By: Robert Wiggers
Why Fly fishing?
Fly fishing is one of the few styles of fishing where you can have a good time without ever catching a fish. It’s a type of fishing where casting can be as much fun as catching. Catching fish on the fly isn’t about quantity. It’s about the quality of the experience.
Attention to detail and technique make fly fishing one of the most artistic forms of angling. An expert with the fly rod is poetry in motion, and fly tying is an art in itself. Flies can be tied so realistically you can’t tell what’s fake and what’s real, and in many instances neither can the fish.
Perhaps more than any other angling method, fly fishing requires a high degree of skill to be successful. Developing that skill is where the true satisfaction of the sport lies. Learning to fly cast with precision is considerably more difficult than with conventional spinning or bait-casting equipment. Imparting action to the lure is also more involved. And finally, hooking and playing a fish on a fly rod is unlike using any other type of tackle.
The appeal of fly fishing doesn’t stop there. Tying your own flies either on or off the water can be an extremely rewarding experience. Imagine identifying the prey that a fish is feeding on, then having the ability to create something using artificial material that looks identical. Very few experiences in angling provide the same satisfaction as catching a fish on something you made yourself.
In specific situations, fly fishing can be the most effective way to present an artificial. In the early 1980s, coastal anglers in South Carolina discovered a new way to target red drum in the state’s estuaries. When high tides flood the marsh grass, the fish move into the grass to feed, with their tails visible above the water. As with any fish in shallow water, these fish are nervous and spook easily. The slightest splash from a lure or live bait causes the fish to scatter. Fly fishing tackle provides the perfect way to present artificial bait without spooking the fish. Fly fishing the marsh flats at high tide has now become a whole new sport.
For better or worse, fly fishing has always been considered the domain of a sophisticated, tight knit fraternity of “gentlemen.” In reality, fly fishermen are a diverse group, all sharing the same passion for fishing as other anglers. When you make the perfect cast, to the right spot, and see or feel the initial strike, the feeling is exactly the same regardless of the method you employ. Because fly fishing can be as involved as you choose to make it, most anglers will find some aspect of the sport appealing. It’s surprising that every angler doesn’t own a fly rod and a box full of flies. Now that I think about it, after writing this, I think I’ll go pick up the fly rod.
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