The Impurities Of Fly Fishing Please Just Let Me Fly Fish!

The Fly Fishing Purist…

Is this unconventional?

This article might upset a few fly fishermen… But I guarantee you that is not the point or my intention. All I want to know is, why are the Fly Fishing Purists so concerned with other techniques that are all within the ethics and history of fly fishing? I have been fly fishing my entire life, and many judgmental eyes have been cast my way (Which I will get into more below), even though I have not disobeyed any of the unwritten laws of fly-fishing.

The biggest thing that has been held against me, or so it seems anyway with the stares etc. has been when I fish sinking line, extra fast sinking actually. Now what is wrong with this? I fish dry fly and stealthy nymph techniques as well! I want to catch fish, and I will fish a sinking line on stillwaters when the fish are deep or there is no activity on or close to the surface. So if I want to pull a size 8 Orange Woolly Bugger as fast as I can when it is on the bottom, can I not just do that? It catches fish! I love the challenge of fly fishing, don’t get me wrong, but I love catching fish. So if I want to use fast sinking line and a large orange woolly bugger, I do not see a problem with that?

There are a lot of good aspects of the purist method that many anglers enforce. Such as distances, safe handling of fish, no bait, and the list goes on. I have nothing against the purists, but if you are fishing with a fly rod, fly reel and a fly, it is fly fishing! Please do not look down on anglers like they are cheating when they are using a method described in paragraph 2.

Rant over.