BajaNomad

How fly fishing may save Mexico's fisheries and help boost the economy

flyfishinPam - 7-7-2011 at 12:47 PM



this is my first filming with the new camera. eventually all the clips this summer will be edited by Vince Radice (producer of Oro de Cortez) who will make a new documentary for our diputados. we hope to show them how catch and release fishing can open new job opportunities to Mexican fishermen instead of the alternative (bad dorado initiative that hopes to allow commercialization of dorado throughout Mexico)

edited to add: I posted a skipjack video several comments below this post. My videos will hopefully be edited better and shown in Mexico City on tuesday (12 july). There are many more backdoor, more important meetings than the publicly announced ones like those forums that have been happeninig. I see no reason why we can't have an industry producing all the gear, and testing it out right here in Mexico. Its done in china now. We have to wake up and make the changes necessary to employ people here.

A few years ago, Osprey sent me a story he wrote about how fly fishing can save the fishery here, the real story is going a little differently (unless Brad Pitt is around here somewhere) but here you go man...


[Edited on 7-10-2011 by flyfishinPam]

flyfishinPam - 7-7-2011 at 12:51 PM

weird, I just tried the embedded video and it said an error occurred please try again later
but it plays fine on YouTube so here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjVJxKVEJlc

Iflyfish - 7-7-2011 at 12:58 PM

Really cool video!! Feel like I'm there!!

Iflyfish

DonBaja - 7-7-2011 at 01:14 PM

Thanks for the vid, that was fun to watch !!

Russ - 7-7-2011 at 01:14 PM

How weird is this.... This morning I pulled down my old salmon net out of the rafters to give away.
I may have to put it in the boat now.
I'm sure you know this Pam but I use a wet towel over the eyes to calm down the dorado while I remove my barbles hook.
Yesterday we had a couple more sardine boats in the bay. They fished all night and this afternoon headed North




shari - 7-7-2011 at 01:33 PM

what were you chumming with Pam....and what kind of camera did you get....looks great.

flyfishinPam - 7-7-2011 at 01:43 PM

On release technique-

when I once questioned my captain about how the fish feels after being tossed over the side after having a hook removed from its mouth he replied "he likes it" well, considering the alternative I'd say he's right.

i look forward to more release technique comments in public because this is how the captains release these fish, most pangas use these nets now. we often have to take a fish out of the water because even a 7 pound dorado can stick you right back with the hook or do other bodily harm, its a safety issue for those onboard.

this week many of my captains were catching and releasing over 45 fish per fly angler, at one point in the video you can barely hear Lee "caught a dorado every 3 minutes no chum needed, but support your local bait union". you don't see the other clips (yet) of the other boats catching and releasing fish after fish either because I can only make the video so long. I hav over an hour of good clips just from July 5th its a little overhelming so I better figure out how to organize it.

Lee had on some sort of video-cam sunglasses, in some of his video you can see his baseball cap at the top. We use sardinas (pacific flatiron herring) to chum the dorado we've been doing it this way for many years.

bill erhardt - 7-7-2011 at 03:04 PM

For the past couple of years I've been using a Precision de-hooker that makes releases a lot easier on both me and the fish. Usually there is no need to touch the fish, let alone bring it into the boat.

bndh.jpg - 49kB

bill erhardt - 7-7-2011 at 03:07 PM

Just slide the device down the leader and jostle the hook free. The bigger the fish, the easier to work the hook free.

bndh2.jpg - 38kB

bill erhardt - 7-7-2011 at 03:10 PM

With smaller fish you can often remove the hook with the fish in the water. If not, just pick it up and shake it off. No fuss, no muss, no blood in the boat......

bndh3.jpg - 46kB

monoloco - 7-7-2011 at 04:27 PM

I use a technique that we used to use when commercial salmon fishing in Alaska, just grab the leader about 2' from the fish then let the gaff slide down into the bend of the hook while pulling the gaff up and the leader down. It only works if the hook is in the mouth.

flyfishinPam - 7-7-2011 at 05:56 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by bill erhardt
With smaller fish you can often remove the hook with the fish in the water. If not, just pick it up and shake it off. No fuss, no muss, no blood in the boat......


can you post a detailed photo of the business end of that stick? we can probably fabricate something like it here and try it out, thanks for the idea

