Dry Fly Only

About ten years ago, I began to realize I only wanted to fish dry flies. It seemed the more I fished the tiny mountain Rio's of New Mexico, the more I fell in love with those environments...and dry fly fishing. In the beginning, I fished small streams and creeks with dry/dropper rigs to maximize my chance for a hookup with a trout. But I soon discovered how much more fun (and relaxing) it was to float a single dry fly through a trout's feeding lane. And that is where I am today in my fly fishing journey...a Dry Fly Purist.

About the same time I discovered my preference for dry fly fishing, I also became infatuated with classic fly fishing gear and how wonderful those older rods functioned within my wild trout streams. I would say classic gear and mountain stream environments are very much in harmony with each other...much more so than some of the new gear being made today (my opinion).

Of note, I used to chase the latest and greatest in technology with an eye toward the new fly rod launches by the big brand rod companies. However, I found once acquiring a new high-tech rod and fishing it, most often, it seemed just okay. I didn't realize anything significant in how the new rod effectively brought fish to the net...and, it usually seemed that the new 'wonder rod' didn't even perform as good as the older rods I had been using. As a result, I stopped looking for the latest and greatest gear. I have to say,  it has been one of the most liberating decisions I have made...fly fishing is more enjoyable as a result.

This may surprise some, but fly fishing has always been more of an excuse for me to leave the city and immerse myself into the beautiful trout streams here in the mountains of New Mexico and Colorado. A fabulous day for me is walking down a wilderness path by a trout stream, seeing a 'fishy' stretch of running water, and dropping down into the stream to float a dry fly. Yes, I'm a small stream fisher and a devout dry fly purist...and I've never been happier!

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