If there is something that I’ve noticed about fly fishing in south-western Oregon, it’s that there are many different ways of approaching the sport. Not only does it have to do with the species of fish that your fishing for, but people in general seem to have varying opinions about how to catch the fish. It seem that fly fishing gear has changed much over the years and right along with it have gone the methods. For instance, on the North Umpqua, there has come a raging debate about whether or not it should be lawful to use a weighted fly in the 33 miles of fly fishing only waters. This has become a heated debate, some vying for the traditionalist approach while others would like nothing better than to just catch fish without fishing for two months just for a strike. Many now days to have turned to using wet flies (nymphs and bead heads) when fishing for large trout in rivers or streams. This enables the fishing enthusiast to be able to reach the fish easier. When I was growing up, I didn’t even know about these types of flies. All I knew was the thrill of seeing a fish roll to take a hold on that fly on the end of your leader, and that seemed to suffice. However, it excites me to know about other avenues of being able to hook into a nice fish and also easier ways for our young anglers to be able to catch their first fish. I guess that in all these different methods, it really comes down to someone wanting that thrill of landing the big one, of seeing that fish rise out of the water with your hook in its mouth. Isn’t that really why we go fishing in the first place? If it takes a new fly rod to experience it or trying a float tube to reach the fish in hike only lakes, were going to try it and give it our best. Then maybe get a picture!!

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 5th, 2008 at 3:07 pm and is filed under At Home. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.