When someone finds out you’re a fly fisherman, there’s usually an automatic response: trout. I suppose it’s understandable. The sport is most often portrayed in the context of someone fishing for trout of various kinds. Maybe they grew up in an area where it’s common to see fly fishermen waiving their long rods through the air, trying to put their flies in just the right spot in order to fool a rising trout. Some people grow up in places like that. Some people are lucky.
Most of us didn’t, though. After the great movie, A River Runs Through It, based on a great small novella by writer Norman McLean, came out, more people than ever have been exposed to fly fishing. But once again, for trout, and in Montana of all places. Likely, most of us have never been to Montana.
The good news is, everyone is allowed to fly fish for any kind of fish that swims, in any kind of water, anywhere in the world! Amazing. The secret is out. You can buy a fly rod, some fly line, leaders, tippet material and some flies and head out to fish for Bonefish in the Bahamas. You can fish for Bluegill in your local farm pond here in Kentucky. You can even fly fish for Striped Bass off the coast of Long Island. It’s all allowed. It’s all legal.
Having the right equipment is the key, and a little knowledge about your chosen prey. Talk to your local fly tackle expert and let them know what you’d like to catch and you’re in for a whole lot of fun. If you don’t live in trout country, worry not. Fly fishing is for you too.
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