Trout Unlimited is for spin fishermen, too

Ican’t count the number of times I have encountered other anglers on a trout stream and asked if they were TU members. The fisherman (person) usually has a few trout on a stringer, a spinning rod in his or her hand and their response is, “I don’t fly fish.” I quickly respond that you don’t have to fly fish to be a TU member.

There are a lot of TU folks that fly fish. Some fly fish almost exclusively and a very limited number of those may never touch any other type of fishing rod except the fly rod and some only spin fish. Trout Unlimited gladly welcomes any trout angler whether spin or fly.

I am sure that some of the “die-hard” fly anglers will find fault with some of what I will have to say in the next few paragraphs, but I feel that my opinions are accurate. First of all, both fishing methods are very similar in that each employs a rod, line, hook and some type of bait — live or artificial — with the goal of fooling a cold-blooded animal into taking the bait.

Bait fishing can be done with a baitcasting rod, spinning rod, cane pole and even a fly rod. Fly anglers will use a worm imitation fly, such as a San Juan worm, with a strike indicator to help identify a strike as well as where the worm is drifting. Is there a really of difference between the strike indicator with a San Juan worm used by a fly fisherman and the guy with an artificial or real worm and a small bobber on a spinning or baitcasting outfit?

The same can be said about using a spinning rod to drift a live grasshopper or cricket down a swift run into a deep hole, or drifting a hopper imitation with your fly rod down the same run. The goal is the same: Fool the fish.

Is there really a difference between a lead head jig with an artificial leech attached to a spinning rod and a leech fly such as the weighted “bunny leech” fished on a fly rod?

Is there a difference between attractor flies such as a micro minnow or other bead head wet flies with Flashabou or metallic Mylar that reflects light and a shiny metal blade spinning lure? About the only real difference is the rod that the angler uses while fishing and the method of retrieval or maybe the number of hooks.

My favorite trout lure i a Mepps spinner. I enjoy using a spinning rod when I fish for trout. I have caught lots and lots of trout using a fly rod, with the smallest a brook trout about 2 inches long and the largest a rainbow that weighed almost 7 pounds. I use the spinning rod when fishing for trout 90% of the time and my friends at Trout Unlimited haven’t disowned me for using a spinning rod.

Why do I use a spinning rod for trout? Simply put, I am extremely accurate with the rod. I can cover larger pools quickly, I can fish easily where using a fly rod can be difficult, and fishing different depths and currents can be done without changing anything other than the speed of the retrieve.

In the ’80s and ’90s I often fished alone and studied maps, planning half-day trips to fish a mile or so of a stream or full-day trips usually covering 2 to 4 miles of water. Basically, “speed fishing” to learn as many Northwest Georgia streams as possible. Many of the streams were small, with dense tunnels of laurel and rhododendron making fly casting nearly impossible. My spinning rod allowed me to cast upstream as I waded, with my casts hitting all the best holding water. I caught a lot of trout by getting away from where most anglers fished. It was not unusual to catch an 18- to 20-inch fish on some trips. I never kept fish except when I knew that they were fresh off the stocking truck and I was near a cooler with ice. I could never have covered as much water as quickly with my fly rod. I always used a seven-foot medium action spinning rod with a No. 3 Gold Mepps Spinner and almost always had successful trips.

Fly fishing gives anglers a different perspective of the stream and what lives there. There is a lot more going on in and under the water that you might think. Flies often represent or mimic some of the hundreds of varieties of insects that live in the water, under the rocks and on the stream vegetation. Knowing the insects gives a fly angler an advantage, especially on wild streams that are not stocked.

If you are a spin fisherman you will be welcome at any TU meeting.

WHITE BASS ARE BACK

White bass are being caught in the Coosa River now. The water temps are rising, and with Easter weekend having air temperatures approaching the 80s, the main run should be starting soon. DNR Game Warden Daniel Gray said that white bass are hitting well the day after rains, when the water is rising, and some fish weighing about 1.5 pounds are common where Big Cedar flows into the Coosa.