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

[Philly 0]

I often get weird looks, mainly from fly fishers. Most likely because of my rod, which definitely doesn't look traditional. The worst was one day when I was fishing Ridley Creek. It's stocked, possibly with some wild trout in it's upper stretch. I was fishing a nice set of riffles in the FFO section of the creek. Sitting on a large rock on the bank, dressed in my finest fly fishing clothes. Rubber boots, cut off an old pair of waders, urban camo BDU's, a ratty t-shirt and an equally unwashed Orvis vest. I'd already caught a couple of trout fishing a CDC. I was changing flies and I look up and here's this guy wading down the middle of the stream. It's about 15 feet wide at that point. Dressed to the nines, he could have been on the cover of an Orvis catalog. Tossing a large nymph down stream in front of him. He stopped at the top of the riffles and said to me. "This is a fly fishing only stretch" I held at my fly rod to show him the reel, then he asked if I'd caught anything. I bit my tongue and didn't say to him. "I was until you decided to to wade through the spot I was fishing" He looked at how I was rigged up and the fly I was tying on. I had a thread furled leader. This was back around 2000 when furled leaders were pretty much unknown on the East coast and I was tying on a CDC and Elk which he'd never heard of. "You'll never catch anything with that fly and set up" He continued on his way trying to brain the trout with his big nymph. I waited a couple of minutes as he waded on downstream and started casting again. I was sitting down, another strike against me. On the third cast I hooked a small brown, and made a show of fighting it and netting it. He'd was looking back so I tipped my hat to him.

Don't feel bad, Mike I'm in the same boat. Old habits die hard. Every year the fly shop I frequent had a spring tune-up. The shop's casting instructor would use me as an example of what not to do. I can get off a 50 to 60 foot cast if I have to but it ain't pretty. Sort of like the hippo ballet in "Fantasia"

[RLS 0]

 

 

I think that casting a fly could be compared to a good ballet, a piece of art.

No offense intended ... but comparing fly casting to ballet is like comparing a two years old's first steps to a marathon runner's first win.

Casting can look pretty ... but it takes all of a week to get "good" at it.

I wasn't comparing technique, I was comparing beauty of both when they both are done well.

[Dominecker 0]

 

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!

 

That's not because of the Tenkara rod, it's because of the bare feet, dreadlocked man bun, tie-dyed tshirt, and odor of patchouli. Or at least that's the Tenkara fishermen I see here in the Smokies.

[tjm 0]

" Most likely because of my rod, which definitely doesn't look traditional." "This is a fly fishing only stretch"

Now I'm curios, what is so unusual about your rod?

[Philly 0]

I use single foot spinning guides on all my fly rods, except for the first two which are double foot. I can blame Dale Clemens, since he was the one that suggested it to me. It helped my casting. I've found I can shoot 4 or 5 feet of line with a single haul. Also, I built a couple of long fighting butts for my 8 wgt which eliminated the need to bring an extra spinning rod when I go up to Ontario and carrying two rods with me when I first started salt water fly fishing.

[xvigauge 0]

 

 

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!

 

That's not because of the Tenkara rod, it's because of the bare feet, dreadlocked man bun, tie-dyed tshirt, and odor of patchouli. Or at least that's the Tenkara fishermen I see here in the Smokies.

 

I live and fish here in the Smokies and I have no idea of what you are talking about. You must be making this up or trying very hard at an attempt toward humor, or else you are locked into the 60's. There are quite a few Tenkara rod fisher persons here in these mountains and more and more all the time. Little River Outfitters in Townsend recently held a Tenkara class and it was packed. Tenkara fishing around here now is very common, so common now than even just a few months ago that no one really gives them a second thought much less funny looks.

Joe

[Dominecker 0]

 

 

 

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!

 

That's not because of the Tenkara rod, it's because of the bare feet, dreadlocked man bun, tie-dyed tshirt, and odor of patchouli. Or at least that's the Tenkara fishermen I see here in the Smokies.

 

I live and fish here in the Smokies and I have no idea of what you are talking about. You must be making this up or trying very hard at an attempt toward humor, or else you are locked into the 60's. There are quite a few Tenkara rod fisher persons here in these mountains and more and more all the time. Little River Outfitters in Townsend recently held a Tenkara class and it was packed. Tenkara fishing around here now is very common, so common now than even just a few months ago that no one really gives them a second thought much less funny looks.