Russ - 7-7-2011 at 06:17 PM

I found this:
http://www.rumrunnerct.com/hook_remover.htm

Dehooker_01.jpg - 31kB

bill erhardt - 7-7-2011 at 07:07 PM

Here you go, Pam. Just keep the leader tight, slide the hooked end down to the hook in the fish's mouth, and shake it free. It doesn't always work, depending on how the fish is hooked, but when it does it sure beats grabbing the bill of an angry marlin and trying to keep it steady while removing the hook with your other hand. With the de-hooker you can maintain a healthy distance from both the hook and the bill.
The same with smaller fish. You can keep your hands away from the hook.
The hardest of all fish to release and avoid mayhem are probably the small dorado your fly fishermen are loading up on. Their movements are so quick and they're like the Ever-ready bunny.
Great clip, by the way.

bndh4.jpg - 35kB

flyfishinPam - 7-7-2011 at 08:08 PM

I'll pass the images on to the capitans and hear what they say, yeah its easier releasing a large fish than a small hyperactively jumping green dorado

dehooker

EdZeranski - 7-8-2011 at 07:22 AM

Neat video!

http://dehooker4arc.com/

We have a couple of the above dehookers, work so far.

EdZ KG6UTS

whats practical here

flyfishinPam - 7-8-2011 at 07:33 AM

I will have to try a de-hooker out on the boat. I know we have one it was given to Francisco but I think if he wanted to he'd use it. I will ask him about it for when we go out tomorrow. I know he'll roll his eyes at me but he's used to this kind of thing from me by now. I'll film him using it, how's that? I am willing to give things a try and if we come up with a better way to release fish safely and easily I am all for it, as long as its practical for the captains. But I will not buy something like this, it looks too easy to make and this could create a job for somebody.

but I call bullshiat on this product:
http://dehooker4arc.com/store/product.cfm/mode/details/id/42...

I have a lot of guys coming to see me and thank me for the awareness mentioning the captains having the nets. When I came here most captains killed everything that came in the boat so we've come a long way since then.

flyfishinPam - 7-8-2011 at 07:39 AM

right now i'm showing this to Francisco and he is protesting mucho. but i am not surprised as this is a typical reaction to change.
one thing I did forget to mention is that the fly fishermen usually de-barb their hooks which makes releasing super fast

can someone point me to references to the stress to the fish on using landing nets? geeze the fish has fought with a hook in its mouth is there really a significant difference

Russ - 7-8-2011 at 08:13 AM

Pam I just went out and tried to find the de-hooker tool I use. But with all thing you put in their special place I couldn't find it. I did find the lighter version though. Your familiar with it to pop of bait so think heavy duty and it'll work with the smaller game fish. It works great for me with those hot little dorado and of course it's small enough to put in a special place where it does absolutely no good :lol:

dehooker.jpg - 47kB

??chico??

EdZeranski - 7-8-2011 at 09:00 AM

Quote:

but I call bullshiat on this product:
http://dehooker4arc.com/store/product.cfm/mode/details/id/42...


Not sure how that deflator thing would work but the dehookers are OK, have two sizes and a good set of long stainless needle nose pliers. When fishing with panga guys in Loreto they usually ask if I want a small fish ,or any fish for that matter, so I guess they are thinking of the fishery. Thanks for getting the word out. They still get skittish about sculpin, I guess from years without medical services.

Down at East Cape on cruisers those guys won't listen sometimes and go right to the fish bat even if you say let the fish go. Getting the flags flying seems to be the only issue with them.

EdZ KG6UTS

shari - 7-8-2011 at 09:19 AM

I just showed Juan and he wondered if these contraptions work with barbed hooks too?

flyfishinPam - 7-8-2011 at 09:33 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by shari
I just showed Juan and he wondered if these contraptions work with barbed hooks too?


I think most of the fly fishers are using barbless hooks, because of the way they cast and for the safety of the others onboard. I've been hit by barbless hooks and they're easy to remove, they make taking them out of the fish super fast and easy too.

upon looking at this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL_pK2qOhJA&feature=playe...

Captain Francisco laughed and walked out of the room. The second fish that got de-hooked in the video, what's that left on the hook? part of the bait, or did the surgeon remove something cancerous there?

Cypress - 7-8-2011 at 12:30 PM

Fishing for fun, barbless hooks will work. Fishing for $$$? Don't think so.

