Right and Wrong

Fishing in general has a lot of mentalities, but fly fishing, by far, has the most facets.  To be honest I haven't spent enough time with gear fishermen to know their politics.  I have however, been around my fair share of fly fishermen.  I've worked in the fly fishing industry for 11 years including working in a fly shop.  I'm not saying that this makes me some omnipotent knowledge base about fly fishing or the people that do it, but I've gleaned an idea about the groups of fly fishermen.  There are some serious base groups; dry fly only, spey, nymph, super all the gear, billy down the street.  All of these groups come with heavy opinions of the other groups.  I'm not saying that if you prefer one of these methods that you necessarily fit directly into that group.  This actually adds more diversity to the amount of opinions that people have.  I am going to say that about 90% of all fly fishermen hate each other.  If they don't hate each other, they show disdain for particular practices.  I'm definitely not on the periphery of the disdain.  I can be a hater sometimes too.  For me it usually comes down to the ethical treatment of fish.  No matter how you catch the fish, it should be done in a way that won't harm the fish whether or not you intend to release it.  Alright, enough with the heavy.  I told you that story to tell you this story...Our goal ultimately is to catch all fish on a fly rod.  Sometimes we get a little dirty trying to figure out how.  This may be cause for reproach for some, but now that I'm warning you....you've been warned.  We fish some bait from time to time, we eat some fish (not a lot, yuck), and we'll throw anything you can put on a fly rod.  In the end, it's all about the fun for us.  A lot of people have opinions of right and wrong when fly fishing, but when it comes down to it, right and wrong is really about the treatment of the fish.  Basically, unless you see me spearfishing orcas, don't get your panties in a wad (as my mom would say).