I shoulda checked my email more frequently...in my "younger" day, i couldn't figure what in the heck those people standing in the middle of the river were doing. Now this is from someone with a Zebco 22 and a belt looped bait can. The overfilled creels my Dad used to bring home at nite (???) made me so crazy at that age. Once Dad decided it was time for Son to come along, it was a magical time. Going from worms, to crawlers, to canned corn, i caught some decent trout and sooned learned what a delicacy they were. Esp that 13 inch rainbow coming from a brook no wider than a bike path!!! My sister and I were raised by our grandparents, so Mom and Dad didn't have a lot of time for us (another story...), so I treasured those rare fishing and hunting trips Dad used to take me on.
As I got older i progressed to spinning gear and 1/4 ounce lures and left the worms and crawlers to the robins. To get a bit of diversity in my gear, I purchased my first fly rod, a Shakespeare rod, glass and heavy. A selection of store bought flies completed the ensemble. I tried the Shakespeare on one of my beloved Vermont streams and using a #12 black ant, caught a 6 inch rainbow!!! That little bugger felt wonderful on the glass rod and he proved himself a fighter by calmly shaking himself off the hook. From that moment on , i was hooked!!
In my early 20's, i fished a year of bass tournaments in Massachusetts. My first time fishing outta state. Best fish was a 3 pound largemouth on 12 pound test, slowly fishing a black plastic worm off a 1/4 ounce jighead. Another milestone for me...an awesome time. My moniker...ISABABP stands for I Should A Been A BAss Pro...if i had to do it all over again, that's where i'd be...on the pro circuit.
Once i got married and our 2 daughters decided to make an appearance, my fishing time was severely limited. Priorities change but worth every second. Now 17 and 15, they both love to get out with Dad on the River. Wife fished a bit but finds her solace riverside, catching up on her reading. The 17 year old has a pretty active social life but she's already bought her license for this year!!!
My Dad left this earth about 4 years ago. A month before he left, he had me go into the closet in the spare room. Something in it that he never used and thought I would. A 4 piece 5 wt Orvis Green Mountain rod with reel. This is a nice setup. A friend at work was bored one day, so he volunteered to set it up...i can still see the drool as he's false casting in the driveway.
To make a long story short...I think the transition comes with age. Early on, you want as many fish as you can. Now all i want to do is get out on the river. Whether i catch or not, it doesn't matter. As my signature says...i go to unkill parts of me that otherwise might die.....
Tom-Vermont
-----Original Message-----
From: "Jimmy D. Moore" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Apr 29, 2004 2:25 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [VFB] "How did we get such a bad rep?"
I wrote this and sent it to the VFB on June 24, 2002. Read or Toss.
Too me, the generalization that fly fishers are looked upon as a tweedy, pipe smoking, creel carrying and snobbish angler is completely off xbase. Many of us fly fishers perceive this to be the way we are viewed by others who prefer to catch their quary by a different means. Sure, some of the bearded "chunking & winding" good ole boy bass hunters in their $30,000 bass boats feel that way about us, but I don't think the average C&W guy is all that different from fly fishers. I have many friends who are among that fishing fraternity, and have found them more "curious" about my fly fishing and how I do it, than looking down their nose at me. Maybe it's because I still own my big bass boat, have a beard, drink a few beers and still chunk and wind on occasion.
I've converted more than one "good ole boy" bass fisherman to fly fishing. All it takes is a good size bass on a 4 wt. or a bull bluegill an a 2 wt. Their next question is, "When are you going to take me trout fishing?" Each September I take five close friends, and my three sons, to New Mexico for a week-long trout expedition. Six of them still do a lot of C&W, but the highlight of their fishing year is the NM trip for browns, bows and cutts using little "flea rods" that I built for them. You recon that we fly fishers have been looking down collective noses at the C&W guy. Kind of like the Pheasant hunter looking down his nose at the Coon hunter. ;~)) Two completely different types of hunting, but hunting just the same.
How many of you still do some C&W? Awww, comon - fess up!
JIMMY D
****************************************************
Monte Smith wrote:
-----Original Message-----
From: "Jimmy D. Moore" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Apr 29, 2004 2:25 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [VFB] "How did we get such a bad rep?"
Too me, the generalization that fly fishers are looked upon as a tweedy, pipe smoking, creel carrying and snobbish angler is completely off xbase. Many of us fly fishers perceive this to be the way we are viewed by others who prefer to catch their quary by a different means. Sure, some of the bearded "chunking & winding" good ole boy bass hunters in their $30,000 bass boats feel that way about us, but I don't think the average C&W guy is all that different from fly fishers. I have many friends who are among that fishing fraternity, and have found them more "curious" about my fly fishing and how I do it, than looking down their nose at me. Maybe it's because I still own my big bass boat, have a beard, drink a few beers and still chunk and wind on occasion.
I've converted more than one "good ole boy" bass fisherman to fly fishing. All it takes is a good size bass on a 4 wt. or a bull bluegill an a 2 wt. Their next question is, "When are you going to take me trout fishing?" Each September I take five close friends, and my three sons, to New Mexico for a week-long trout expedition. Six of them still do a lot of C&W, but the highlight of their fishing year is the NM trip for browns, bows and cutts using little "flea rods" that I built for them. You recon that we fly fishers have been looking down collective noses at the C&W guy. Kind of like the Pheasant hunter looking down his nose at the Coon hunter. ;~)) Two completely different types of hunting, but hunting just the same.
How many of you still do some C&W? Awww, comon - fess up!
JIMMY D
****************************************************
Monte Smith wrote:
Wes,
Is this lifted from the Westfly board?
Monte
Wes Wada wrote:
If my Dad thought he could catch fish with his fly rod, he'd use it. If he thought he'd catch more fish with a spinning rod, he used that.
So maybe, just maybe, we really all are just anglers. And sure, some anglers are in it for different reasons -- and that might be considered snob appeal.
And yes, along with snobs there are slobs. But when I was spin fishing, I don't remember ever leaving crap along the river or lake, so I don't think the fact that you spin fish makes you a slob. Nor does the fact that you fly fish make you a snob.
Personally, this angling thing is quite humorous -- I suppose you could come up with a more difficult method for catching fish but you'd have to work at it. I laugh out loud sometimes when folks take it too seriously.
Slobs I can do without. But I like the snobs -- they play well in my cartoons
"Fisherman are born honest, but they get over it." Ed Zern
