# Are We Snobs.



## Bowshep (Feb 22, 2010)

Elitist. Snobs. 

You said that to me when l was in High School l would have probably tossed you into the lockers.

But as a fly fisher people (can't be an elitist) that's what we are referred as and l just don't get it. 

Most of the people that l have come in contact with through fly fishing have been nothing but a bunch of good old boys and good old girls (can't be a snob). l am just a working class stiff that drinks beer and whiskey, who farts in his waders that loves fly fishing. Everyone was willing to help me when l started out and that includes with the fly tying and in return l am doing the same things for other people starting out. l think l have even given away more fly's than l have fished with.

So where are the snobs that people are talking about l want to have tea and biscuits with them hold my middle finger out as l sip my tea.


Ken


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## Gooseanator26 (Mar 9, 2010)

The vast majority of fly fisherman out there are good ole boys and those are the people I want to be fly fisherman but I have run into some douches with Sage rods and Abel reels with $500 simms waders on that just blow me off for being a kid 

Forget them we don't need them


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## Jackster1 (Aug 17, 2001)

We are as much snobs as hardware fishers are slobs.
How's that for fairness? :lol:


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## J-Lee (Jul 11, 2000)

Jackster1 said:


> We are as much snobs as hardware fishers are slobs.
> How's that for fairness? :lol:


Thats pretty close I think.


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## mcfish (Jan 24, 2010)

I have ran into a few snobs since I took up the fly. But I have also ran into a lot of folks who go out of their way to help a greenhorn. Probably some of the most helpful people I have met in the outdoors.


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## The Downstream Drift (Feb 27, 2010)

Just like in everything there are fly fishing snobs out there. These are the guys that give me a hard time for helping a rookie on the river just because they don't want anyone else knowing how to catch the fish. They are the guys that look down on the few anglers that will take home a fish to feed their family. Honestly, it is this group that gives us all a bad name. I just wish I knew how to convince them that the more people they get involved in fishing our cold water streams the more people we will have that care about fixing what needs to be fixed.

I also don't believe that the "snob" label can be placed on guys wearing $500 waders and carrying expensives rods. I fish at least 5 days a week, guide occasionally, and use my waders during stream restoration projects and monitoring events. I wear top of the line gear just for the fact that they perform better for me. Doesn't mean I'm better than anyone though. And it surely doesn't mean I look down on the guy with a hand-me-down pair of waders and a $30 spinning rod.


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## Jackster1 (Aug 17, 2001)

The Downstream Drift said:


> These are the guys that give me a hard time for helping a rookie on the river just because they don't want anyone else knowing how to catch the fish.


I think you might mean that there are idiots out there...
I have never heard nor seen any such thing in all the time I spent fly fishing and sharing hints on and off the stream. I wonder why it is folks like the Michigan Fly Fishing Club even bother to hold a well represented youth school every spring if this is the sort of stuff they battle.


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## The Downstream Drift (Feb 27, 2010)

We have a few of these guys down here on the river I fish most. They have fished it for years and feel that more people are just going to bring on more problems for the river. They look at rookies as a nuisance that will eventually "get in there way". The aren't really idiots but more or less selfish with the river they think they own. 
Mind you there are only a couple of these guys and the vast majority are great guys that are willing to help anyone along. But the ones I'm speaking of really fall into that "snob" category.


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## thoslos (Dec 4, 2004)

Sure there are snobs but in my opinion, flyfishermen are like any large group, they are a cross section of society. You have people that are open minded and those who think they fish in a more sophisticated manner which fluffs their ego. But I see this in other outdoor endeavors. Bowhunters who use x-bows are criticized by those who use compounds who are ripped by those who use stick bows. I could go on and on. We have too much diviciveness among sportsmen. We are under attack by antis and dwindling numbers of outdoorsmen. I know this sounds like idealism(Kumbaya) but we need to stick together and accept all methods of our sports.


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## Bull Market (Mar 12, 2005)

thoslos said:


> Sure there are snobs but in my opinion, flyfishermen are like any large group, they are a cross section of society. You have people that are open minded and those who think they fish in a more sophisticated manner which fluffs their ego.


