Viewer John N. Writes:

Mr. Wejebe-

I have been a regular viewer of "Spanish Fly" for several years now, even to the point of using my TiVo unit to continue to follow the show as ESPN assigned it progressively more obscure time slots. At many points during last season's shows, I contemplated writing you to ask if I was correct in observing that your show was making a fairly radical shift from what had been predominantly a fly fishing orientation, with only occasional spin or baitcast fishing to an opposite spin/baitcasting focus with little to no fly fishing coverage.

Having had the opportunity to watch the first two shows of the 2006 season, I think I have my answer, but wanted to write anyway in the faint hope that I might hear otherwise. As is perhaps obvious, I enjoy watching whatever programming that I can on the sport of fly fishing. While I respect everyone's right to fish however they choose and don't adopt the elitist mentality of some of my fly fishing bretheren, it has been with considerable disappointment that I've watched ESPN's coverage of fly fishing disappear in favor of an endless stream of bass fishing shows and now an apparent "big game" saltwater push. While I know your primary sponsor (Shimano) also owns Loomis, I suspect the show's change in focus has as much to do with their financial priorities as well, which again I grudgingly respect.

Just wanted to make you or them aware (as I suspect everyone knew already) that the change does come at some expense. Unless I hear that my observations are completely off-base, I'll be wishing you the best with the new focus but regretfully tuning out from this point forward. Thank you in advance for any feedback.

Best regards-

John Naiser

Dear John,

Thanks for writing in. In response to your email let me say the following: Presenting interesting shows for the saltwater fishing world, I approach it more as opportunity rather than a planned scripted item. It's difficult to go on a shoot and say "OK, cue the fish to bite a fly.... NOW"..... It just doesn't happen that way and to fly fish for a species when it is obvious that that is not the thing to do is often frustrating and does not always tell a good story.

Having said that, I approach fishing much as I always have in that I carry spinning, casting AND fly rods and when the opportunity presents itself, I pick up the outfit best suited for it. I like to catch fish and don't care what outfit it is on, just as I think that there is art in all forms of fishings. If for example you go to an exotic location and decide that you will only fly fish, what happens to all those interesting other species you can catch along the way by just having a spinning rod ready or a casting rod or (god forbid) a bait outfit.

Here is a classic example, In the Keys, we go flyfishing for tarpon on flats skiffs poling along quietly along the shallow banks. The fly fisherman in the bow has the flyline laid out on the deck and has a tarpon fly in hand to cast for those fish....... in the course of the day that fisherman will see some permit, some bonefish, some jacks, some barracuda and some sharks. If that fisherman decides to only throw the tarpon fly to those fish, he probably won't catch any of them as a tarpon fly outfit is suited best for... well... tarpon. If that same fisherman keeps his tarpon flyrod in hand, (because after all that is his target species)... BUT at the same time has a spinning rod with a bait shrimp or crab and another rod ready with a plug nearby, that same fisherman will probably catch some of those other species along the way and have some fun in the interim and not give up the quest for his target species on fly, the tarpon.

With regards to ESPN's programming: it just seems that the saltwater block does have a high volume of conventional fishing in it. But I think that is just the way some years go, some years have more fly fishing than other.

Having said all that, I think it is a bit early to say how much fly fishing there will be this season without at least watching it. New shows for saltwater start in Jan and it is now only two weeks into it. Speaking only for Spanish Fly, last year we had four separate shows that were totally about fly fishing and two more that were partially about it. Two were with a Navy SEAL catching tarpon off the navy base and tying flies, another was fly fishing offshore for tuna, there were two more shows in San Felipe Mexico fly fishing for snook and tarpon again with flytying as a tackle box segment. That was just in 2005.... In 2004 Spanish fly had two show in Louisiana with fly fishing for redfish and three shows in the Florida everglades catching snook and redfish on fly as well as one show catching cobia on fly....... Maybe you are missing some of these shows.

Anyway, our aim in presenting these shows is to try and make as many people (including fly fishermen) as possible, happy and interested in the outdoors and the creatures that live there!

Capt. Jose Wejebe