Fly Fishing Guide Learns How to Fish Conventional Gear?!

[@Bonneville_Brute]

The first thing I want to say is that Sam from Fish Tech in the Salt Lake Valley is the freaking man. He remembers my name, and I ask him about pretty much any fishery or aspect of fishing, and he gives me more info than I realized I needed, and it's always a fun conversation! Interestingly enough, Fish Tech is sells conventional gear and cater to pretty much all types of fishing. I wonder if there's a connection there. The folks at Snake River Fly are really great too. I'm sure you know that, because you fish with Brandon sometimes! But I totally know what you are saying. One of my first visits to a fly shop was one in Jackson Wyoming. I was brand spanking new to fly fishing, had no one to show me any spots, techniques, or anything, and I had convinced two of my siblings to come out to Wyoming with me to try to figure it out. I asked some kid who worked there what kind of bugs were hatching (it seemed like a fly-fisher-ish question to ask) and he pretty much snorted like I was some kind of dumbass. Which I was! But holy shit it's really is ingrained in the fly fishing culture to be anything but humble when you know more than someone. The hate for other anglers in this community doesn't stop at conventional fishers. Other fly anglers get as much of if not more hate. Just check out the subreddit r/flyfishingcirclejerk if you wanna see the seedy underbelly of fly fishing. For fresh water fishers they are salty af. My guess is that other anglers = more competition. Also these people have sensitive egos, and fly fishing is what makes them feel smart and special, so it makes them feel better when they bash others for their methods, or any other reason they can come up with. I've noticed that the toxic fly fishing culture seems to be rampant in Colorado. Just based off of drama that I see and hear via reddit, instagram, and fly fishing podcasts. Huge Fly Fisherman is from CO, and I really like his content now days but at first his whole gig was to make fun of other anglers for any and all reasons. His saltiness made him popular on r/flyfishingcirclejerk Sorry for the novel, I guess I've been craving to have this conversation! Haha

[@TheFlyDudes]

Haha I’m stoked you have some good people you’ve encountered! And I agree man. You hit the nail on the head! People forget that we fish because it’s fun and it gets us outside. If people have fun fishing other ways, let em!!

[@devontsuno8022]

OMG! So funny....I love both too. Bass fishing is super fun on conventional tackle. Watching you cast a baitcaster makes me feel better about casting a two handed fly rod. 😂

[@jackk1830]

My man! I've been waiting to hear this from a fly guy for a while. Just got into the fly game after moving to CO for school, grew up musky fishing and tournament bass fishing. Never appreciated fly fishing until I actually started getting bit, now I pick up the fairy wand 90% of the time I trout fish, even if I think I'd be more productive using a spinning rod. However, if I'm on a river I know has big fish, the baitcasting rod is coming out and I'll throw that 4 inch bass jerkbait all day for those 20+ inch fish. Not a lot of people agree that if you want to be the most productive trout angler you can be, you can't ignore the effectiveness of fishing gear.

[@TheKidDebo]

Look into Lake Fork Tackle. Awesome plastics, caught a ton of bass on those plastics paired with a Gamakatsu 5/O hook, either Texas rig it if your in deep water or just standard with 20 Lb mono on a bait caster

[@TheFlyDudes]

Dallas Eastman thanks man! Appreciate the insight!!

[@J2H08]

Just got into fly fishing last year and I think it’s hilarious the stereotype fly fishing has. Hank Patterson videos are spot on!

[@TheFlyDudes]

haha they really are!

[@merrittbarton7016]

Love your videos, and this may be my favorite. I grew up bait and spin fishing for trout in Idaho, and have gotten a ton of crap from fly fisherman. Especially when I lived in Montana. I had a fly fisherman threaten to call Fish and Game on me just because I was using a spinner in a certain "secret" location, even though I was perfectly legal and within all regs. I ultimately learned to fly fish while I was in Montana and I love it but to me bass fishing is a lot more fun. Enjoy the experience and thanks for the entertaining content!