Roger that! Get off it with the stereotyping-name-calling rhetoric. I suspect that always happens when someone realizes they are losing an argument, or just can't accept the reality of life if it happens to be contrary to what they desire. They resort to bullying and name calling. Don't worry about it, and just ignore it.


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## Boardman Brookies (Dec 20, 2007)

I really do not think that people who have or use nice and expensive gear makes then a snob. I have some nice stuff but saved up for those items as I am not made of money. If you respect others and their form of fishing you will never fall in to the label of a "snob." When you don't...well I think you know where I am going. All fly angler are not snobs and all bait anglers are not slobs. There is the small minority that gives each the bad name.


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## Chromedoggy (Mar 25, 2007)

So is a Bass or Walleye fisherman who spends $50k on a boat to fish tournaments or enjoy with their family a snob?

I (as many here) have a pile of very expensive gear, as well as the $500 waders. I am not anywhere near the cost of a weekend Tournament fisherman (or Esox)

It's just what I do


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## ESOX (Nov 20, 2000)

I am not a snob. I fish with the gear I do because I want to and am able to. Others fish what they want. Maybe their wants are a lot simpler than mine. Bringing up the gear people fish when calling them snobs is ridiculous and smacks of jealousy.Being a snob is an attitude, it doesn't come from the shop with a price tag on it.


BTW I haven't felt the urge to upgrade any of my equipment since I got the original Zero G's. There is a limit to how much quality and high performance I can utilize with my level of incompetence......:lol:


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## The Downstream Drift (Feb 27, 2010)

ESOX said:


> I am not a snob. I fish with the gear I do because I want to and am able to. Others fish what they want. Maybe their wants are a lot simpler than mine. Bringing up the gear people fish when calling them snobs is ridiculous and smacks of jealousy.Being a snob is an attitude, it doesn't come from the shop with a price tag on it.


This is exactly why I brought this up. We can't profile people into the "snob" category just by what they are wearing. Just as we can't say that all fly guys are "snobs" or bait guys are "slobs". Watch how people behave on the river to find out who they are instead of profiling by the equipment they have.

Heck, if I would judge by equipment I would have probably not caught my first Clinton River steelhead so easily many years ago. It was a guy wearing old beat-up Hodgeman's with a spinning rod (that probably should have been retired) that showed me the ropes. We are great friends now and he still catches more fish than me.


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## toto (Feb 16, 2000)

I think thoslos has it about right, there are snobs, jerks, or whatever you want to call them in all walks of life.


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## Chromedoggy (Mar 25, 2007)

ESOX said:


> I am not a snob. I fish with the gear I do because I want to and am able to. Others fish what they want. Maybe their wants are a lot simpler than mine. Bringing up the gear people fish when calling them snobs is ridiculous and smacks of jealousy.Being a snob is an attitude, it doesn't come from the shop with a price tag on it.
> 
> 
> BTW I haven't felt the urge to upgrade any of my equipment since I got the original Zero G's. There is a limit to how much quality and high performance I can utilize with my level of incompetence......:lol:


Hope you didn't take that as a slam Esox, my point was you have some great stuff, and I'm jealous.


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## ESOX (Nov 20, 2000)

No, actually your post wasn't even made when I started writing mine. That playing at work thing....


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## iLiveInTrees (Jun 29, 2010)

This argument is the same as Bow hunters vs Gun hunters.

Bottom line, there are snobby people wherever you go. All I can say is that being young, and having a spinning rod w/hardware has labeled me as a snagger, a slob, a rookie, in the past. The fly-fisherman who have called me those names are snobs, purists, whatever you want to call them. I fly fish ever now and then, and I do enjoy tying flies.

Bottom line, fisherman are fisherman, hunters are hunters. If we are enjoying our passions within the law, then there should be nothing to be discussed. 

And BTW, I've met some damn nice fly fisherman, and some very snobby hardware fisherman!


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## Bull Market (Mar 12, 2005)

iLiveInTrees said:


> Bottom line, fisherman are fisherman, hunters are hunters. If we are enjoying our passions within the law, then there should be nothing to be discussed.


Amen!


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## Bull Market (Mar 12, 2005)

iLiveInTrees said:


> Bottom line, fisherman are fisherman, hunters are hunters. If we are enjoying our passions within the law, then there should be nothing to be discussed.


Amen!


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