Underground Opinion: Fly Fishing Competitions a Scourge?
By Tom Chandler on Aug 30, 2006 in Fly Fishing, Opinion
In the grips of insomnia, I stumbled on a late-night broadcast of Fly Fishing Masters, a competitive fly fishing show on OLN. I couldn’t turn it off.
It’d be easy to batter the show given my thoughts about the value of human v. human competition in a sport where we’re already competing with the fish (and what that typically means to the fish).
Still, I found myself drawn into the program, fascinated more by the group dynamics than the fishing. Competition only rarely brings out the nobility in human beings, and at times, the Fly Fishing “Masters” weren’t immune to a little kvetching.
At one point, a stunningly egotistical angler kept up a running commentary on his fishing partner’s faults when the guy finally did what any sane person would have done hours prior - he told him to shut up.
Ahh. It’s the “Real World.”
And therein lies the attraction; it’s more a fly fishing “reality” show - with all the non-reality implied - than fishing competition. This episode of “Real World: Spring Creek” was fraught with lost and foul-hooked fish, and I’ll never forget the disappointment dripping from an angler’s voice when his first fish (counted as part of their total) was shorter than hoped.
For the record, reducing a small victory to the class of a “disappointment” stuns a little. The day I do I start doing that is the day I’ll begin a new life pursuing line-class world records - or find some other way to externally validate my fishing experience.
Is bass fishing our future?
To see the real-world implications of fishing competitions, you don’t have to look any farther afield than bass fishing, where the very sport has been redefined by the competitions that dominate it. Today’s bass fisher isn’t really fishing if he’s not competing (or getting ready to), and the marketing juggernaut has wholly rolled over what used to be an enjoyable pasttime.
Making matters worse are the bigger, televised competitions, where a bass angler’s airtime is determined not by the fish he catches, but the antics they launch into after landing one. Unpretty stuff.
And then there are the even darker faces of fishing competition; practices like cheating, and what I’d politely call an “overfocus” on competition. Or even the explosion of techniques like “Czech nymphing” - a competitive mainstay probably best practiced with a few feet of line tied off the tip of a 12′ crappie pole - that’s about as much fun as sipping paint thinner.
It is what it is.
It would be easy to call for a general mourning among the populace (or even an airstrike), but to keep it all in focus, we’re talking about a made-for-tv competition involving 16 anglers hand-picked by the producers of the show. A little Google research reveals this competition has shrunk instead of grown, so I’m guessing it’s not exactly taking the fly fishing world by storm.
Still, I’d hate to see largely social club outings replaced with club competitions, and what a fly fisher locked in the grip of competition might be willing to do a river - and the non-competitors who just want to fish.
Other Rumblings.
Interestingly, I wrote this post and then went on a search for others, and I found a couple of recent links about competitive fly fishing. One at Ass Hooked Whitey, and another at a new (and slightly angst-ridden) blog titled Musings of a Trout Bum.
So it’s time for the Undergrounders to be heard. Is there more competition in fly fishing’s future? And are you good, bad, or indifferent…?
rriver | Aug 30, 2006 | Reply
I have real mixed feelings about this. Thomas McGuane in Longest Silence: A Life in Fishing talks about this a little bit. He doesn’t believe in competitive fishing, but he does believe in competence, as do I. He likens it to an expert marksman who can’t hit a target. How can he or she be an expert? The same if you can’t catch fish, but then these things have to be tempered. Losing a fish does not bother me, especially if I had it on long enough to see it. I have many “ex” fishing partners because the loss of a fish was on the level of the loss of a limb.
When I do poorly, like say last night when I probably rose 25 or so fish, including 3 or 4 steelhead on a dry and managed to land nothing, did I break my bamboo rod into chop sticks? No, I went home and read a book on fly tying. Tonight I hope to do better. There is always tomorrow. Well, hopefully.
The fly fishing master’s has it about right. To qualify you have to have great casting skills, before you can even fish. They don’t resort to “Czech nymphing” or some other horrible thing. It is great to watch how the best approach it.