[@TheFlyDudes]

Dude, Idaho is the worst in my opinion when it comes to people thinking everything is a secret. I had my tires slashed once, people threaten to shoot me, and just all around horrible experiences with the fly fishing community up there haha. I have good friends that live there and are awesome, but there's a lot of absolute asses in the state haha. Thanks for the comment, and i hope you enjoy the content as it comes! appreciate the support.

[@kelbylindberg8504]

I grew up fishing conventional as well! Haven’t touched anything conventional since I started fly fishing after my move to Reno 5 years ago. I’m definitely going to start conventional again because I miss the community! I think I’ve seen you fishing the Truckee and at pyramid a couple times and didn’t want to disturb you. I’ll say hi next time 🤘🏻

[@TheFlyDudes]

For sure Kelby! Please do come up and say what's up! We should go fish sometime. thanks for the support and comment!

[@dustytellez1631]

Your thoughts are accurate!

[@TheFlyDudes]

it's sad but I feel it is most peoples experience! Either way, I'm having a great time fishing conventional haha

[@lonewizzard8456]

Used to fish largemouth and striper on gear and also fly rod. Getting bit is getting bit!

[@jayk.2276]

This is so cool to see you learning conventional 😂 i recently taught myself the fly in April. My first time out was a disaster, my dad and his sister were slaying tons of cutties browns and tigers on conventional. Needless to say i didn't catch anything. But my second time i caught tons of quality fish! I don't go to fly shops from what everyone says they don't seem very inviting lol. I just went to cabelas in Farmington and asked an employee what flies i need and he gladly selected me a box of flies that i still fish and are very effective flies. It's a lot of fun, but with conventional you're able to cover so much water and it's fun dead drifting spinners in some nice runs on the weber and a giant 20in brown smacks it!

[@TheFlyDudes]

Haha awesome man! glad you're liking it. And I'm excited to get into it! Glad you're giving fly fishing a chance too man! its a great time!

[@uriel915tx]

About ten years ago I bought a used fly rod from Craigslist and I went to a local fly shop asking about what flys to buy and I basically got ignored and passed around from associate to associate until I basically bought what I thought was cool lol needless to say I sold my rod and it had taken me ten years to try fly fishing again but now with the internet I can look up gear and techniques, honestly if it wasn't for my wife wanting to learn to fly fishing I don't think I would have given fly fishing another try.

[@TheFlyDudes]

Unfortunately, that's the experience that most have. I'm glad you gave it another try and are able to gain access to the information that you need to be successful! thank's for the comment and joining the discussion!

[@calebblaser]

Awesome thing about the Texas rig is that’s it is weedless. Definitely helped me learning because I didn’t get hung up as much and could learn the areas it’s more effective than other techniques. Can’t feel bad out splurging either. Those setups will be with you for a long time.

[@TheFlyDudes]

couldn't agree more! I'm loving them so it was worth it haha.

[@jarrettlandreth285]

Really cool to see your perspective on this, I totally agree with you on the stupid superior attitude that a lot of fly fishermen have, I conventional fished my whole life until college when I switched over to fly fishing primarily, but I never lost the love for using spinning gear, and I’ve never understood the bad rap conventional gets, it’s so much fun and like you said if you want to be a well rounded angler you can’t be a purist!

[@TheFlyDudes]

Completely agree Jarrett! it's silly that there is a stigma around it, but i guess we just get to have all the fun haha

[@DungeeFishing]

Conventional gear gets way too much of a bad wrap from fly anglers. Being versatile and not pinning yourself into one way of fishing is the best thing any angler can do.

[@TheFlyDudes]

Yeah its pretty sad honestly. just a bunch of goobers that are missing out is all! I'm excited to get into the gear side of things a little more. thanks for the comment!

[@repentorperish1386]

I have been trying to get into fly fishing for two years and it has been difficult controling my anger at fly shops. Obviously not all or not everyone but there are certain people that are absolutely disrespectful almost looking down their nose. With that being said everyone i have met on the water has been awesome even when im carrying a spinning setup too.

[@TheFlyDudes]

That's a bummer on the shops, and I feel like that's a common experience, but awesome with your on the water experience! there are awesome people that fly fish and make a point of being kind and respectful to other anglers!

