The way I see it is the dry fly only guy looks down on the nympher. The nympher looks down on the guy using the strike indicator. The indicator guys look down on the streamer guys. Streamer guys look down on the flashy synthetic material guys. The flashy material synthetic streamer guys looks down on the guy using nearly the exact lure but using a spinning rod. Ultimately we get to the worm dunking cane pole using stringer carrying never heard of catch and release meat fishing in your favorite hole guy who has no one to look down on. Somewhere in that chain is the guy whom scents his fly.

I say WE ARE ALL FISHERMAN and welcome to the club.

On the subject of scenting your fly. I think if we all confessed our sins to similar actions we would find ourselves in a very large majority.

You bet. Flyfishing is about imitating the appearance of aquatic organisms, fooling the fish's sense of sight, not smell or taste. Split shot, sink tips, strike indicators, and synthetic materials do not affect the attractiveness of the fly, other than putting that imitation at the visual level of the fish.

I agree, that "fly" fisherman may as well have slapped on a treble hook and a gob of worms...bait fishing (and thats what power bait is) has its time and place but not on a fly only stretch of water...

Was he using the cream or the clear?

Someone didn't like my comment? Must be a dry fly guy. lol.

myself, I spit on my nymphs, its works!
is that cheating?

Its cheating, plain and simple, I think of it as a sin to fly fishing. Its like bating deer to you're spot, if you can't get the fish to eat the fly by how you move it, don't fly fish...

AP

look down on the streamer guys? I thought they were at the top of the list...

Reminds me of my fishing trip last year in Oklahoma. Some kid was running up to the truck to get more "pork" for his father and buddies down in the stream we would stop at down from the hotel. I got out of the truck with my tan Columbia PFG shirt, Tan Pants, Black knee high rubber boots (great for the briars and mud). The kid came up to my friend who was driving and asked what we were there for, I said to do some fishing, pulled out the rods, and then grabbed my tan Orvis guide hat with the wide brim and put it on. The kid saw the hat, looked at me and my friend, and took off with his bait down to where his father was. Then we heard him yell out, "{the game warden's coming!" So here we are walking over the dam, both dressed in tan outfits, me in the wide brimmed hat, and all you could hear is "get those coolers out of here!" and "pick up them beer cans!" and "get rid of those fish!" and "let's get out of here!"
Boy did I ever see 4 guys and 2 kids move soo fast, and the best part was that they thought we were the game wardens.
As for bait on a fly line, or scenting flies, that's not too kosher in my book. I rank that right up there behind being a poacher.

Just to see what would happen I tried a bit of scent on one fly on a double rig. I noticed no difference. But just one stint on one river (in legal areas). Even if it did work it's just not worth it. It wasn't fun - smell, mess, hassle. Besides it's illegal in Michigan flies only water. Not hard for the DNR to tell, by the smell, if someone is using. Even if you used the stuff in legal area and carried it through flies only you're just asking for a citation.

I agree with Charley it defeats the whole purpose of fly fishing

i went out in connecticut that sunday that new england was bombarded by the nor' easter. 10 ,snow, and a wicked wind. a 14 foot aluminum boat doesnt hold heat to well, but it helped my cabin fever. no fish but spring is coming

In a fly only section of river the guy was in the wrong legally. Besides I can't remember PB dough working on much of anything but dumb stockers. In cases where legality is not an issue well powerbait is a poor choice to scent a fly. Your supposed to squish some caddis larvae or night crawlers on it. Real Nice.
Seriously though if your fish are dough eating stockers or matching the hatch isn't working there are egg patterns, worm patterns, flures of many ilks, and many more. All may push the definition of a fly to its end but not quite over the edge.

JC

It occurred to me, but as usual it was a sign of my own ignorance which I rectified before responding. I first made a fly cast last season so the fly only regs haven't been much of a concern to me other than to avoid the waters.

wow, i can definetly appreciate fly fishing only sections of the river, and not using and enhancers on those sections, however i am a life long fisherman and i have given up flyfishing because of purist flyfishermen who have forgotten the essence of fishing. its fun and it can put dinner on the table if you choose to keep fish. i understand the elitism of flyfishing and all of that, but we are losing outdoorsmen at the cyclic rate, so please dont try to alienate those of us who dont fly fish, or cheat unless the law is being broken then all bets are off.

J.C. please dont think i feel alienated by anyone here, and by all means i did not mean anyone here in the forum. i do think that if some one is doing something illegal then they should be called out on it. thats just poor sportmanship (breaking the rules, that is). im stationed in Eastern NC and we dont have too many shops specializing in fly equipment, i was meaning the several guys i have run into in the mountains in western NC. unfortunately they were of the opinion that if it wasnt flyfishing then it wasnt fishing at all. i wasnt even fishing for trout, i was fishing for muskies.

Flyfishing= imatiating food

Baitfishing= feeding them food!!

JH