On Fri, 28 Oct 2005 09:26:39 -0400, "Tim J."
wrote:

Lionel F. Stevenson typed:
I don't intend to blow smoke, if you know what I mean, but the
posters on ROFF seem to be a good lot. Humor and helpfulness prevail.

Okay. . . if you say so,

BTW, having completed my first season of fly fishing, I would like to
state that I met a lot of gentlemen on the stream. No one was nasty,
except as a joke.

I asked one person which fly he was using, and he replied, "None of
your f-in' business!" I said, "That's what it's called?" He said
"Yep!"

Another guy was stomping what looked like a large olive leech in a mud
puddle to get it wet. I went over to take a look. He said "Some
people might take offence to you even watching what I'm doing." It
was said with a smile.

Um, those folks may not have been joking. I'll always tell someone what I'm
using if they ask, but some folks are very secretive about that stuff. The
way I see it, telling them what I'm using is only part of the equation
anyway.

Sadly, this is true. The advent of fishing competitions seems to have
worsened this phenomena. I read an article about how to be a
successful competition angler recently in a mag that's primarily
geared towards the stockie basher. One of the guy's tips was to tie up
your cast before going on the boat and then change it when you got out
on the water.

I've never understood this aspect of fishing. To me it's about getting
away from a world that seems to be driven more and more by
competitiveness. Why drag that into my fishing.

Generally, you are correct. ROFF is a helpful, friendly bunch. Once you
strip away the bull****, anger, resentment, penis envy, little-man syndrome,
big-man syndrome, testosterone spikes, mean-spirited belittlement,
newbie-whacking, and opinionated crap, we're just warm, cuddly little teddy
bears.

Hmmm, I've not been whacked. I feel cheated.

John

http://groups.msn.com/scottishflyfisher