Fly guys don't have a corner on the conservation market. Some of the gear fishermen that I know on the Skagit are the most passionate fishermen on the river. Many do far more than any others towards protecting the river and its fish.
Amen to that.....you shouldn't be surprised to learn a so-called "gear" guide knows his shit and cares about the resource. At the end of the day it isn't about how you fish, it is about following the law, being ethical and doing what you can to protect the resource. For some reason "gear" is a dirty word to a lot of flyfishermen. That makes me laugh. I call quite a few "gear" fishermen and guides my close personal friends and I put "gear" into quotation marks only because some of these guys are some of the most talented flyfishermen around.......they just don't talk about it much. They also, if given the choice, would rather take someone out who will use whatever technique is working best because that makes for a happier client in most cases. Some of them, over beers, will say that they have more hassles with their flyfishing clients than their "gear" clients because, in their experience, flyfishing clients tend to be a giant pain in the ass. "Oh fuck, Mingo is bringing his fairy wands into the boat"......."Jeebus Christ Ming, OK OK you can bring the *** sticks".......:rofl:
Shit, you can team up with a gear guide and have him tease fish within flyrod range, then trade off and both have fun. Fishing is fishing......as long as the people doing it are cool, they bring cold beer and they're fun to hang with....... I could care less how they fish.
Orangeradish, good for you for talking to and learning from that guide. At the end of the day, sportfishermen
all have far more in common than not. We are all fighting the same battles.
A poacher is just a poacher, regardless of techniques used to poach (although cheap grocery store spinning rods do tend to be a favorite weapon of choice:rofl
...and they are NOT fishermen, they are criminals.