Pescador - 7-8-2011 at 04:31 PM

I have tried the one that Bill uses but my new favorite that I carry in two sizes is this one. The smaller one works well for "Chicken Dorado" and the other day we kicked loose about 35 of the smaller ones that were eating our flies.

http://www.dehooker4arc.com

[Edited on 7-8-2011 by Pescador]

Iflyfish - 7-8-2011 at 04:58 PM

Interesting link:

http://ocean.floridamarine.org/Boating_Guides/pages/catch_an...

Iflyfish

stimbo - 7-8-2011 at 07:17 PM

Thanks for the nice post Pam.

EdZeranski - 7-8-2011 at 08:54 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by shari
I just showed Juan and he wondered if these contraptions work with barbed hooks too?


The dehooker I posted works with barbed hooks.

EdZ KG6UTS

another video, this one is a skipjack

flyfishinPam - 7-9-2011 at 04:01 PM

flyfishinPam - 7-10-2011 at 08:53 AM

bump, good news and heck out the "catching a skipjack on the fly from start to finish" video I shot on the same day as Doradomania.

yesterday was rough out there but under clear skies. no video because I stayed out of the wind on the lee of Carmen and Coronado where there were few fish. They're all to the south now and still thick. I hope to go out again tomorrow, clear skies, fingers crossed for no wind.

Brad Pitt story

Osprey - 7-10-2011 at 12:55 PM

Here's the Pitt story Pam referred to--it's about the future, what could happen around here:

How Brad Pitt Saved the Sea of Cortez



"Bobby, I'm gonna hit the beach. You ready?"
"No way. I'm down to my last two Lido patches and my skin is scalded. I better hang in the shade today." Robert T. "Bobby" Champion turned down his host's invitation to the beach, slumped down deeper into the overstuffed patio furniture. The Baja California Mexican sun can fool you in early June.

Bobby was not familiar with the scene. This was his first trip to Mexico. The year, 2042.

He'd been told. "First time? T-shirt, hat, all day. Sun block, 30 or better all over, as needed: tops of feet, knees, neck, nose."

"Cool. Chill here with Grampa Greg. Gramps, tell Bob-o the Pitt thing. Bobby, you'll dig it. Sci-fi Mexico. A trip. Later." Tony Waltham, Jr. went through the iron gate, hopped on the quad, sped off in a cloud of dust straight for the bluegreen surf.

Grampa Greg rudely shoved the small black dog off the couch with his ample hip, put his feet up on the rattan ottoman, took a swig of his Pacifico beer, grinned wickedly at the kid and said.

"Can you handle this? What grade are you in, same as Tony, nine, ten?"

"Yeah, same as Tony, tenth."

The old man queried kindly "You look awful. You want to sit in the truck? Turn on the air for a little while?"

"Naw, I'm Okay, just the fan, the fan is great." said Bobby. "What's the pit thing. Tony said you had a story about a pit, Mexico and a pit?"

"Not P I T, P I T T. Brad Pitt. The story's about some guys who saved the Sea of Cortez, he was one of em, one of the first."

"Was he one of those environmental guys? Last year, in my history class we read about some dudes who blew up nuke plants, booby-trapped forests. It was dumb stuff. I got a 2.3 for the year."

"No, he was in the movies. You want to hear the story or not?" groused the oldster.

"Yeah, I'm gamed out and I gotta stay in the shade. Shoot."

"Okay then. The story is about this little sea here, the Gulf of California, how it was dying, how it got saved in some really strange ways. The thing is big, 68,000 square miles of salt water. It's kinda trapped between Lower California, where we are now, and mainland Mexico. It's deep, very deep, in some places over a mile. At one time it was the most biodiverse body of water on the planet -- that means it had the most species of sea life, the most abundant numbers of such animals and plants, given its size, than all the other seas or bays."

Bobby took a sip of his coke, put some more cream on the backs of his hands, looked up again at the old man to indicate his continued attention.

