Had a discussion recently about small stream fishing and methods... and it made me think. I'm not sure where to post this, so it goes here where lurkers, members, search bots and everyone else can see.
smallstreams is not about fly fishing. It's about fishing small streams in any responsible manner you choose.
Sure, most of the participants here are primarily fly fishers, but I honestly believe there is nothing wrong with casting spinners on monofilament, there is nothing better or worse using some other type of pole that's been used for centuries and is the latest fashion from overseas. Fishing is fishing. I know there is a lot of leftover baggage from the elitist jerks who once elevated (in their own minds) fly fishing to be something greater than any other method, something purer, or recently, something more "extreme" (since that's the preferred cool but meaningless label du jour of the X Games generation) or something other than the blood sport that all angling really is. Yes, we try to protect the animals we target and save them from harm most of the time, but the bottom line is all forms of fishing have evolved from humans needing sustenance.
Some of the best fishing days in my life have been with a light Ugly Stick, spinning reel and a tackle box loaded with Panther Martins, Rooster Tails, and Dardevle spoons... aaah, those black and white Dardevles used to just be irresistible to some of the Oregon high desert Lahontan strains...
I didn't enjoy fishing any less when I used spinning gear. I didn't enjoy it any less when I have dapped with cane poles with worm bits for panfish.
It's all fishing.
This site happens to be about, for and by a community of people who prefer plying their angling craft, whatever it may be, in streams that most people overlook, often remote and usually only holding tiny fish, small streams captivate and call to us. The intimacy with nature, the joy of finding small jewels in small water, and the giddy elation we all feel when there is a tug at the end of the line.
smallstreams.com is a simple community of people who prefer angling in specific locations - not with specific tools or because they see how they choose to approach this endeavor as anything other than a means to an end, the end being peaceful satisfaction.
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