I'm a purist, but not a snob. I love to go out and catch small trout on small streams with my 4 weight sage rod/reel combo. I'm also a fisherman that likes to catch steelhead on my 9 weight Redbone with a Okuma reel. I use an Green Okuma on a once broken-now repaired Cabelas fly rod for bass. I can look like a catalogue (but rarely do) but sometimes that collection of gear matches the river and season. The most important thing is having confidence in your gear, all your gear - not just rod and reel - and have a great time. Don't judge a man by his hat or his color coordination. I have caught most of my trout on a $2 glass True Temper fly rod I got from garage sale 20 years ago. I used to hate the guys that would show up with thousands of dollars worth of gear and a matching truck to boot. I felt better when I outfished them.
I think the purist thing is a thing of the past? The days when fly fisherman went to streams to fish dry flies ONLY does not exist in my world, but maybe I'm not a purist at all.
jb
