This is just kind of a me rant but it's a lot of who I am....
I get really tired of all the fly fishing imagery in media and in the world. Everybody seams to think about fly fishing as that movie with that Pitt dude, some guy in tweed chasing trout on some mountain stream. It's funny to me because I hear so many people in the "industry" talk about how we are trying to get away from that image, but everywhere you look that's what you see it's that dude with the trout on every magazine in every ad, it's the super high dollar rod, it's the whatever reel, it's still that elitist mentality even in trout "bums" it's the world of Sage One and gear that cost epic proportions that make you that fly guy!
I've only been into fly fishing for about 5 years, I love it, fly fishing and fly tying has become my life, being on the water has always been! I must admit I've gone goofy about fly fishing I wake up thinking about it I think about it all day and night, be it a fly, a presentation, a cast, or a fish, But I don't think I would have gotten this way if I had followed the media image of fly fishing.
I got to give mad props to Brandon Robinson check him out at
One Bug is Fake got the pleasure of hanging out with him about 3 years ago and we have become great friends (dude we need to fish), He introduced me to the rod that made me a glass geek
The Eagle Claw Featherlight, he along with others in our "crew" taught me that fly fishing wasn't just about the "magazine life" of a fly fisher. We aren't gear snobs, the dude with the $1000 rig fishes right next to the dude with the $50 rig, we share flies and stories and if it takes a fly we love to catch it!!
Now from here out this is where I came into my place in the fly world. I grew up and still reside in Texas so trout is not a forefront fish here anyway because we are warm water. We naturally have bass, sunfish, crappie, gar, and catfish, we are also blessed with a healthy CARP and RIO population in parts LOVE THEM!!! Still following the slight reminisce of the Fly Fisher image in my head I knew I had to chase trout, so I headed to the Guad south of Canyon Lake in winter (fyi voted one of the top 100 trout fisheries) tied on a hopper dropper rig and caught my first trout on the fly a little 10 inch stocker yea (insert sarcasm) fished several more time catching a few trout besting around 14-15 inches, and I've come to conclusion, it's something to do when it get's cold and you're tired of tying flies but it's not the fuel for my fly! I'm just not that impressed, they don't hit like a big bass hits a hair bug, they aren't near as sexy as a Rio, they wont make your drag scream and show you backing like a carp! I've asked many people why trout to which I got varied answers from the hunt and they're finicky, to the take, the fight and the beauty, yeah my warm waters do all that.
So for me I will always be a warmwater junkie, I'm always open to somebody to prove me wrong but trout just aren't all that. I love salt it's great to chase reds, poon, snook, and specks on the flats but I love my Texas rivers and all the wonder fish hiding in the pockets ,eddys, brush piles, and rocks along the way!
And a quick note to the "industry" if you want to change your image try changing your focus, show people that there are more fish than trout and you don't have to have a $1000 rig...... just saying.
Stay Fly, Be Blessed, See you on the water,
Gabe