Joe

 

Yes, that was mostly an "attempt at humor," which some people seem to lack a sense of, but with a grain of truth to it. Yes, I know what I am talking about, I was born, raised, and have lived and fished constantly in the Smokies for half a century. I see things come and go. And in all honesty, a large majority of the Tenkara fishers I have run into are young, urban, hipster-types from somewhere else that loosely fit that description. I am not saying that in a deprecatory manner, just saying what I've seen. Nothing wrong with them, I'm glad to see them out there fishing instead of doing something else, and most of them I have talked to have been nice guys. They are still very rare, though, at least here on the NC side of the Smokies. I have yet to see a middle-aged, rural local guy fishing Tenkara. I will say that it's not much different from the style of fishing that the really old-timers did when I was a kid, except for the more technologically advanced rods and such. It's a simple style of fishing, and I can see the appeal of it, especially for backpacking into small headwater streams. One thing I have noticed is that some Tenkara proponents seem to be really defensive and condescending to traditional fly fishermen at times.

 

And people probably look at me funny when I'm fishing because I'm ugly and usually have my fly hung in a rhododendron bush.

[xvigauge 0]

 

 

 

 

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!

 

That's not because of the Tenkara rod, it's because of the bare feet, dreadlocked man bun, tie-dyed tshirt, and odor of patchouli. Or at least that's the Tenkara fishermen I see here in the Smokies.

 

I live and fish here in the Smokies and I have no idea of what you are talking about. You must be making this up or trying very hard at an attempt toward humor, or else you are locked into the 60's. There are quite a few Tenkara rod fisher persons here in these mountains and more and more all the time. Little River Outfitters in Townsend recently held a Tenkara class and it was packed. Tenkara fishing around here now is very common, so common now than even just a few months ago that no one really gives them a second thought much less funny looks.

Joe

 

Yes, that was mostly an "attempt at humor," which some people seem to lack a sense of, but with a grain of truth to it. Yes, I know what I am talking about, I was born, raised, and have lived and fished constantly in the Smokies for half a century. I see things come and go. And in all honesty, a large majority of the Tenkara fishers I have run into are young, urban, hipster-types from somewhere else that loosely fit that description. I am not saying that in a deprecatory manner, just saying what I've seen. Nothing wrong with them, I'm glad to see them out there fishing instead of doing something else, and most of them I have talked to have been nice guys. They are still very rare, though, at least here on the NC side of the Smokies. I have yet to see a middle-aged, rural local guy fishing Tenkara. I will say that it's not much different from the style of fishing that the really old-timers did when I was a kid, except for the more technologically advanced rods and such. It's a simple style of fishing, and I can see the appeal of it, especially for backpacking into small headwater streams. One thing I have noticed is that some Tenkara proponents seem to be really defensive and condescending to traditional fly fishermen at times.

 

And people probably look at me funny when I'm fishing because I'm ugly and usually have my fly hung in a rhododendron bush.

 

Now that's funny!

Joe

[tjm 0]

I use single foot spinning guides on all my fly rods, except for the first two which are double foot. I can blame Dale Clemens, since he was the one that suggested it to me. It helped my casting. I've found I can shoot 4 or 5 feet of line with a single haul. Also, I built a couple of long fighting butts for my 8 wgt which eliminated the need to bring an extra spinning rod when I go up to Ontario and carrying two rods with me when I first started salt water fly fishing.

I used single foot ceramic guides on three or four rebuilds with similar results of adding cast feet I think one got me about 10 extra feet of cast, probably added a couple guides to that one over what it came with. They have since been broken or stolen, and I just use the current rods as they came from the factory. Also had two rods that I made butt extensions for but the extensions lived in the spin tackle box mostly. I don't recall any one ever thinking they weren't fly rods. Time and place I guess.

[Philly 0]

That's where my extension butts usually sit. The only time I've really used them is when I first started salt water fly fishing, especially if I was having a really frustrating day. I've used them a couple of time up in Ontario fishing off the dock when the weather was threatening, or the wind was raising 3 or 4 foot waves on the lake. I can get a much longer cast with a 9' rod than I can with my standard 6 to 7 foot spinning rods. Also, should turn my 8 wgt into a two handed rod. Again, something to play with. I think that was the case with the guy in my story. I'm not sure he had a clue. Wading downstream in a narrow creek, tossing a heavy nymph in 2 or 3 feet of water. I just stripped the snake guides off a 4 piece 8 wgt that I brought from Cabela's about 20 years ago and replaced them with single foot spinning guides. Haven't had a chance to use it yet. I'll give it a shot when I head up to the Poconos at the end of the September or if I get down the shore before then.

[The Mad Duck 0]

"I usually don't mind, but I will never forget the guy who parked his truck 15' directly behind me to watch".

 

A Clouser with some nice large eyes makes quite the "clank" when it meets the sheet metal of a vehicle