But traffic to rec.outdoors.fishing.fly is roughly 80% less
than it used to be.

Do we have fewer fly fishermen?
Or are they.....well. What is it?
How what why.

this place originated as a cybersapce bar room, where folks who
were originally attracted by an obvious common sporting interest sat
and relaxed, just bull****ting about fishing and lifeitsownself, at
the end of the fishing day, as friends do after the same activity in
real life.

but we came to know each other too well, and began to care more
about our opinions of life beyond our sport than our place inside that
sport, and we became a perfect example of the axiom that familiarity
breeds contempt. this evil is made so much easier to engage in by the
distance of the medium.

in short, the inability to understand that if we failed to isolate
our differenting political views from our common love of this
marvelous craft, we would be doomed to destructive infighting, has
brought us to our present wholesale calamity.
it truly saddens me when i consider how much pleasure i have
received from my time on the water and in places close thereto with
those of you who have become such bitter enemies in this virtual
pigstye. i would give several shiny nickels to be able to start all
over again, and spend a couple weeks immersed in the vastly different
gifts of personality and sporting talent that all of you bring to the
amazing places where trout live, from montana to maine, and from
wisconsin to the old north state.
truth is, i wouldn't go to another clave on a bet. i deal with
too much combativeness on a day to day basis as it is. anyway, each
of you with whom i have fished have my respect and friendship. i have
always enjoyed my time on the water with you.

your friend in the old north state
wayno