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Why do people look at me so oddly when I'm fly fishing?

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They aren't looking at you "oddly". They are watching to see if you catch anything. Everyone's HEARD of fly fishing, many have never seen anyone do it.

Here, in fresh water Florida country, I might not see another fly angler all year long. I hear boats behind me slow down, the people in it saying, "Look, he's fly fishing!"

 

Enjoy the attention.

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I must admit that the first time I went down to the Atlantic to fly fish the surf, I felt damned silly.

 

That huge expanse of water; the mammoth denizens cruising in it; he near absolute lack of features to cast to; the disruptive experience of wind and wave effects on casts and retrieves; and the laughs of spin gear guys effortlessly casting 3x further than I could reach; all conspired to put me in the running for village idiot.

 

ddb

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Well, I do remember the time when I was trout fishing, and I was useing dry flies. There were a bunch of rod and reel fishermen, and I was WHIPPING their butts off. Trout in 2 casts! They didn't catch a thing.

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What Mike said. I get the exact same thing here in Michigan -- and this is a state with a pretty rich fly fishing history, too. If I had a dollar for every time someone had said to me, "I've always wanted to try it [fly fishing], but... (fill in the blank: "it looks hard"; "I hear it's really expensive"; "I'd have no idea where to start"....etc., etc.), I could probably afford to fish in New Zealand.

 

My favorite people are the ones who spot me from bridges or walking paths, fishing for bass or bluegills, and who feel compelled to shout, "You know there ain't trout in here, right?" :)

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I've had people say the same thing. "There's not trout in this stream/lake/river" One day walking back to where my car was parked along Forbidden Drive which parallels the Wissahickon Creek in Philly. A guy walking with his family said to me "The last thing I expected to see was someone fly fishing in Philadelphia." Turned out he was visiting his daughter and hadn't even considered bringing his fly rod with him because "where could someone fly fish in Philadelphia."

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I fish a lot of road side ditches and ponds. I've had people stop their car, roll down their window and ask me what the hell I'm fishing for. I love it when a 2 pound bass hits just about that time. It's happened more often than I can remember. I always yell out to them that I'm fishing for sharks, but the bass keep getting in the way.

 

Then I tell them the water is badly polluted and the fish aren't good for eating.

 

There's been a few times I'm pretty sure that warning didn't work, because the fish seem to disappear soon after.

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Naw ... people around here are always fishing with a cane pole. Just because it's a particularly skinny cane pole, they'll still see it the same.

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If you REALLY want to get some strange looks, try fishing with a Tenkara rod.

Joe

 

For real! Even fly fishers give us weird looks!

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I fish a large lake for bass mostly on the fly. I also fish out of a Gheenoe and I'm 6'6" 300lbs. The looks I get flying by bass boats in a canoe on steroids greatly rivals the looks I get fly fishing.

This is how I feel when people are watching me fly fish.

 

LoathsomeTidyAmericanbobtail-size_restri

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If you REALLY want to get some strange looks, try fishing with a Tenkara rod.

Joe

You get even stranger looks when you land a 14"-16" trout, even from the next guy over using his $800 Sage. Most fisherman who equate Tenkara to cane pole fishing have never tried a true Tenkara Rod, just make assumptions.

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You are correct, dadofmolly, in that I've never tried a tenkara rod. You are incorrect that I am making assumptions.

I've tied more different kinds of lures on the end of my cane poles (fiberglass 16' and 18' rods) than I have on any of my other rods. I've fished them with flies, jigs, Rapala types and soft plastic worms and creatures, to mention a few. I love fishing with them ... in the right situations.

 

I've looked at tenkara videos. I've seen the way they're used. I just don't see any advantage over all my other methods.

 

I won't compare them to the spinning or bait caster set-ups, since those are both completely different types of fishing. However, I've used lures from both of those styles with my cane poles.

They don't have the reach or fish fighting capabilities of my cane poles.

They don't have the reach of my fly rods.

 

These aren't assumptions, they're observations.

 

Now, just to clarify ... I do NOT have anything against tenkara or the people who like it. I just don't see any advantage to it for me.

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worse part is when they slow down to watch and stand right in line with your backcast and you politely say could you move a little more and they say we were quiet trying not to disturb you.

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