Why I Don't Fly Fish Anymore

          About 15 years ago the group of guys I fish with changed the way we fish from using bait 100% of the time to using artifical baits about 70% of the time. A friend of mine,Clay (not his real name) and I decided to step it up a knotch and try fly fishing. We went to the fly shop and they recommended a Cortland 8 weight combo as a good starter rod and reel. We each bought a video and a book on fly casting and went home to look at them. We than went to the high school football field to practice our casting. After a week of heckling from the kids on the football field asking us what we are fishing for or did you catch anything we went on our 1st flyfishing adventure. Long Island has 2 world class trout streams, the Connetquot and Nissequogue Rivers both are small streams. After stoping by the flyshop for flies we headed to the Connetquot River. To our supprise we each landed about 6 trout. We were fishing these rivers every other week. We had enough ability to cast accross these streams and to make roll casts in tight spaces. We started camping upstate NY to fish the Willowemoc River. Over the next few years we had enough success fishing these small streams that we considered ourselves fly fishermen. One year we decided to fish the Deleware river for walleye, smallmouth and stripers. It was pathetic to watch us. The boulders were well past our casting range and we were down right dangerous with a weighted fly.
             We decided  to seek help so we joined a fly fishing club. When we walked in everyone was dressed in Izod Polos, Dockers and Gucci loafers. Clay turns to me and wispers" yuppies ". The next couple of months they had seminars by the northeasts finest fly fishermen and no casting clinics as promised.  The club was having a camping trip to the Housatonic River in Connecticut for smallmouth bass and the president of the club said there would be casting and   fly  selection clinics. Clay and I got to the campground late in the afternoon because we both had work. We set up my Sears Hillary tent got a fire going made dinner and called it a night. We woke up the next morning looked out accross the camp ground and saw a sea of LL Bean tents. We cooked breakfast headed to the showers and when we returned the campground was empty except for the new members. We fished the river near the camp ground using streamers and caught about a dozen small smallmouths of a pound or less. When the officers of the club returned at dinner time Clay and I asked them what happened to the clinics. The response from the vice president was; what do you want us to do, show you our secret spots. We made dinner and were having a few brews when one of the members came over to us and started to look at our Cortland Rods and asked us if we actually caught fish with these rods. We packed up our gear early the next morning making sure we made a lot of noise and never went to another club meeting. I guess you needed high end fly rods and camping gear to be accepted by this club.
           Clay and I fished small streams for the next few years. Clay always liked to drink and gamble and he got worse over the years. His drinking got unbearable when we took a 5 day fishing trip to Florida and all he wanted to do was drink and when he could't drink he was in a foul mood. 10 years ago he stoped fishing with the guys and no one has heard from him since. I hope he got help. The other people I fish with don't fly fish and I have not picked up a fly rod in 10 years. I never learned how to make long casts or how to cast weighted flys. I wanted to get into salty flyrodding but if I can't cast a weighted fly I would be wasting my money. I got into light tackle fishing instead and I don't really miss fly fishing anymore.
Now that I bored you to death;
Tight Lines