"The way it's set up, it's like a trap. The fish that traveled all the seas, that just came to visit, swam into the mouth, down at the tip, Cabo San Lucas. As they went north to feed and spawn they were trapped, caught, netted, fished out for food, cat food, fertilizer by big fishing companies from all over the world. The Mexicans who lived along the shore, on both sides, caught the traveling fish, as well as the local fish with hook and line, nets; ate some, sold some. For almost a hundred years sport fishing was all the rage. Guys with big fishing rods, big fancy reels rented boats to go out and try a one-on-one with marlin that weighed up to 1,000 pounds or more. It was big business. Many of the big cities around here started out with just a few shacks and some boats for these old-timey guys to rent." Greg lifted his ample belly aloft, pushed off the couch, went to the kitchen for another beer, yelled out to Bobby, did he want another coke. The return trip was long and tortuous but in time Greg's butt was again at rest, beer in hand he was ready to go on.

"It didn't happen over night, there were some who tried to slow the process, set some limits on the catch but the money was too big...tens of billions of dollars each year. So, the fish had to go. Pretty soon they were almost all gone. Not nearly enough public knowledge, attention, outrage to do much about it."

Bobby kept up his end. "When does the Pitt guy jump in?"

"How'd you do in Attention Span 101? Hold tight, we're almost there. You can't go to the beach today anyway." another grouse from the old man. "You ever hear of fly fishing?" asked the old man.

"Flies? Flies? Nuh uh." is the almost unintelligible reply from the teen.

"Well, they made a movie about it, about a river and flyfishing, back in the early 1990's. This famous movie star was in it. It started a whole fad thing. The way it works is you take this real skinny, real long fishing rod, a reel that looks a squashed coffee grinder, lots of light line, whip the whole thing back and forth till the line goes out farther and farther. On the end of the line you tie on a tiny little hook you can hardly see. You wind sewing thread around the tiny hook, glue some small feathers to it so it resembles some little insects the fish like to eat."

Bobby interrupts. "The insect is a fly I bet, it looks like a fly, the hook thing."

"Mind like a proverbial steel trap, my lad. You got it. It looks like a fly. The first ones were made to look like the kinds of flies that inhabit small freshwater lakes and streams -- mayflies. The fad took off like a wildfire in a Georgia pitchy pine forest during a ten-year drought. Nobody saw it comin'. Times were changing. Men were gettin' away from all the manly tough stuff, wrestling went belly up, boxing, the rugged red-necks with the big rods and reels lookin for the big marlin, tuna started crossing over. People were becoming more sensitive, more in touch with their feelings, in touch with nature."

Another interruption. "The guys with the fly things caught fish too, just like the red-necks didn't they?"

The old man finished off his beer with a flourish. "You're right on point today kid. If this were a history class I'd be giving you a 3 something. The big difference; the fly guys did catch fish ---- they let em go, threw em back, every one of em.

Pitt wasn't the only one. A bunch of guys on T.V., you do remember T.V. I hope, guys with even longer and skinnier rods, bigger reels, big old lures made out of bird's wings started flyfishing in the ocean. Well, the fad on ocean flyfishing was wilder than the freshwater stuff.

Pitt was one of the pretty boys, skinny, with deep blue eyes, long lashes, looked like a girl. The salt water guys on T.V. were fatter but still had that girlish look about em. The manly types were being replaced by these sensitive guys. Pretty soon this whole area around here was full of guides, schools, special resorts, special tours, how-to classes. It wasn't just around here either. These new sensitive types had a world more money than the rednecks ever thought of. The fad was spreading world-wide at the same exact time we were in the center of an economic updraft. The big factory ships were dragged off to rust at the dock. Quotas were starting to be set, catch limits enforced, the sea began to have the time to heal. Mother nature will bounce back with a vengeance if you just ease up a bit."

Bobby has a chance. "The dorado, the fish we caught Tuesday, were they going away? Did he save them too?"

"They were almost all gone. Now they're back in record numbers. When Pitt died way back in the thirties they made a big deal of his death but all the publicity was about the movies; hardly a word on any of the ‘nets about what he started, what he did for this ocean and all the others." The old man added.

"I had a friend who used to flyfish. He lived over in Los Barriles. Luther Kutcher. Died eight years ago. He was the biggest, meanest looking guy you ever saw, hands like hams. Amanecer, that's Spanish for dawn, I'd go down sometimes just to watch him. A mountain dancing. That's the impression I got. All that mass, muscle and jiggle almost prancing above the water, just where it hit the sand, whipping that thin wand back and forth like the devil's whip. He didn't like the Pitt guy, the movie. Caught his share of the shore fish but he let em all go. If he wanted fish for dinner he bought it off the dock." Greg took a long sip of beer, looked out at the ocean.

