Monkey,

Back in the days of the VFS (Virtual Fly Shop/Fly Fisherman magazine website) bulletin board, there were discussions between some Great Lakes steelheaders and us westerners about that. Not so much the use of slinkies, but "fly fishing" with conventional fly rods and reels and unconventional monofilament nylon and split shot with nymphs, glo bugs, and other flies for winter steelheading. The debate was whether such gear constituted "fly fishing" or not. My impression, being a provincial life-long PNWer, and accustomed to the old WA fly fishing regulations, was that the gear they were using wasn't fly fishing because they didn't use anything approaching a "conventional" flyline, wherein the weight of the line, rather than the weight of the lure or split shot, was being cast. They insisted, by God, that they were fly fishing, and that my well being would be at risk to argue otherwise if I was streamside in their baliwick.

So much has changed with respect to fly fishing gear, and "conventional" has become a relative term, conditioned by region and sub-culture, that I've decided that anybody who says they're fly fishing, regardless of what they're using, must be fly fishing by some definition.

Seeking a contrarian point of reference, embellished with tradition, I've decided that nobody's fly fishing anymore, unless they're casting a rod made of split cane or greenheart, a reel made in England, a fly line of silk or horsehair, gut leaders, and flies tied only with organic materials - no crystal flash, etc.

So my two-handed, carbon fibre Spey rod, Ross reel, Scientific Anglers fly line, etc. is just a highly evolved spinning outfit.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.