By Joe Solmo

Some conventional anglers look at fly fishing like some complicated ballet, with the brightly colored flyline dancing through the air landing gently on the water, and in a way it is. It looks like a lot of work and can be very expensive, if you’re the type of person who needs all the best gear. Most traditional bait shops only have a small selection of flies and maybe a combo rod and reel available. So why would someone want to fly fish?

                If you asked a hundred fly fisherman, you would get a hundred different answers, but there are a few key points I think most would agree on. Having been a conventional fisherman most of my life, I gave fly fishing a try a few years ago, and pardon the pun, I was hooked.

                The connection I felt through the line from the very first fish I caught was so vibrant compared to conventional tackle. I had a dry fly so I saw it rise and suck in the fly at the surface. I quickly set the hook and began to strip it in. Now, I will confess I was practicing my casting in a bluegill pond and it wasn’t a monster trout, but it felt so alive. Every muscle twitch of that fish reached me through that rod and flyline. Once I landed it and released the fish, I realized I had been holding my breath in my excitement of my first fish on a fly. I can tell you that excitement hasn’t gone away, and its been dozens of fish later.

                Personal experience aside, there are other reasons to fly fish. Sometimes the best spots are hard to reach, they are places you wouldn’t think to fish with conventional tackle. Low water can make it hard to conventional fish, but most of the time isn’t an issue with dry flies. You can hike up many of the streams, and try out areas that are not over fished. Here in the Adirondacks, we have native brook trout streams that hardly ever see a hook in them.

                Any fly fisherman will tell you it’s a workout. Being active outdoors draws a lot of fisherman out of the house to begin with, the workout is an added bonus. Casting that rod over and over works your arm and shoulder pretty good. Not to mention fighting the current if you are wading in the stream you are fishing, or the hike just to get to the best spots along the river. Sometimes the time taken to find that spot is half the fun, exploring along the bank looking for that deep pool, or overhang where the fish are likely to hide.

                Fly fishing seems more cerebral to me. There is a lot of thought into which fly to choose, what color and what size depending on so many factors. Weather, time of day, time of year, really affect what the fish are feeding on. Now, I know conventional fishing is more than just drowning worms, and you can get into different lures for different situations, but fly fishing is so much more involved when you start getting into the entomology. Knowing which insects are hatching, can really make or break a trip to the trout stream. Understanding the life cycle of mayflies, caddis flies, and the like is imperative to a good fishing trip. Most fly shops will know what is in their local area, some offer online hatch charts, if you are unsure.

                Lastly, any fly fisherman should agree upon this one, it’s fun. Fishing is fun to begin with, and add in all the factors that go into fly fishing, like the flies and the casting techniques like roll casts, and you will not get as bored as you would staring at a bobber on a pond. Don’t get me wrong, some days I still watch my bobber float around, but fly fishing is easily eighty percent of my fishing time now.

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