Bobby's turn. "Is that it? That's the story?"

"Yeah, that's it."

Bobby wants more. "Are there any of those fly fish guys still around? Around here? Could Tony and me see em?"

"The thing's died out mostly. Occasionally I see some guy on a quad flingin the fly down by the lagoon. Still lots of roosters and jacks down there. Before you go back, you got four more days, you might run into one of them down on the beach. If you do, if you see them down there, best stay way back away from them if they're whipping those things about. They're sensitive, sometimes a little touchy. And they're proud. I guess they got good reason."

[Edited on 7-10-2011 by Osprey]

Cypress - 7-10-2011 at 01:19 PM

Yep, Everybody has a good reason.

mtgoat666 - 7-10-2011 at 01:36 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by flyfishinPam
How fly fishing may save Mexico's fisheries and help boost the economy


i agree that fly fishing is great, much more fun than live bait fishing.
but the problems are [1] most fishermen are all about blood and glory and volume (why do you think they call their fav website "bloody decks?"); (2) the most-fun places to fly fish are mangroves, and the mangroves have been destroyed or over-fished; and (3) related to item #1, fly fishing is not very popular with knuckle draggers.

fly fishing from kayak or SUP or panga in protected mangrove waters is far more fun that fishing from a big stink pot with 8 other drunks chumming for dorado :lol::lol:

p.s. i don't know if it works from a tall deck, but from a kayak or SUP, the "boga" grip works well for holding fish to remove hook.

Cypress - 7-10-2011 at 01:50 PM

If they don't do away with the gill nets, all the fly fishing in the world won't amount to a hill of beans. Gonna have to use those little tiny trout flies to catch those little tiny fish that pass through the gill nets. Little tiny fish.;)

flyfishinPam - 7-10-2011 at 02:31 PM

I added another video and embeded both recent ones on this page of my website

http://www.bajabigfish.com/?p=2444

here's the embed of the last one in case you don't want to a link


[Edited on 7-10-2011 by flyfishinPam]

DENNIS - 7-10-2011 at 03:28 PM

Fly Fishing kills fish slowly. It allows the animal to fight for life in a trauma, for the fish, that usually ends in death for the hooked.
It's torture.
In rivers and streams, the adversary, your fish, yields to the pressure fairly quickly, but the salt-water variety fights at a much stronger degree and in the process, the animal is wounded to a point that it should be considered....torture.

I live my life knowing I respect all life. I step around ants. I have trouble with any effort to reach an end that requires the torture of anything and that includes fishing.

Small tackle on big fish is torture. The longer you fight, the more it suffers.

I suppose I'm speaking to the heartless deaf, but that's just me.

Cypress - 7-10-2011 at 03:39 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by DENNIS
Fly Fishing kills fish slowly. It allows the animal to fight for life in a trauma, for the fish, that usually ends in death for the hooked.
It's torture.
In rivers and streams, the adversary, your fish, yields to the pressure fairly quickly, but the salt-water variety fights at a much stronger degree and in the process, the animal is wounded to a point that it should be considered....torture.

I live my life knowing I respect all life. I step around ants. I have trouble with any effort to reach an end that requires the torture of anything and that includes fishing.

Small tackle on big fish is torture. The longer you fight, the more it suffers.

I suppose I'm speaking to the heartless deaf, but that's just me.

I like heavy line, winch 'em in. Box 'em or toss 'em. Next?

805gregg - 7-13-2011 at 07:58 AM

Or as Nugent says "Kill em and Grill em"

Skipjack Joe - 7-13-2011 at 08:51 AM

I doubt that flyfishing will ever have any major impact on baja sportfishing.

mtgoat666 - 7-13-2011 at 09:42 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
I doubt that flyfishing will ever have any major impact on baja sportfishing.


define "major."

there are a fair number of people doing salt water fly fishing, sport seems to be growing. several tour operators are making money taking groups to east cape. salt water fly fishermen (and women) also doing their own trips to mag bay, east cape, etc.

Skipjack Joe - 7-13-2011 at 10:00 AM

Major? - over 50% to monies generated by sportfishing. I doubt it will go over 10%.

I am familiar somewhat with flyfishing in baja as I belong to a club of flyfisherman and have brought groups down in the past.

