Steve,

You don't say where you live now. I live in Northern Illinois, and fly fish
for everything that swims around here, which doesn't include many trout. For
the past 3 years, my largest bass of the year has come on the fly rod. There
are quite a few active fly rodders around here, but not as many as use other
methods.

I do tend to use heavy hardware a lot, but always have the fly rod handy
when I go out. On many a trip, the fly rod out produces the flippin' stick,
though I don't tend to throw 3X tippet into tree tops very often.

I actually got into fly fishing to target largemouth and smallies. A 4
pounder on a 5 wt is a blast! I don't target them with the fly rod, but have
caught a couple of walleye, one on a streamer, the other on a crawfish
pattern.

Don't give up the long rod, but you may have to buy a baitcaster if you want
to get invited to go fishing very often. If you're a loaner, just show them
your fish and tell the skeptics to shut up.

Mark


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