There's a vast gulf between fly fishing for trout and bass fishing: Outdoors column

Two of the most popular styles of freshwater angling here in New York and the Northeast, for that matter, bass and trout fishing, have a lot of differences.

A surprisingly wide gulf.

Maybe the differences in the fish themselves brings out the contrast in the way we go about angling for them?

We all know that stream-borne trout prefer cool temperatures and well-oxygenated water. Good trout water often cuts through a wooded or sometimes pastoral environs.

And 70 degrees is widely acknowledged as the high-water mark for trout fishing. Brook trout suffer in water temps above 65 degrees according to many experts.

Trout are termed a cold-water species.

Bass, on the other hand, known as a warm-water species, do just fine thriving on cottage-encrusted lakes where surface temps during the summer are this side of bath water. Temps in the low 80s are fine for bass where docks and jet skis can outnumber shoreline trees.

When I was a kid fishing on the Genesee River, we always measured the length of a trout to see how big it was.

"Oh, man, I caught a 14-incher!"

We never cared or were concerned one bit how heavy a trout was. Never thought about a lot of things, but certainly never thought about the weight of a fish.

But bass fishermen dwell on the opposite method for size determination.

Length of a bass is much less important. Weight is the critical determination, not length in contrast to trout fishing.

For example, just look at weigh-ins at bass tournaments: "The biggest bass caught during the tourney was a real hog, a six and a half pounder."

Bass tournament wins, equating to thousands of dollars, are sometimes determined by no more than a few fork-fulls of filet.

Another way trout and bass are different is in the way they are picked up, hoisted by the successful angler … quite differently.

Trout fishermen never "lip" a trout, no matter the size.

For one thing, a trout angler would not be considered the sharpest tool in the shed if a thumb was placed in a 20-inch brown trout's mouth on purpose. However it would be an excellent opportunity to open the First Aid kit presented 10 years ago for Father's or Mother’s Day.

News flash: big trout have big sharp teeth.

But on the other hand, the biggest lunker bass in the lake has teeth only slightly more abrasive than course grade sand paper.

Differing techniques to fish for bass and trout

Differences between the evolutionary characteristics of bass and trout are not any greater than the comparison of the differences in the techniques anglers use to go after them.

I like to think of the classic fly fisherman, carefully wading a quiet forested stretch on a pristine trout stream, watching the water for insect life, hatches, or swirls, maybe a bulge in the surface film where a gastronomically-inclined brownie is dining on midges and May flies with Latin names, always seeming to be changed and updated by taxonomists, and much longer than the bugs they designate: Paraleptophlebia adoptiva, Emphemerella subvaria, and my personal favorite, the ubiquitous Stenomena canadensis.

We approach bass fishing in a totally different way.

Bass fishing TV programs show bass boats running down the lake with their lower unit trimmed just so. Up on plane and the baseball cap is either turned around backwards or under the seat.

The lake is usually flat with little chop and bass anglers only have to run a couple miles in a few minutes. The steaming coffee mug is under the console in a holder at dawn.

As the bass boat nudges into a cove, or comes up on a point of an island, the motor is turned off and the boat coasts into position.

In one motion, the pilot of the bass boat typically turns the key off, stands up, takes off his pfd (personal floatation device) and drops it on the seat, steps up towards the bow, releases the trolling motor and picks it up, punches the "on" button on the electronic fish finder, as the trolling motor rotates into its bracket.

Almost in the same motion, this bass fisherman picks up his bait-casting rod or flippin' stick, from a few others from the rod locker or off the deck, while leaning back on his pedestal-mounted front seat, stands on one foot, while piloting the trolling motor with a foot pedal (directional and speed) and at the same time begins tossing a lure toward likely bass-holding structure.

Different gear for bass, trout fishing

This quick comparison between bass fishing and fly fishing needs to mention the difference in terminal gear; that is fishing poles, reels, line and hooks. But first of all, we need to touch on terminology.

Fly fishermen don't use fishing poles.

They're called rods.

If you want to make a serious fly fisher wince, ask, "What kind of a fishing pole do you use?"

You undoubtedly will be corrected with a withering look and, "It's called a rod."

"Keepers" for both species of fish are around 12-inches and trophy fish are about the same too, at 20 inches, yet bass fisherman use huge hooks compared to trout fishermen.

The gap between the point of a bass hook and the shank is usually over an inch wide, and that is larger, usually many times bigger than most trout flies, other than streamers!

More: It's time to turn from trout to bass in New York state waters: Outdoors column

And we would be remiss in not speaking of the differences in the two types of vices enjoyed by bassers and trouters.

Bass fishers may enjoy a beer and maybe even "a good pinch" after a successful day on the water while fly fishermen would more often prefer a balanced wine and a cigar.

But the main underlying basis is the same, no matter how different the two types of fishing appear, the burning desire to catch fish is the same and has no measure.

Each revel in the same thrill of having a fish on a tight line as they excitedly fumble for the net.

-- Oak Duke writes a weekly column.

This article originally appeared on The Evening Tribune: There's a vast gulf between fly fishing for trout and bass fishing: Outdoors column