It's a growing field but it's limited in it's application to baja fishing. Only a handful of species are worth pursuing this way. Requires skills that most people don't want to bother learning. Costs more to equip yourself than standard fishing. Is usually less successful in catching fish than other methods (ever try to corbina with a fly? It's a major achievement. But with fresh dead bait - no problem).

These are just some reasons.

P.S. Dennis is right that most flyfisherman exhaust their fish by not forcing the issue. I witnessed that with tuna.

wessongroup - 7-13-2011 at 10:17 AM

We used to fish off the rocks in La Mision years ago... using fresh water gear...

We would only catch "perch" and they were small.. but, would give a good tug on 8 lb test... my Dad started me on catch and release way back in the 50's....

Keep only what you eat... and I don't like fish... to eat... go figure...

But, it is one of the most fun things to do... be outside wetting a line ...

flyfishinPam - 7-13-2011 at 01:25 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
Major? - over 50% to monies generated by sportfishing. I doubt it will go over 10%.

I am familiar somewhat with flyfishing in baja as I belong to a club of flyfisherman and have brought groups down in the past.

It's a growing field but it's limited in it's application to baja fishing. Only a handful of species are worth pursuing this way. Requires skills that most people don't want to bother learning. Costs more to equip yourself than standard fishing. Is usually less successful in catching fish than other methods (ever try to corbina with a fly? It's a major achievement. But with fresh dead bait - no problem).

These are just some reasons.

P.S. Dennis is right that most flyfisherman exhaust their fish by not forcing the issue. I witnessed that with tuna.


I apologize to bring this up but at least 80% of what you wrote is mis-information. Please inform yourself. For once I agree with mtgoat read what was written there, its a growing sector of the sport, gear has changed o LOT since you're used it, there are scores of species to catch here in the SOC, and geeze i don't have the time to nitpick but go visit your local flyshop again and get informed, you will be pleasantly surprized.

better yet right now visit this site:

http://www.flyfishusa.com/

The Fly Fishing Shop, Welches, OR.

mtgoat666 - 7-13-2011 at 02:17 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by flyfishinPam
and geeze i don't have the time to nitpick but go visit your local flyshop again and get informed, you will be pleasantly surprized.


the parking lots of my local flyshops in san diego (there are only 2) are filled with mercedes and range rovers.
if i go over to squidco, the parking lot is filled with pickup trucks.

i drive a toyota, so i shop mail order :lol::lol:

BillP - 7-13-2011 at 04:14 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by 805gregg
Or as Nugent says "Kill em and Grill em"

Nugent also says "Whack 'em and Stack 'em" :rolleyes:

Skipjack Joe - 7-13-2011 at 04:37 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by flyfishinPam

I apologize to bring this up but at least 80% of what you wrote is mis-information. Please inform yourself. For once I agree with mtgoat read what was written there, its a growing sector of the sport, gear has changed o LOT since you're used it, there are scores of species to catch here in the SOC, and geeze i don't have the time to nitpick but go visit your local flyshop again and get informed, you will be pleasantly surprized.

better yet right now visit this site:

http://www.flyfishusa.com/

The Fly Fishing Shop, Welches, OR.


Wanna bet?

Please do 'nitpick'. Instead of painting with a broad brush please address the 80% that is wrong.

Oh, I don't disagree that it's a growing sector. It's been growing for decades. But it will never be the major part of baja sportfishing. I will stand by that.

How many flyfishermen on this board?

You know what. Flyfishing is not even the dominant form of fishing in Alaska, which is far more suitable for the sport.

And don't patronize me. I don't like it.

Cardon Man - 7-14-2011 at 06:29 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Skipjack Joe

Oh, I don't disagree that it's a growing sector. It's been growing for decades. But it will never be the major part of baja sportfishing. I will stand by that.

How many flyfishermen on this board?

You know what. Flyfishing is not even the dominant form of fishing in Alaska, which is far more suitable for the sport.

And don't patronize me. I don't like it.


Skipjack makes a good point. The Alaska comparison is spot on. High quality, yet relatively easy fly fishing is wide spread up there. They manage their fisheries very well also. Not quite that way in present day Baja...particularly if you're talking shore fishing.
It is true that the fly fishing sector of Baja sport fishing has grown over the years. But I have to assume it's still only a small fraction of the total.
Is fly fishing actually growing as a whole? Not many kids getting involved it seems.