Bass fishing is a bit different. I hope before Michael Iaconelli becomes the norm, someone does the right thing and goes John Wayne on him. It’s a bass for kris sakes.
Many of us come to fly fishing from different paths. I started out drift fishing, and in a couple of years on the river, you can learn just about everything there is to know. After a year of about 60 salmon, and 200 or so adult steelhead, I started fly fishing. I don’t catch anywhere near those numbers of big fish anymore, and I don’t care. I’m a much better fisherman, and fly fishing is a sport you can never really master. It’s a little more complicated than whether you should use a red or pink corkie.
To the average angler, it is catch a fish at any cost, and most just don’t understand. When people ask me why I switched to fly fishing, I ask them if they read. No matter what the answer, I explain that great fishing literature is either about fly fishing, or big game fishing. There is a reason for this: Skill.
I don’t begrudge other people’s choice of fishing, only that they understand their choice in the scheme of things.
- rriver
Capt Gordon | Aug 30, 2006 | Reply
Actually the only thing you need to be a good big game fisherman is a lot of money. no skill involved really. you should see the moe’s that do it around here. all they have is more dollars than sense. flyfishing does take skill however and in the immortal words of the immortal Chatham;”The quality of the fishing improves considerably the more difficult it becomes.” (or something like that).
I too dislike fishing as competition and avoid it all costs. I have other outlets for my competitive fires, like basketball and etc like that (I am a coach and played in HS and college etc). Fishing is to get away from that for me.
Tom Chandler | Aug 30, 2006 | Reply
@ rriver: Thanks for the thoughtful post. I think this edition of Fly Fishing Masters has done away with the casting competition. It’s essentially a made-for-TV competition with hand-picked competitors. So far they’ve held their competitions on private water, but I wonder how well received competitions would be on public water?
In one sense, I think fly fishing isn’t an end result, but more an immersion in an often complex process. Adding competition to it emphasises the end result, which isn’t the point at all…
@ Captain Gordon - so good to have you here! Love the Chatham quote, and in the context of competition, let me add one of my favorite McGuane quotes (I used it at the top of my essay “Invasion of the Body Counters“): “What was once a trout – cold, hard, spotted, and beautiful – becomes ‘Number Seven.’”
Pretty much sums up most of my aversion to competitions. And I have to admit that I wonder what some of the “big game” competitions really prove. I mean, aren’t the anglers hiring boats and captains, who then put them on fish?
Heddon17 | Aug 30, 2006 | Reply
I have a real adversion to competitive fishing. To me it just isn’t fishing and is not what fishing is all about.
The competitive aspect of Bass fishing is the worst, as those so-called “professional anglers” act like clowns out there and they are playing for the camera and their ‘fans’ more than anything so it’s hard to take any of them seriously.
You have to wonder just how good these guys would be without all that high-tech gear in their 30K boats, etc? My take is that these guys are those super competitive types who couldn’t cut it in other sports so they have taken up competitive bass fishing instead.
I can’t for the life of me figure out who would even want to attend something as ridiculous as the final weigh in of the BassMasters Classic? The way those guys showboat and grandstand showing off their bass is just pathetic. I mean it’s a freaking bass. It’s not as if they are holding up the Superbowl trophy.
You also have to wonder just how many of those bass actually survive the whole ordeal from being put in those cramped livewells to being taken out, weighed, then have some guy hold them for a long period of time so all the folks in the stands can cheer?
Yeah they claim to release all the fish after the final weigh in, etc. but how many of them die later? Probably more than they are willing to admit.
The Big Game competitions are not much better. All they’re really doing is trolling and how skilled of an angler does it take to do that?
Brian
Pete | Aug 31, 2006 | Reply
I love fly fishing, and prefer it to every other form of fishing, but practicing it does not make one the superior angler by any means.
