Flyfishing and Homebrewing is there any connection?

So I have noticed a few screen names (including my own) or avatars that have to do with flyfishing, and that made me wonder how many homebrewers flyfish. The two seem to kind of fit together if you think about it. It's kind of a natural progression in both hobbies. Beer drinkers typically go from BMC to craft beers to homebrewing. For me fishing went to flyfishing to fly tying and guiding.

The same folks who have that inner drive to learn more about the beer they're drinking and to go so far as to brew their own would almost certainly have that same drive in their other hobbies... Right?

So, how many homebrewing flyfishermen are on HBT?

Spent yesterday running around the Chesapeake Bay waving my 10wt for Cobia (fuitlessly I might add). Got home and cracked a nice Cream ale I brewed up. So yeah count me as one.

Yep. Just spent the last three hours flyfishing on my local creek. Was a crap day for fishing, weather wise and I didn't get a single take, but it sure beats work! Saw some nice fish though. Probably be out there tomorrow doing the same thing.

I am a fly fisherman and a flytyer AND I am a beer drinker and a homer brewer - Coincidence?!

I'm a regular fisherman. There's not a lot of great opportunity for fly fishing by me and my dad doesn't do it so I never learned. Would love to some day though! Only thing close that can you can fly fish for is steelhead in some of the creeks in northern Indiana. Respect for you fly fishermen.

I flyfish a bit but do a lot more standard fishing and ocean fishing anymore.

I fly fish. I don't get a lot of chances in SoCal to do it but I have loved it when I get to go elsewhere.

Love flyfishing. Don't get out nearly enough.

lowtones84 said:

I'm a regular fisherman. There's not a lot of great opportunity for fly fishing by me and my dad doesn't do it so I never learned. Would love to some day though! Only thing close that can you can fly fish for is steelhead in some of the creeks in northern Indiana. Respect for you fly fishermen.

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I live in Arkansas and the trout fishing is phenomenal, but I love to flyfish for all species. Bluegill and other sunfish are a blast on a flyrod and dry fly. And flyfishing for smallmouth bass is one of my facorite things to do! It's definitely not just for trout.

I fish in every possible way I can. I have a 7 weight fly rod and an 8/9 weight Spay Rod. I don't really know if there is a correlation though.

fly tying, fly fishin, beer brewing and beer drinkin. wolly bugger's bout my favorite fly..

There does seem to be quite a few fly fishermen / homebrewers. I am getting ready for the fall steelhead run, can't wait.

Well you're talking about a male heavy sample pop. So asking if drinking and fishing go together is about like asking if anybody else here likes football, golf, rock and roll, hot chicks, breathing.. But yes, I love ripping lips.

But to your point, I agree ffers are more experientially oriented and definitely have more disposable income. From my experience a bunch of them would be paying premium retail price and buying it based on label art. I doubt homebrewing is more common than in the general male pop.

Fly tying, rod building and home made leaders would be more predictive of a homebrewing disposition.

Yep,

Problem is that you can't fly fish and brew at the same time.

bob

Fly fisher , fly tier, rod builder, beer drinker/ brewer here. I love making things from scratch and enjoying the rewards an learning from the screw ups. Beer as well as trout are very merciful to the beginner as well as challenging to the expert

mudminnow said:

Fly fisher , fly tier, rod builder, beer drinker/ brewer here. I love making things from scratch and enjoying the rewards an learning from the screw ups. Beer as well as trout are very merciful to the beginner as well as challenging to the expert

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Well said!

WoolyBooger said:

And flyfishing for smallmouth bass is one of my facorite things to do! It's definitely not just for trout.

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i started homebrewing and fly fishing in the early 90's, was just getting the hang of both and then put them on hold while i moved from place to place every few years and had shifted priorities. i kept my rods (a nice handcrafted graphite and a couple attic treasure bamboos) but couldn't hang on to my carboys. now that i think back, i traded for the rod which was hand made for a friend but he never got the hang of it, and i think it was 2 carboys that i traded... anyways i know i'd get back into both some day. didn't brew anything for almost 15 years, but now i've been up and running again for a few years, all grain and whatnot. fly fishing is still on hold. used to catch smallmouth. that was the most fun i think i've had with a fly rod. except once standing up in my canoe on a windy day, caught my eyebrow, right where some people have a piercing, laughed so hard i almost dumped me and my buddy and our tackle in the drink. use non-barbed hooks....

I love some smallie action. Living in Virginia, and growing up in central Va I had an issue with flyfishing. I need everything from a 2wt for little brookies in the mountains to a 12wt for sharks in the Chesapeake bay. Now living near the bay has simplified things a lot, need a 6wt on up I used to work in a flyshop in Richmond Va and it was my biggest pet peeve the number of fly fishermen( and women) who think that trout are the only species noble enough to chase after, or that you can catch on a fly.

Dinnerstick: being 1/2 Dutch I have often wondered if and how the flyfishing in the Netherlands is.

My dad flyfishes... does that count?

mb82 said:

Living in Virginia, and growing up in central Va I had an issue with flyfishing. I need everything from a 2wt for little brookies in the mountains to a 12wt for sharks in the Chesapeake bay.

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Poor guy... cry me a river (pun intended), I feel so bad for you having all those resources at your proverbial door step.

bad67z said:

Poor guy... cry me a river (pun intended), I feel so bad for you having all those resources at your proverbial door step.

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Smallies are 20 minutes away from my parents house otherwise expect 2 hour drives. BTW could someone cry a lot, the James River is so low right now the guys with jetboats can't even run.

