I am currently bored on a boat 20 miles off Turkey so here's my 2 cents
I used to think salmon fishing was elitist until I worked in the Banchory tackle shop and discovered who actually fishes the Dee. The average Anti has this perception of Lord and Lady Tweedy with nothing else to do with their lives but fish for salmon. The truth is most salmon beats are made up of mates of the ghillie, local business men, people who have grafted in the oil industry for a long time and made their money, doctors and dentist that don't golf and a small percentage of Lords and Ladies. I know one chap on the North Esk that sold his business when his wife died and spends the money on 100 days a year fishing! I do see less tweed than I used to (must fish with Steven more
) and see more "modern" salmon attire these days but that goes more along with who is fishing now. Certainly in the Inverness area I have met more chaps with really expensive rods that are not minted with old money. Now it is a case of "well I fish for salmon so I better have some nice toys to do that with".
It is probably still less expensive over a year than golf but golf doesn't get the same elitist view.
So, Blobs and their ilk? I can see where you are coming from Steven and I can tell you that we are in the same camp. HOWEVER, if I am fishing Glen Tanar and the fish are hard on the bottom and don't want to get caught on my 7' #3 then I have no hesitation getting the skagit caster out and chucking something shiny in to the depths. Cough, Mop fly, cough....
Sometimes trout aggression has to be catered for and my God are they aggressive towards that.
I know Fritz has been around a long time as I was a regular customer of Richard Walker when he made the IPN, so it is nothing new. Saying that it is nothing new is one thing but would you say that about a Peter Ross or a Mallard and Claret? They have been around a long time and still work and so do the offspring of the IPN, so maybe Fritzy things should now just be put down as authentic fish catchers and not just Christmas decorations for those that can't fish.
The Intruder pattern has the same effect on old school salmon fishermen and Jerry French was just short of death threats when he came up with it. But how many of you would now use one? How many of you would add gold sparkle Fritz to a Gold Bodied Willie Gunn? Fritz in a salt water pattern? Bloody right! A Sparkle Dunn dry fly has a shiny tail so is that OK?
It is a material for fly tying and I find it odd that it is OK to use it in some patterns but it is always condemned as a Blob. On a recent trip to fish for escapee Rainbows shiny stuff was the order of the day. The bigger and shinier the better. Is that OK? It certainly was for me and the Rainbows loved it.
I like the analogy about food Steven and I too prefer wild places and wild fish and I too used to love a greasy burger. The fish don't seem to care either way as all the patterns we use get eaten at some point so I don't think they are as fussy as people.
It is time we stopped the them and us, lure bashers versus traditionalists. I have heard the argument for a very long time now and it just goes no-where.
It does bring old farts like me out of the woodwork though!
Fish what the hell you want, just go fishing!
Cheers,
Euan