Two of the best anglers I know–without a doubt–have never picked up a fly rod. They have a well-honed and time-tested ability to understand the nature of fish, to understand fish habitat and the nature of tides, conditions etc., to figure out where fish are going to be, and to then actually FIND them.
Competitive bass fishing? Say what you want about the NASCAR-ization of the sport, or the way they use heavy test to yank the fish into the boat within seconds of hooking it, but those guys got skills. The highest level guys can do things with a baitcaster that are ridiculous–and they, too, can figure out where to find fish, by necessity, anywhere.
Big Game Fishing–big money is really important to be a part of it, but it’s all really based on the skills of the captain and mates. It’s a total team sport, with success depending on a ton of factors. (To me, the ultimate team sport in fishing is actually flats fishing.)
That said, having participated in a few offshore tournaments, the game changes when a fish is viewed primarily as a money maker. Cash, plus the boost in reputation and prestige that comes with winning, can make people do and say some pretty ugly things. But there’s a huge adrenaline rush in being involved, too.
What was my point here again? Oh, fly fishing–I love it, love it, love it–but don’t want to contribute to the elitism of it by dissing the skill sets of guys who don’t wave the long rod.
And fly fishermen do not have exclusive domain over “soulful” fishing either. I know plenty of fly guys who are type-A number conscious jerks, and I know plenty of spin fishermen who do it just for the “bond with nature” experience.
Bamboo Addict | Aug 31, 2006 | Reply
My 2 cents, is the big companys are doing anything to get the money back into fly fishing. They had a hay day after the River Runs Through It came out. I have done one fishing contest on the Rogue here, for the club and will never do it again, lucky for me it was a one fly event and the two guys I had lost there fly right off and said thats good now we can have fun and just fish. The closest I want to get to it is to try and get a fish out from under a bush with a trick cast when TC has already tryed. (most times I end up tying on a new fly). It use to be easyer but he has gotten to be a damn good caster.
David
Heddon17 | Aug 31, 2006 | Reply
Funny you don’t hear much about the famous one-fly contest in Jackson Hole anymore. I guess the popularity of that event has faded?
Maybe it’s been overstaged by the World Flyfishing Championship?
Pete,
Agree on that big-game fishing is a definite team sport. The actual angling method may be the least important factor in overall success. The money factor unfortunately, can make those folks do and say ugly things.
Flats fishing may be the ultimate saltwater challenge no matter what type of method is used.
There are definitely numbers obsessed, Type A jerks in every form of angling including fly fishing. These are people I would not want to fish with.
Brian
Tom Chandler | Aug 31, 2006 | Reply
Wow. Some pretty strong feelings.
As for me, I’ve got nothing against bass fishermen. Hell, I did that a lot. The best are extremely skilled. My problem is the way competition has overwhelmed the sport; suddenly the emphasis is on faster motors and more extreme fishing tactics, and even club competitions have become cutthroat. Where’s the fun in that?
Of course, my big fear is that we’ll suddenly start seeing fly fishing club competitions on public water. Large reservoirs can absorb a lot of bass fishing competitors, but you can guess what will happen when two dozen competitors flood the Upper Sac and try to co-exist with those not competing.
“Friction” would be the nicest word for it, and other words would include “emergency room,” “911″, etc…
Ian | Aug 31, 2006 | Reply
I’m not so sure we have to be worried with competitions taking over our sport. There aren’t enough ad dollars to keep most fly fishing TV shows on the air, so I don’t think we have to worry too much about this taking off. Thankfully we’re a relatively small group of folks so big sponsors like auto manufacturers, beer, and sodas will pass. Manufacturers of fly tackle don’t seem to be flush with extra cash.
That said, I don’t relish the idea of competitions. Don’t remember who said it, but even worse than a pretty fish turning into “number seven”, it now takes on the same role as a baseball or football, the instrument of competition.
