Oh. Bloody. Hell.
It's that time again, the swinging vs nymphing debate
A couple of the fly fishing boards that I frequent are alive with multiple page threads about swinging vs nymphing for steelhead. This horse is so freaking tenderized, you could pass it off as filet.
In a nutshell, to get it right out there, here's my stance on the issue.
WHO GIVES A SHIT
As long as you are a good steward of the river, play well with others, work to minimize stress and impact on the wild stock, teach others good river habits, work on conservation issues ...then you're good to me.
The super sanctimonious rhetoric just sucks. It makes us as a whole group look really, really dumb. The funny thing is, it seems like the people who rock a stonefly and an egg trailer are the most open minded while the guys who stick to their dry lines only are the ones who are the most close minded.
To be the best fisherman possible, I think it prudent to be able to master both methods.
Last year OMR and I picked up Spey Rods for the first time and fell in love. Given the chance, it's the method we prefer.
But if conditions dictate that nymphing is better, both of us will not hesitate to rock a bobber set up.
So little boys and girls, when someone argues with you over what is best, you know what the right answer is?
Whatever you choose it to be!
Now go fish!
Well stated, Josh- spoken like a true bead fisherman ;)
ReplyDeleteJosh, I apologize for the poster by the name of Pam. She's my wife and when I signed in to comment it defaulter to her gmail account. She'll pay for that.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more, except in cases where guys are nymphing out of the boat. Thats not even fishing, its obscenely effective and it puts the fish down for other anglers. I'd like to see more rivers in WA go to a no fishing from boats reg, it would more evenly distribute angling opportunity and ensure that a few guides who are willing to boat race all day sidedrifting beads didnt hotlip every fish in the river 6 times
ReplyDeletethere are no conditions that dictate a bobber setup. move to the next piece of water and leave those fish to rest. make your offer, maybe a second if the pull of the water is extra good. move on and the leave the fish alone .... you gave your best and the fish wasn't ready to play. pounding the water repeatedly until the fish gets so agitated that it has to strike does nothing for the fishing pleasure of other anglers coming behind you. don't be so selfish. it really isn't good etiquette. make your simple offer and step down. steelhead should never be a numbers game and that's what indicator fishing is all about. save your indicators for the trout, where there are more fish per mile than there are in the complete run of steelhead on other rivers. steelhead are trout, there just not THOSE trout.
ReplyDeleteit's obvious you still don't get it. I've repeatedly seen more respect given out from gear guys in boats than the guys pretending to be fly fishermen with their bobber setups.
you need to stop listening to your douchebag buddy brazda and see the big picture. He'll never get it.