Should Maine Ban Saltwater Fly Fishing?
By Stu Bristol Of course this headline is a tongue-in-cheek attention-grabber. Saltwater fly-fishing has become one of the fastest-growing outdoor sports in the northeast since the come-back of the striped bass population. Still, there are a number of anglers who are not happy being around fly anglers of both the fresh and saltwater variety. The debate has been raging on a number of fronts over the past decade or so and the popularity of saltwater angling has once again brought the issue to the forefront. Words like, “snobs,” “elitists,” and “purists” have been tossed about to describe fly anglers while from the other side comes similar name-calling aimed at live and natural bait and lure anglers. “A construction worker dressed up in fancy L.L. Bean fishing outfit and waving a $500.00 Orvis rod doesn’t make him any better than the rest of us.” Said one angler I interviewed along Parson’s Beach in Kennebunk, a popular haunt of saltwater fly anglers.
