Ultralight spin vs. Fly Fishing for NJ trout....

[bulletbob]

Originally Posted by Drossi

A good bait fisherman will outfish flies and lures pretty much every day of the week and twice on Sundays.

agreed.. For a long time, I used lures most of the time.. As I get a lot older, with LESS patience, i use bait more and more depending on what I'm fishing for.. plain old worm and bobber works as well as it ever did... bob

[Capt. Lou]

That’s very true however after putting my time in with both fly and spin I’ll still maintain that on local waters fly guys have it much tougher.
These fish are pressed more then if your fly fishing out west , Alaska or any where in the world that fish are numerous and anglers aren’t ! Even big rivers like the upper Delaware which I fished with fly rod for many years , with primarily with streamers and appropriate lines , only one big fish about 5#’s !
Caught many mostly browns 20”’s being a big one .
I owned a resort for many years up there and fished almost every day in season .

[Godrew1972]

I enjoy catching them either way but I definitely catch more NJ trout on a spinner with 4lb test. My PB NJ rainbow was on a spinner first week on january, bitter cold a few years ago. She wasn't huge but it was huge for me, 4plus lb and on 4lb test hitting a spinner in the moving water was sweet. Plus Nj has some nice spots that are pretty tight casting, sometime spinner is also more convenient.

[senkosam]

A good bait fisherman will outfish flies and lures pretty much every day of the week and twice on Sundays.

True if forced to fish one or a few spots. But lures not only cover territory, they find fish and fish patterns that bait and flies can not. Finesse lures outfish flies in my experience because of the huge variety of lure actions, shapes, sizes and lure speeds applied. Larger lures can get reaction strikes better from larger fish - trout not being much different than most freshwaterbullies.

Convincing fish of this or that or fishing for hungry fish seems second thought when the only thing important is how irritable or active the fish is when it senses your lure. For all I know it just ate and has a full belly.

In the sense of suspended school fish minding their own business, here comes a lure one gets hooked on and BAM! more are caught one after another. A fly may get the response, though doubtful in my experience with other freshwater species.

JMHO and 50 yrs. experience

[Drossi]

Originally Posted by senkosam

True if forced to fish one or a few spots. But lures not only cover territory, they find fish and fish patterns that bait and flies can not. Finesse lures outfish flies in my experience because of the huge variety of lure actions, shapes, sizes and lure speeds applied. Larger lures can get reaction strikes better from larger fish - trout not being much different than most freshwaterbullies.

Convincing fish of this or that or fishing for hungry fish seems second thought when the only thing important is how irritable or active the fish is when it senses your lure. For all I know it just ate and has a full belly.

In the sense of suspended school fish minding their own business, here comes a lure one gets hooked on and BAM! more are caught one after another. A fly may get the response, though doubtful in my experience with other freshwater species.

JMHO and 50 yrs. experience

IMHO and 45 years experience (you got me by 5). One can accomplish both depending upon fly selection. A good streamer guy will cover just as much water as a lure fisherman at pretty much the same pace. It's really just gear preference the methods and tactics are kindred spirits. Wet fly fishing can be similar in scope and tactic as well.

Do you consider hair jigs flies or lures? They will certainly get attention of multiple species, same for buggers and articulated streamers. Not all flies are dainty, match the hatch, size 20's.

BTW - when I fished bait I covered a good amount of territory No moss grows on a rolling stone.