In the interest of full disclosure I guide for a living, over 150 days each year, so I must admit that fish are more than pretty animals to me and each fish that comes to hand lets me know the day is going better than it was a few minutes ago. However, I try to instill the concept of “the experience” and avoid a numbers game. My first priority after my anglers’ safety is for them to have a good time regardless of the weather, water conditions, or what the fish are doing. After that I want them to learn something, whether it’s becoming a better angler or learning something about the river’s environment or history. Along the way we miss some fish, hook some fish, and even get fish to hand.
Capt Gordon | Aug 31, 2006 | Reply
Big Game Fishing = trooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooollllllllllllllllllllliiiiiiiiinnnnng
…onomotopeia
Tom Chandler | Aug 31, 2006 | Reply
Extra points to Gordon for a literary reference.
And I admit to having zero understanding about why someone would troll a teaser for hours, and - once the fish is in a frenzy - cast an awkward fly 20′ to the fish, and then call it fly fishing.
Pete | Aug 31, 2006 | Reply
Hey Tom,
My feelings are not as strong as written tone might convey. That’s the problem with dashing off comments, sometimes it reads a lot stronger than it was typed. I’m an amiable guy! But I gotta say,possibly 20 of the most exciting seconds in my fly fishing pursuits came when I cast to a HOT sailfish that came blasting into our hookless teaser spread. Knee-knocking adrenaline. It’s one of my favorite fishing memories, and I flubbed the hookset!Is it fly fishing in the purest sense? Umm…probably not. But it’s still pretty wild.
Heddon17 | Aug 31, 2006 | Reply
Pyramid Lake near Reno sees its share of Fly Fishing Club competitions disquised as “fishouts”. Most of these clubs are from the SF Bay area or Sacramento, etc.
There are also several fishing derbies at Pyramid Lake every year too. I don’t think many fly anglers participate in the derbies since they are geared towards the lure trolling crowd.
The two public boat launching ramps there can remind one of the Dunkirk evac in WWII when one of these derbies is going on :-).
Pyramid Lake is a pretty large body of water that can absorb a lot of anglers so getting away from the crowds during these derbies isn’t too difficult.
That said, I can’t imagine that competitive flyfishing would be any fun since once you introduce money, prizes and competition into the equation, it can make folks say and do ugly things.
Fortunately the fly fishing competitions and club outings disquised as such, seem to be taking place on larger bodies of water that are capable of absorbing plenty of anglers so I doubt we’ll see anything like this on the Upper Sac.
Maybe the next topic of discussion could be…..
“Would you spend $700 for a new pair of waders?”
The latest and greatest model of Simms waders for ‘07 is due to hit the market pretty soon and the price tag is $700.
That is no joke.
Brian
kbarton10 | Sep 7, 2006 | Reply
Fly Fishermen just arn’t that photogenic, so the live “World Series of Fhysshing with an Angle” will sink somewhere south of Maury Povich in the TV ratings.
Fly fishermen are equal parts religious zealot, foul smelling lout, and enviromental hippy …and the idle banter that is likely to color the experience for the viewing public is unfit for the airwaves.
“Well, Bob…I saw that big sumbitch sipping a para-lepto-phlee-badee cana-densis, so I knotted up a number sixteen puce para-emerger, and ripped his lipz off.”
The only possible salvation for the competitive side of the sport, would be a guest appearance on Queer Eye for the Fly Guy, or some such concoction.
Methinks I would rather see two preachers attempt to summon Jesu Christo, with the loser being escorted unto the fiery depths of Hades.
coloradocaster | Jan 20, 2007 | Reply
As for me i am a huge fly fisherman that loves the time on the river. I would actually like to see more of the competitions on TV, over dominos or darts, or any other boring crap that is on TV anymore. I dont see fly fishing getting to be like bass or big game fishing. those types of fishing have always attracted the competitive fisherman. As for me and the people i know that fly fish, fly fish for the relaxation and the peace of being on the river and that competition of you and that fish you see slurrping on the surface at that size 24 beatis. I do wish that there was more on TV because i enjoy watching it when im not on the river. But i do think they should just do an individual competition versus the dual. Everyone has their style and that should be the competition aspect.