[@repentorperish1386]

@@TheFlyDudes yeah overall ive found a nice inviting communty and i enjoy it. But there are always those few. Thanks for replying ive been watching your vids for a while. Keep it up man

[@TheFlyDudes]

@@repentorperish1386 of course dude! Can't let the bad ones define everyone. And thanks for watching and supporting me on here! appreciate you man!

[@calebblaser]

I enjoy fly fishing. Still a newb at it I’d say but I can genuinely say I haven’t had that great of experience in a shop or talking to someone about it. Makes me not really want to support their store or take part in fly fishing more and more. Wish some people would be as cool as he was.

[@TheFlyDudes]

Yeah man. That's a total shame. Bums be out because i love fly fishing, but makes me excited to be around less negative and rude outdoorsman!

[@socalbassmaster]

Andrew if you want to trade some socal bass fishing on a ranger bass boat for some pryamid lake spots hit me up 🤙

[@TheFlyDudes]

i'm game for that! Shoot me a message on Instagram and lets talk! its @theflydudes on there!

[@socalbassmaster]

I'm a young dude but old skool bro no Instagram for me, if you got FB message or an email hit me up it's just [e-mail]

[@TheFlyDudes]

will do man!

[@jenniferwhite6089]

o just now fish with hand made rods and tackle lures I have made

[@TheFlyDudes]

thats awesome!

[@bigBallaStout69]

So cool seeing you get into conventional gear I just recently bought my first two fly rods after 20 years of conventional fishing and I feel exactly like you do. The people at the fly shops I’ve been to sucked except at the fly shop in Redding. Justin Miller at the fly shop is the man. If you ever want to do some fishing in Sac let me know! Salmon, striper, Shad, sturgeon, bass, bluegill, catfish whatever hmu on Instagram jacob_stout_

[@TheFlyDudes]

Jacob Stout awesome man! Will do!

[@TheFlyDudes]

Jacob Stout also, thanks for the comment and support! Stoked the folks at the fly shop are taking good care of you. I hear they rock!

[@justin3501]

Hey man were you on a AP Bassin video? Starting to seem like it was you now haha

[@TheFlyDudes]

haha yeah man that was me!

[@calebblaser]

What video was it?

[@TheFlyDudes]

@@calebblaser The Maine videos! episode 2 and 3. i edited and shot the first 3 videos in that series!

[@calebblaser]

The Fly Dudes that’s awesome! Haven’t got those yet but I will now!

[@justin3501]

@@TheFlyDudes Haha Nice!

[@uramag7]

i dont like gear guys because usually around here they are throwing stuff for treble hooks for trout... and they tend to always want to keep fish

[@TheFlyDudes]

That’s fair! It’s hard because as fly fisherman, a big part of what we do is conservation, but it’s a little unfair to think that conventional dude’s and ladies don’t care about conservation just because their fishing conventional. I will say that there are for sure more people that fish gear that keep fish and have poor fish handling, but I think a lot of it is ignorance, so if I can make some sort of an impact on both industries, that would be ideal! Just my two cents

[@huntzz21]

This might be the most honest video from a fly fisherman that I have seen in a long time. Maybe even the the most honest. A while back when you were in Idaho I tried to get you to come over to Montana and fish with me on the Missouri River and the lakes on it as well. I’ve since moved to Southern Utah and I’m still landing big fish. I have also since learned to fly fish as well. However I specialize in marabou jig fishing. If you check out my Instagram page: troyadams1964 I’ll let the pics speak for themselves. Most of all the biggest fish on there were caught on marabou jigs. If you would like to learn jig fishing at a level you’ve never seen before get a hold of me. Trust me you are missing out. Where you guide on Pyramid then you know those of us that know what we are doing with a marabou jig are dangerous on big fish. 😁

[@TheFlyDudes]

Haha we'll be in touch troy! I remember that! bummer we couldn't make it happen. I appreciate the comment on the honesty of my video haha, you can tell it is something that has always bothered me. Thanks for the comment and being apart of the discussion!

[@Kianarevision]

\Awesome post! I think you'd enjoy my content too. Keep up the great work!