During winter, I find myself looking at my collection of gear (or junk, as most of our wives like to call it). Often, a few reoccurring contradicting thoughts go through my head: Wow, I have a lot of stuff. Do I really need all this? You know, I probably need some new gear. Some people are minimalists. I like to think I’m that way, too, except when it comes to my gear.
What caught my eye this time were the spinning and baitcasting rods. Did I even use them once this year? I picked one up and dust rolled off. Well, I guess that answers my question.
Like so many other anglers, my first true love was bass fishing. I was initially a googan-squad dude. I loved ripping lips of bass at farm ponds (still do), but that was the only thing I thought fishing was. Once the dream of owning a boat entered my mind, I soon learned that buying one wasn’t quite in the cards, so the farm ponds lost their draw. I turned to fly fishing to challenge myself and to open myself up to new opportunities. I haven’t looked back.
I sometimes wonder, am I a fly snob? Do I have some superiority thing over conventional fishermen? Does catching a fish only matter if it’s on a fly rod?
I may be a fly snob to a degree, but I never look at someone who is conventional fishing and think down upon them—I am just happy to see others fishing. But I do look down upon my conventional rods, thinking I should always grab a fly rod instead. It seems more natural in my hand, and I feel more engaged with the rod.
To most, fishing is fishing, except if you are a fisherman. I describe myself as a fly fisherman more than a fisherman. We often put ourselves in these groups/clubs, thinking how we are better than other groups/clubs. But at the end of the day, we are all trying to put bigger fish and more fish in the net, regardless of how we angle our dangle.
So yeah, I may be biased towards fly fishing. And yeah, I need to pick up the conventional gear occasionally. I have met snobs in every type of fishing (more fly fishermen than anyone else), so snobs are everywhere. I will just make it my goal never to become a full-fledged snob.
