I don't always Euro-nymph, but when I do, it's always with fresh greenheart, horsehair and catgut.

"Bamboozle gets it..."

oh yes he does

NCFisher, we don't do regulatory/political/advocacy debates here. I just told you the history. Of course there are various exceptions that prove the rule. Just remember that "prove the rule" is the important part of that truism.

The method you commented about is fishing with a fly. A fiberglass fly rod can be used.
Some people like to do it, some don't. Some people call it fly fishing. Some don't, and precious few did during the fiberglass fly rod heyday. The approval or disapproval of others is completely irrelevant except in the regulatory realm. There are no do-overs of regulatory public hearings and decisions made half a century ago. Today, if someone is fishing effectively, someone else is either too busy taking a nap or fishing in their preferred way to be judgmental about it. All the comments here are fish as you like and call it what you want. Judgmental points/approval/disapproval points that might affect regulations-- that is a different dispute that would be aired at local regulatory hearings, not here. One side "wins" at any one hearing, but here, there is no winner nor need to have one. FFR, and this forum in particular, focus on fiberglass fly rods and the fishing done with them, so a method in which a glass fly rod is used is of interest regardless of who calls it what.

There is no one period of history we "have to" adhere to. Angling history informs the present as we choose and learn from it. Naturally, though, and in the topic title of the post, as well as FFR, the focus is on fiberglass rods, roughly 1950 to the early 1980s, and now in resurgence. Thus the history given focused on the heyday.

Made me look. And yes - to my surprise - that is now NC’s regulation on the Davidson and other waters that, for 30 years, I’ve internalized as “fly fishing only, catch and release.” And those waters were formerly FFO, C&R; somewhere I’ve got a photo of the sign, and just found it reproduced in a 2007 book. And sometime since then, I called the sign to the attention of someone with a full stringer, and know it was as I remember.

No info why the change was made, but I understand a number of my state’s classification changes have been made in part because of dwindling resources for enforcement and other purposes, and wouldn’t be surprised if they just didn’t want to spend time and money defending their regulation (which as I recall, referred to a fly line).

I’m sure the new regulation makes it easier to establish a violation in court, don’t I view the change as a good development for the resource.

Tailwater trout are so difficult to catch because they don't have to move to feed.
Tailwaters are profuse in tiny midges that make up 70% of the biomass in the tailwater.
Euronymphing works because you're snagging trout that don't have to move to feed.

That's not exactly my technique, for slow deep runs I'll tight-line a midge dropper below a split shot and otter's milking egg.
And I've snagged my share.


I was relaying a tale to Tom this morning that describes why I'd rather hunt out BWO water.
(we weren't discussing this topic, but screwdrivers, inspection microscopes and big trout)
This was a great BWO hatch, and a winter of solid clear flow like we'll probably never see again
because of Texas growth and groundwater depletion.



I actually sight-fished this buck. BWOs were clouding around me. He was slowly gliding up and down, and rolling side to side to eat swimming, hatching BWOs -
- I swear I heard him giggling.
I caught him at rod's length, cast up for my sink, and put my swing right in his face.

Yes but for it to count you have to raise your own genetic strains of horses and cats.

Nice photos; big fish and small pupae porn.

Tiny flies on long, tiny tippets is my dominant, weird fixation. Aside from the Adams, I think the Griffith's Gnat may be the best dry fly ever conceived and has bailed me out on many picky surface feeders, regardless of the type of hatch.

I'd almost punch a hole in my buddy's waders if it meant having a Trico or midge hatch to myself...

my son routinely gets outfished by his euro-nymphing friends.. he doesn't like that, but it's not enough to get him to fish a euronymph. He likes dry fly or streamer, depending on whether going for trout or bass/pike. It's good to know I got one thing right in raising him ;-)

my neighbor has a pro deal through one of his guide buddies. Now I have a 10' 3wt Cortland EN rod, and a line to match. I got it at least partly in case my boy got tired of not catching fish in Cheesman canyon. It's been hanging around for nearly a year, never have taken it out yet.
In two weeks I'm helping on a river cleanup day on the Blue R tailwater where I've never caught a fish yet. After the cleanup I'll take it out and see if I can make it work..

Yeah, Odonata, I have friends that won't for the life of them throw a nymph into the water, and they miss out on a lot of fish. Subsurface is the way to go at times. I'm caught my biggest trout going sub-surface in deep pools euro nymphing and on bobber rigs. If they're not rising you just have to go down after them. BTW - nice fish.

I've read nothing that indicates trout/fish simply mouth things out of curiosity except to determine food-not food; I think if your fly ends up in a trout's mouth, about a 100 of 100 times that fish perceived the offering as nutritive value. Likewise, I think a resting trout is typically a well-fed trout and no more likely to move from rest to eat a fly/lure than a natural. They're very purposeful, and live to eat and propagate; that's it. Which, IMO, points to a conclusion that there is no such thing as sanctuary water; if they're not eating, your fly will pass unmolested. I could counter argue that fishing to feeding fish is less sporting since the angler is interrupting fish who are in the process of procuring vital calories; how sporting is it to rip them away from this fundamental activity when food may be most abundant? Isn't not fishing for them at all in their best interests?

We fish for our own pleasure, certainly not that of the fish struggling energetically to be rid of our hook; I accept that. Aside from quick releases, defining what is acceptable fishing is to open an inquiry one may find themselves with no acceptable answers to.

You don't really have to read anything to know that fish occasionally "eat"/sample non food items, that there are food-rich areas of streams, biorhythms of fish species linked to the size of the stomach of that species, risk-reward of expending energy and exposure to obtaining food, and so on. Of course they have safety/security/resting lies. When they want to feed, they move to areas where live prey is active--the top of a run, gradually down to the tail, then for the scraps in the soft seams bankside, and then back to safety and security with a full stomach. Easy to observe, and more or less a basic need of any organism that doesn't survive by prolific reproduction alone. There is plenty to read on the topic. https://afspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com ... 2.0.CO%3B2 A hastily located source list. It used to be you couldn't pick up a fishing magazine that didn't have pictures and articles about stomach contents, how to use a stomach pump, and so on.

And realize that the nonfood debris found in a fish's stomach just reveals what it swallowed, not the rest that it mouthed and expelled. That's observable in an aquarium tank or a hatchery raceway. Or astream when a fish spits the fly before the angler can respond to set the hook.

More so when in spawning mode, but also when competing for the best shelter lie, fish strike at nonfood items just to get them out of the way and protect or "clean" their space. They are often hooked in this way because they strike at a fly that activates this protective instinct or stimulates a striking instinct, not because they are feeding. Even in a continuously food rich feeding/resting lane as Bulldog described in some tailwater fisheries--fish will still have periods of activity and rest depending on their metabolic cycle, and if they are in the best spot, they will protect it.