The Business of Fly Fishing--Kuhnert's Defense

Apparently, the previous discussion on the "brain pin and the stinger" got a little attention and pissed a few people off. I figured it would and I'm ok with that. Mike Kuhnert was gracious enough to talk on The Montana Dream Cast to defend the guides that use that rig. You can click and listen.

The Business of Fly Fishing--Kuhnert's Defense

Let me set the record straight for something that I probably wasn't very clear about. I know there are a lot of ways to skin the cat, so-to-speak. There are different presentations that work. We don't all have to accomplish the goal of catching fish the same way. I certainly wasn't trying to lump everyone into one septic pot of unethical waste just because they don't have their clients mend upstream to get a drag-free drift. I know fish will eat certain nymphs and flies that are on the move and some guides out there have perfected the swing to present those flies. That's not what we're talking about here but I do apologize to those guides that are ethical that I offended.

Having said that, there are those that skirt the line and even jump right over the line of what is ethical whether that is trying to floss fish, baiting them with scents, the San Juan shuffle, using three flies, or whatever else to try to gain an advantage regardless of ethics or even the law. When that happens, it makes it tougher for those of us competing the "right way." There are written rules and there are unwritten rules that set parameters so that we take care of the fisheries, we present ourselves as pros, and we have a little bit of a more fair playing field.

This is a business and I hate when people say, "It just fishing." No. It's how I pay my mortgage. It's how I put food on the table. It's how I survive and I take that pretty damn seriously.

As for those guys that figured out a way to get a fish to "eat" a fly like a wire worm or a size 12 pheasant tail whipping across a riffle on the Missouri, I'd like to see it. I'd like to have someone show me and convince me they are actually eating those flies and there are no more fish fouled up than on a more conventional rig and I will admit I'm totally wrong.

Keep 'em where they live...