The internet’s impact on flyfishing?
- This topic has 24 replies, 16 voices, and was last updated Oct 15, 2010 at 1:29 am by
.
-
Posts
-
Hi all.
Zac, hope you don’t mind me posting this query on IA… I’m researching an article on the impact the internet has had on flyfishing.
Thought getting a forum discussion going on the topic might be an appropriate place to start.
Anyone got any thoughts: Has it been good/bad for our sport? How do anglers use the net to assist their flyfishing endeavours? Is there too much information avaible today to the point it has taken away the element of personal discovery? Maybe it helps keep us sane when we’re stuck in the office and can’t get out on the water…
Just a few primers to hopefully get you guys started.
Attached is a pic taken from our new season opener here in NZ last week. My buddy Paul landed this 7lb rainbow hen in a small mountain stream we found access into via Google Earth – another example of how the internet can assist anglers, perhaps.
Cheers for you help.Hamish I think it is a double edged sword. First the good for me. It has opened many doors to meeting great friends via the common thread of fly fishing. I would have never met many of these fine folks if it were not for the Itinerant Angler. Your buddy Tim Angeli is one of those people. I also think the resourses like google earth are amazing for finding ways to new waters that would have been much tougher to get to a few years back. Having forums like this are an amazing wealth of knowlege when you have that stubborn question that has been bugging you as well as so many people are willing to help out.
The biggest thing I dislike about the internet is hot spotting! Can’t stand it or the people who engage in it. I am more than happy to take someone to my “special spot” but it comes with the idea that I can trust that person not to blab it all over hell and back.
Just my two bits. I look forward to the rest of this discussion.
Joel
The clearest example of Web impact on fishing that I am familiar with is Great Lakes steel-heading. Like fishing for all migratory fish, GL steelhead fishing is extremely conditions dependent. Rain, snow melt, water c.f.s., color, clarity and 24 hour forecast are huge factors that need to come together to create the good conditions.
Pre – Internet, we used to make “breakfast runs”. Get in the car drive 2 to 4 hours to the river, if it was a mud bath or super low and clear we would have breakfast and drive home. Now-a-days, doing internet research through USGS, local weather, airport rain gages and the like seem as much a part of the sport as tying on the right fly.
Great Lakers might remember years ago there was a site called “noodlebagger”. It costs around 20 bucks to join and provided one years membership to real-time uploads of cameras positioned around certain area rivers. You could actually look at the creek before determining your trip.Great stuff.
Thanks for the input guys… and please keep it coming. For the record, I’m not planning to quote anyone, just hunting down some initial thoughts on the issue.
I think a lot of what you’re saying transposes to NZ too (or anywhere in the world for that matter).
Moosedog, I’m right there with you on ‘hot-spotting’ mate. Overall though, I’m erring on the side that the internet has become an invaluable tool in the angler’s arsenal – though others might beg to differ…?From an industry perspective, the internet is the greatest thing that has ever happened to fly fishing. Forums, facebook, and twitter (to some extent) have made our jobs so much more fun and effective. In fly fishing, I think too many people get stuck in their ways of doing things and this rigidity can be seen in the products 10 years ago. I think the discussions and amount of information being shared today has caused fly fishing to boom in a great way. Fishing with a two-handed rod is a perfect example. 5 years ago people would laugh at the idea of throwing a super thick, short line with a sink tip. Now skagit style fishing is maybe the most popular form of spey fishing. People applying this method all over the world and being able to talk about it has allowed this style to boom so quickly.
From a fisherman’s perspective, I think it’s helped me understand things to a certain extent but I dont think it’s really changed me much. You can scour the internet for information all you want, but nothing can replace time on the water and experimentation. I’ve learned some from digging up information on the internet, but nothing beats pulling out a map (whether it’s google maps or not) and scouting out water.
Hot spotting does definitely ruin things but I really question the number of people who actually pursue a secret that’s leaked. I’d be willing to bet if I leaked my favorite muskie water here in the midwest, maybe the greatest piece of muskie water in the world, only one or two guys would actually end up on the water due to me leaking the secret. And they still need to figure out how to catch the fish! I also recognize that some gems should remain secrets, so I keep my mouth shut for the sake of the fish and the others that enjoy the same water.
It adds an international flavour to any bulletin board, allows anglers to hook up and exchange information and friendship freely. The only disadvantage I can think of is the occasional misunderstanding where emoticons and active moderators would probably be of greater advantage!
