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Fly Tying
DarrellP

How many fly fish only?

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I admit I love to fish with plastic worms for Bass but only use flies for Trout or Panfish.  I use flies and some conventional gear both for Salmon.  How about you guys?

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I've been pretty much fly only for 58 years.  The only time I use spin tackle is to help in youth events.

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Due to some physical issues my stream fly fishing days are not happening. But for the last 59 years fly fishing was my predominate fishing activity. However, I never hesitated to use conventional or spinning tackle in the salt when conditions made working a fly rod virtually impossible. Just being there was all that mattered...and I would never look down my nose at anyone who fished any way they enjoyed the sport.

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I fly fish 90% of the time but will resort to spinning gear when jigging deep for walleye and such.  

 

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3 minutes ago, robow7 said:

I fly fish 90% of the time but will resort to spinning gear when jigging deep for walleye and such.  

 

Same here and it’s hard to ice fish with a fly rod. Though I do use some beaded nymphs through the ice. 

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I fly fish most of the time that includes warm water, cold water and salt water.  I still use my spinning gear in certain conditions or locations.  One when I go to a lodge in NE Ontario where one of the target fish are walleyes.  They're usually in 20 to 25 feet of water and it's just a PITA to dredge flies in water that deep. In almost 30 years of going to the lodge I've caught 4 small walleyes, all about 14 inches with my fly rod, and they were hanging around beaver lodges.   I'll also use either a jig tipped with a nightcrawler or a lure to see if there any smallies in the coves that we pull into.  If they're around I switch over to the fly rod. 

Saltwater, if I'm after stripers or blues I use the fly rod.  I've tried dredging the bottom in 15 feet of water for flounder, but all I've caught are small sea robins and black sea bass.  

In PA you can fish more than one rod at a time.  I'll put a minnow under a bobber and let it sit while I fly fish.  If the bobber goes under I'll reel in whatever is on the other end.

If it's really windy, I'll give fly fishing a try, but will switch to spinning tackle if the fly fishing becomes work rather than fun.

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I fly fish 95% of the time, occasionally I'll use a spinning rod when I'm out in the boat on the lake with my nephews and/or brothers. 

I do keep a fly rod as well as a small spin rod in my car at all times, in case of emergencies.  Nearly all the time the emergency involves the fly rod.  

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I fly fish exclusively while wading for cold or warm water fish. For all other fishing, river, lake, salt I use fly and spinning gear interchangeably. I use whatever I feel will catch fish better than the other. 
 

I would guess a majority of those who fly fish only are only trout fisherman. I fish for anything and everything from catfish, carp, crappie, perch, bass, walleye, stripers, flounder, black drum, shad, sunnies and trout. Trout being my least favorite because its the longest drive, the rules are incredibly complicated for a simpleton and the fish are small. Not only will I pick the gear that gives me the bet chance to catch fish, I fish for the species that give me the best chance to catch at the time I’m going fishing. 

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20 minutes ago, SalarMan said:

 I would never look down my nose at anyone who fished any way they enjoyed the sport.

I don't either. I just don't enjoy some forms of fishing as much as I do others.

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I've been 99% fly rod only for the past 3 years.  I found it was too easy to give up on the fly rod in adverse conditions (especially windy days in the salt).  And, as a result, I felt I wasn't improving as much as I could with fly gear.  So...the spinning rods began collecting dust. 

As my skill with the fly have improved, I just don't see a reason to even consider spinning gear anymore.  I landed 45 species, ranging from Bantam Sunfish and Brook Trout to Grass Carp and Tiger Muskie, on the fly last year.  And I'm shooting for 50+ species this year (9 so far).

I do keep the spinning gear maintained for when friends visit though.

Chris

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i fly fish about 40% of my fishing time, but when using spinning gear    i mostly use jigs and heavy streamers that i have tied

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i used to fish with hot dogs and corn for bullheads at the family camp on glen echo lake when i was 5 years old  😀 but now its 100% fly fish

i dont disparage anybody who fishes differently. different strokes for different folks

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About 75% fly fishing.  I like getting hits.  I don't particularly care what I'm catching, as long as something's biting, I'm happy.  I find that fly fishing gets more hits than any other method.

But, once in a while, I'm specifically going after bass. Then I'm using bait casting and spinning gear.

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Never made a conscious decision about it, but I don't think I have fished with a baitcaster rod in at least 10 years.  I do have one standing in the corner of my tying room that is ready to go, but I just never pick it up anymore.

I made the switch to fishing with a fly rod due to a bad case of tennis elbow.  Trying to do a hook set with a regular bass rod was extremely painful, but I could do a strip set while fly fishing without an issue.   I think it took 6 months or more for my elbow to heal and by that point I was comfortable using a fly rod and never went back to convention rods.

 

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