I have actually seen this concern turn up a lot this year, and I applaud Ross Purnell over at Fly Fisherman Magazine for raising at his publication. In a brief post, Purnell discusses his experience fishing New Zealand’s South Island, and how he needed to utilize 22-24 foot leaders to make a good discussion to the island’s infamously careful fish. In a lot of cases, Purnell stated he was just casting a couple of feet of fly line in addition to that long leader.
Which brings us to the concern at hand– are these systems developed around long leaders truly fly fishing? A mono rig, for instance, utilizes the weight of a heavy nymph to assist in casting, rather of the weight of the fly line to provide the fly. That makes it far more similar to traditional fishing than fly angling, if we’re being stringent about meanings.
Was Purnell’s experience in New Zealand truly fly fishing? Or is it much various than the tight-line crowd who seldom, if ever, cast fly line?
” I can inform you that the distinction in between the very best fly fishing on the planet, and not fly fishing at all appears to be the distinction of a couple of feet of fly line,” Purnell composed.
That’s a poignant observation.
So, what do you believe? What makes up “fly fishing” and does it truly matter?