I flyfish and I brew beer. Doesn't everybody? I fish the mountain lakes around here for Brookies, Rainbows and Cutthrout.

mb82 said:

Smallies are 20 minutes away from my parents house otherwise expect 2 hour drives. BTW could someone cry a lot, the James River is so low right now the guys with jetboats can't even run.

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We are having similar issues with the water table here in central Ohio streams. I mostly walk and it has not been all bad, the fish are "pooled up" and some time I have one of those fish in a barrel days.

My smallie water is only about 5-15 minutes depending on where I go. I mostly use ul spinning gear on my local waters because of the brush, trees, how small/narrow the streams are and my less than perfect ability to roll cast.

But a 3 lb'er on 4 lb test and a 5 ft. ul rod is alot of fun. The fish in my avatar was caught in less than a foot of water, on a top water hard bait, below a pool and it went close to 4 lbs.

mb82 said:

Dinnerstick: being 1/2 Dutch I have often wondered if and how the flyfishing in the Netherlands is.

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it's flat. budum-ching
most of the freshwater fishing here is waiting around for a carp or chub in a manky canal or moat. not for me thanks! never seen anyone here with a fly rod, but if there are dutch fly fishermen you can bet they go to scandanavia or scotland to ply their trade.
there's a joke that if homeopathy is right, then eating one fish out of the rhine should cure you of pretty much everything as it contains a trace of every poison known to man

bad67z said:

We are having similar issues with the water table here in central Ohio streams. I mostly walk and it has not been all bad, the fish are "pooled up" and some time I have one of those fish in a barrel days.

My smallie water is only about 5-15 minutes depending on where I go. I mostly use ul spinning gear on my local waters because of the brush, trees, how small/narrow the streams are and my less than perfect ability to roll cast.

But a 3 lb'er on 4 lb test and a 5 ft. ul rod is alot of fun. The fish in my avatar was caught in less than a foot of water, on a top water hard bait, below a pool and it went close to 4 lbs.

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Right now the James smallmouth fishery is recovering from a one two three punch from mother nature. 7 years ago there was a mysterious dieoff of fish, then there were 3 bad years of spawn in a row combine with flathead catfish infiltrating from the lower James and Musky working their way down from the top of the James preying on the smallmouth. Right now 20 inchers are great fish and 14 in fish are normal. They are coming back though.

dinnerstick said:

it's flat. budum-ching
most of the freshwater fishing here is waiting around for a carp or chub in a manky canal or moat. not for me thanks! never seen anyone here with a fly rod, but if there are dutch fly fishermen you can bet they go to scandanavia or scotland to ply their trade.
there's a joke that if homeopathy is right, then eating one fish out of the rhine should cure you of pretty much everything as it contains a trace of every poison known to man

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Carp on a fly rod one of my favorite, I have had one fish take me to my backing on my 9'6 8wt 3 times before I landed it (she ended up around 12-14 lbs). I also helped me justify having a $500 steelhead setup, now I can use it year round.

I do both.

In fact, one of my favorite places in the world combines both: Teton Valley in Idaho (just west of Jackson Hole)

Tremendous fly-fishing on the Snake & other forks with vistas of the Tetons and other peaks, whilst meandering through commercial barley & hop fields. Then on the drive home stop at Grand Teton Brewery in Victor before heading back over the pass back to Jackson Hole. Life is good.

Yeah, I think it's combination of a two predominantly male and relatively affluent pursuits - there's bound to be plenty of crossover. I used to fish for creek trout a lot, but because of the exceedingly hot & dry weather this summer, I haven't even been out for them. I am eagerly awaiting the fall runs of salmon & steelies though. I don't build rods, but I do tie my own flies as an exercise in being thrifty (my excuse) and having more control over what I use. However, like brewing, fly-tying can get expensive quickly without even realizing it (a few dollars here & there for materials in different colors, $20 for that doo-dad, etc.).

Keeps me occupied and a few hours at the vise can be stress relieving (no emails or cell phone allowed while tying).

A nice homebrew while tying flies. Not much better IMHO.

A nice homebrew while tying flies. Not much better IMHO.

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Word.

I just finished putting together a 6'10" 1wt from Dan Craft the other weekend. I'm having a really hard time not taking a sick day to get it on the water for the first time.

Fly fisher, fly tyer, beer drinker and homebrewer. I have a lot of hobbies (or so the wife tells me) but those are my faves!

Me too. LOVE me some fly fishing........ Although, my excessive brewing has begun to get in the way of my excessive fly fishing!

I love it so much that I dropped everything in circa 2004, took off to Wyoming and lived on a remote indian reservation in the Wind River Range and went fishing 5 days a week for 4 months. I came back broke but extremely happy!!! While there I discovered craft beer as there was a tiny brewpub in the town and I started homebrewing shortly after coming back and getting a j.o.b to fund my new found hobby!

bad67z said:

Carp on a fly rod one of my favorite, I have had one fish take me to my backing on my 9'6 8wt 3 times before I landed it (she ended up around 12-14 lbs).

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wow!! the carp patrol the shallow drainage moats throughout my work (university campus) and you can watch them doing a bunch of not much, dodging the occasional traffic cone or half-bike. maybe i should put them to better use!

Check location. Yup

dinnerstick said:

wow!! the carp patrol the shallow drainage moats throughout my work (university campus) and you can watch them doing a bunch of not much, dodging the occasional traffic cone or half-bike. maybe i should put them to better use!

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Yes you should. They are called freshwater bonefish for a reason.

NBABUCKS1 said:

Check location. Yup

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Nice!

The Shenandoah River is 10 minutes from my office ..... I flyfish for smallmouths a couple days a week at lunch .....