What Counts as Fly Fishing?

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I’ve seen this query pop up rather a lot this 12 months, and I commend Ross Purnell over at Fly Fisherman Journal for citing at his publication. In a brief submit, Purnell talks about his expertise fishing New Zealand’s South Island, and the way he had to make use of 22-24 foot leaders to make a good presentation to the island’s notoriously cautious fish. In lots of instances, Purnell mentioned he was solely casting just a few toes of fly line together with that lengthy chief.

Which brings us to the query at hand—are these programs designed round lengthy leaders actually fly fishing? A mono rig, for instance, makes use of the load of a heavy nymph to assist in casting, as an alternative of the load of the fly line to ship the fly. That makes it rather more akin to traditional angling than fly angling, if we’re being strict about definitions.

Was Purnell’s expertise in New Zealand actually fly fishing? Or is it a lot totally different than the tight-line crowd who hardly ever, if ever, forged fly line?

“I can inform you that the distinction between the very best fly fishing on this planet, and never fly fishing in any respect appears to be the distinction of some toes of fly line,” Purnell wrote.

That’s a poignant statement.

So, what do you suppose? What constitutes “fly fishing” and does it actually matter?

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