Best Regards,
Beechy
I will say this, the most serious, hard core, dedicated, knowledgeable (whatever you want to call it) anglers I know, both inside the industry and outside the industry are NOT big internet guys.
My guess is that they could care less what everyone else is doing, saying or thinking. Or they are not big computer people in general, so it does not spill into their passionate pursuit of fly fishing.
Never the less, fly fishing is in no way immune from the rapid sweeping global shifts caused by the internet. As evidenced by this site, a whole generation of fisherman got into the sport not through their grandfather but through the internet. The question is what is the impact of this change and what does this change look like?Like Abe, I started fly fishing 7 years ago. I was looking for something to do when I retired. Fly fishing gave me the chance to learn something new. Even though I bought and read many books, I am the kind of guy who has to see something done to really learn it. You tube is a great place for this. I have probably tied flies I will never fish but I enjoyed the learning experience.
I don’t think you can ever have to much information. 😉I will say this, the most serious, hard core, dedicated, knowledgeable (whatever you want to call it) anglers I know, both inside the industry and outside the industry are NOT big internet guys.
My guess is that they could care less what everyone else is doing, saying or thinking.I agree with you on the above in terms of anglers.
Tim, leak your secrets on that muskie water and I’ll be there in grouse season for a cast and blast…
Bob –
I printed that treatise out and took it with me to the beach on my first trip down there many years ago.
Tim, leak your secrets on that muskie water and I’ll be there in grouse season for a cast and blast… haha. Actually, I have an insider tip to your world, we have a couple mutual friends of friends…..ah next year.
Come up anytime.
I think the Internet has had a great impact on the fly fishing community. It has allowed us to interact with others who love the sport and may be miles, or even continents apart.
For manufacturers and fly shops it has definitely improved their marketing reach and brand awareness. It is also much easier for fly fishing manufacturers to interact with their targeted end-users, not just their resellers.
Personally, for me it has opened up new channels to interact with other fly fishermen in my local area, as well as far away places I am planning to fish. For example, it helped tremendously this past summer when I was heading out to West Yellowstone and the Henry’s Fork. I knew what was hatching and how the flows were on various rivers. I used forums, various websites and emails to my friends to gather the information I needed for the trip. Also I could read others trout fishing reports (TRs) for that area, via forums and personal emails sent to me.
I also, don’t have any quality fly tying shops by me, so the Internet allows me to find what I want with just a few clicks of a mouse with no drive time wasted. I also use the web for product reviews and to check pricing before I buy any item.
We also learn about fishing news in real-time. Such as Zach’s posting about 3M acquiring Ross Reels. Before the Internet that news would not not be known for weeks until you read your next issue of your favorite fly fishing magazine.
My local TU chapter uses it a lot to communicate upcoming events and work days. Obviously a very cost effective tool for communicating.
I know on some local fly fishing forums where annual group outings have started, between guys from different parts of a state who never met before. This would never have happened before the Internet.
Bottom line, I think it has improved our passion for the sport. It has for me!
Hamish,
I don’t much to add that hasn’t already been said, other than the fact that that picture is like pouring salt in the wound.
Awesome responses thanks guys – I really appreciate the effort you’ve all made. Plenty of food for thought here. Cheers, Hamish
I think the internet has done wonderful things for fly fishing in general. I started a message board of my own 2 years ago and it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done. With message boards, you forge friendships with people that you probably wouldn’t have otherwise met. The exchange of thoughts, ideas, and fly patterns from around the world is also exciting to me.
One thing that the internet has hurt is the fly fishing magazines. With more and more content online all the time, the print magazines will likely disappear sooner than later. Online magazines will take over, and with more and more smart phones out there, you can read whatever you want, wherever you want. I write for Fly Fish Ohio, and I like the fact that readers can read our stuff online rather than try to find something on a news stand somewhere. Actually, if we were a print publication then we probably wouldn’t exist.
Jeremy
A quote to ponder:
“Things have changed that much in just 30 years…the volume of communication among anglers today is stunning. With our current flood of writing and publishing and e-fishing and e-commerce, flyfishers everywhere sound more and more like each other, fish more and more like each other, and find it a lot easier to all know the same things. In such an information-intense community, it’s pretty hard to start a revolution.” — Paul Schullery, Cowboy Trout
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.