting to raised fish. If you want to know why, let me know. I MUCH prefer casting to fish and get the most satisfaction that way. But I've also seen flyfisherman get so frustrated at fish not hitting flies that they stuck a live chum sardine on the fly hook just to catch fish. OH-oh! Baitfishing! But wait! It was still caught on a flyrod! What mutant form of fishing are we dealing with now? Back to rule one for some...not catching anything is worse than anything else, including breaking 'rules'. They'll say at least they didn't put the fly rod down and pick up the bait rod. To each his own. Who's style of fishing would pass the scrutiny of an avid rulemaker, anyway? Not even his own. My 1 cent worth. DonO
