"You got it bad....", was all it said.
Oh, I knew I had it bad, I just didn't realize how bad. I always fly fished at least a few days out of the year. The impetus was usually a fly stream in the North Carolina mountains, or big bream bed on Lake Okeechobee. Every now and then, if we really got into a school of feeding fish, the fly rod would come out in saltwater.
But now, for some very obvious reasons, I have it bad. "It" is the fly fishing bug, and it is hitting everyone up and down the east coast of the United States. "It" caused me to spend several hundred dollars on a new rod and reel just this week. I e-mailed Sam to tie me a few clousers and deceivers, and I could hear the chuckle coming right through his reply!
I think I first noticed the increased interest in saltwater fly fishing about two years ago. I passed a new, small fly shop in town one Saturday morning and there were at least ten people out in the grass on the side of the building taking lessons. Guides who had always specialized in live bait fishing were adding "fly" to their business cards.
The most recent evidence of the explosion was my recent false albacore trip off of Morehead City, North Carolina. I was used to seeing a lot of guides boats, and invariably one or two of them would have a fly fisherman on board. They were a curiosity more than anything else unless you were on the Florida Keys. Every guide fly fishes on the Keys, always has.
But this was North Carolina; these were offshore guides; this was supposed to be bait fishing country. It is accurate to tell you that literally every boat we saw had one or more fly anglers on board. Granted we were all after the same fish, but it was amazing to see that many clouser minnows flying around at the same time.
I spoke with the Fly Shop manager at Bass Pro Shops in Atlanta this week, the scene of my aforementioned checking account exercise. He saw the same thing that I did. Everyone is getting into fly fishing. The fly shop there is booming, and the array of tackle and equipment is mind boggling. From clothing (you HAVE to look right) to rods, flies to fly tying kits, everything is popular. The manager thinks a lot of fishermen will be seeing fly fishing gifts under the Christmas tree this year. Personally, I hope he is right!
I think the most amazing part, and this is what really has me turned on, is that people are going after fish that are not usually associated with fly fishing. I'm looking for a way to catch every fish in my area on a fly. I'm not sure right now how I can manage that, but I am willing to try.
So my next effort is to work on my boat. I have got to somehow modify my rod holders to accept fly rods. Then I need to find some sinking fly line, say one-hundred fifty feet or so, and a fly that will attract an unseen red snapper or grouper below..... Somebody please tell me this can be done!
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