Fly Fishing with cut bait. Thoughts?

[toddro]

During some holiday down time the other day, I was watching a fishing show where the host was fly-fishing for salmon in a boat off of Vancouver Island.  The surroundings and the fly rod immediately caught my eye.  Unfortunately, I could not turn the sound on, but I watched intently.  He was using a large (10' 10wt.?) TFO rod with a large Able reel.  He used no fly line, but rather a clear mono running line tied directly to the backing.  He used no flies, but rather rigged a double-hooked plug-cut herring (head off) onto his leader and then trolled it.  He was catching some monster salmon on the fly rod and it looked like a blast, but this is not really fly-fishing to me...  Thoughts?

[TimM]

Perhaps there are advantages to using a fly rod in that situation but they're not apparent to me from your description....I'm a big believer in using the best tool for the job at hand as opposed to force fitting one that isn't well suited. Maybe his sponsor(s) only produce fly rods or fly related gear and that explains the seemingly odd choice? Doesn't pass my smell test as being fly fishing --- how could it be --- there's no fly! 

[bd]

Are you positive it was a flyrod?  From the description it sounds like it might have actually been a centerpin rod instead of a flyrod.  Some centerpin guys do fish with bait or roe, though others use flies and other small lures.

Of course, I am not entirely sure why anybody would troll bait with a centerpin rig OR a flyrod, since there is better gear for that job.  Centerpinning can be super-effective for steelhead and salmon, but it's not a trolling technique any more than fly fishing is.

bd

[grumpy]

Of course, I am not entirely sure why anybody would troll bait with a centerpin rig OR a flyrod, since there is better gear for that job.  Centerpinning can be super-effective for steelhead and salmon, but it's not a trolling technique any more than fly fishing is.

bd

Agreed!

Grumpy

[Bfish]

Mooching is very effective. 

[countryflyfisher]

I ve seen some guys using something like that except on a smaller scale fishing for crappie they said the fly rod protected the light line they were using extremly well.

[MikeA]

Don't take this the wrong way but it sounds retarded to me considering how fun efficient and easy conventional gear is to use. I've seen people put 2oz sinkers and Shad on a fly rod drop it in the boils below a dam and catch Striper.... Why,, so they can say they caught it on a fly rod??? Really??? Either your fly fishing or your bait fishing.

[toddro]

Are you positive it was a flyrod?  From the description it sounds like it might have actually been a centerpin rod instead of a flyrod.  Some centerpin guys do fish with bait or roe, though others use flies and other small lures.

Of course, I am not entirely sure why anybody would troll bait with a centerpin rig OR a flyrod, since there is better gear for that job.  Centerpinning can be super-effective for steelhead and salmon, but it's not a trolling technique any more than fly fishing is.

bd

Centerpin rods that I have seen have a very long butt section.  I am pretty sure this guy was fishing with a TFO Bluewater rod, and it had a very conventional fly rod butt section.  Also, centerpin reels I have seen do not have a drag, and he was fishing an Abel reel that had a drag.  I dunno - I'm not really that familiar with centerpin fishing, but I thought it more resembled a spey setup for fishing really long drifts.  I could be wrong, or maybe he was breaking new ground...

[bd]

Well, I didn't see the show so I was just speculating.

bd

[jarrod white]

sounds very similar to the way BD fishes for carp 

[toddro]

Well, I didn't see the show so I was just speculating.

bd

I didn't mean for that to sound rude in any way. 

When I saw it, I first thought it may be a centerpin setup, but cutting and trolling the bait still seemed strange.  The longer I watched, the more I concluded that it was a conventional fly rod setup, as best as I could tell.  Strange...

[bd]

sounds very similar to the way BD fishes for carp 

I tie flies with your mom's old underwear to get that special carp attracting smell.   

bd

[MikeA]

Guess that explains the 700 pounds of carp on the board during the tournament.

[Bfish]

...  The longer I watched, the more I concluded that it was a conventional fly rod setup, as best as I could tell.  Strange...

Nope, just Mooching. 

[jarrod white]

sounds very similar to the way BD fishes for carp 

I tie flies with your mom's old underwear to get that special carp attracting smell.   

bd

so thats the secret  that sounds a little fishy to me, but if a lawyer says it, it must be somewhat, kinda, sorta, in some way, maybe a small piece of truth in there. Nah I doubt it......   

                                                                                         JW