Angling ethics are subjective.  Yes, there are laws on the books. But those statutes are applied based upon a consensus. At times, appeals to empirical data might even enter the picture. All of that to say, fishing regulations aren’t  natural law. But  common sense does factor in when making moral judgments.

For example: I’ve walked the line with using bait  with my fly rod at a few memorable moments.

Now, there is a difference between the ethics of using bait and laws prohibiting it. I believe that in all of the following anecdotes I was well within my legal rights. My actions may not stand up to your personal scrutiny, however. Consequently, I only ask that you read these accounts with some grace. After all, I was fishing. You know how that goes.

The Lizard  Hopper

My small university campus had two ponds. The smaller of the two was surrounded by cattails and contained some sizeable largemouth bass. Being in South Carolina, there were all manner of creatures in and around the water. Lizards were the most exotic. They also were prone to leaping into the water from the vegetation when a person parted the tall plants in order to cast. The result was one of the most tantalizing topwater displays imaginable. The serpentine wiggle and the pulsing waves from the frantic swimming was something no lure, let alone no fly, could replicate. And the bass loved it.

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Recently I released  a podcast episode in which I comment on the new breed of fly fishing elitists. Spoiler alert: they don’t wear tweed or try to dazzle you with Latin terms.

If you give it a listen (which you can do from here or anywhere you listen to podcasts), hopefully it doesn’t come across as a rebuke. It is meant to be more of an admonishment; an encouraging word to pull back before cultural collision, if you will.

That said, I did want to address it head on. Passive-aggressive isn’t my thing. In fact, passive-aggressive is a thing I have no problem rebuking. But I do have no qualms about poking a little fun at pretentiousness with  a wink and a nod.

With all that said, these three posts from the Casting Across archive are meant to prod the new generation of serious fly fishers a little bit. And, it might be added, I think we all can see areas in which the commentary hits a little close to home.

Click on the image or the title of the three posts below to read the entire article.

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