[MikeF]

I don't know if I could cast a Sluggo 100'. It doen't seem like it would cast very well.

I could be mistaken by I don't think the FFing laws in Maine or the provinces have anything to do with FFing tradition or purism. I think they are in place to make the FFing only laws enforceable. Otherwise a fellow could fish the water with an ultra light spinning rod and a heavily weighted rod. They are also aimed at discouraging poachers from snagging fish.

Their are certainly many patterns which are marginal in terms of being flies. I have struggled to cast some silicone creations on a flyrod and been able to cast them much further on a surf spinning rod. These flies were not weighted ... at least not with lead.

What if I leave the lead eyes off a Clouser like fly and instead tie it on an extremely heavy duty (and thus heavy weight) hook. Is that a jig. It will probably fish quite a bit like a lightly weighted Clouser on a normal weight hook.

Or what if I tie a flatwing with all the hackles curving downward. When I strip line this fly will tend to hop up in the water column. It sort of becomes an upside down jig. So is this pattern not a fly? Is it an anti-jig? Or whatever?

I find it sort of strange that Armand would say that. I have fished with Armand on several ocassions going back to 1974 or (5). If memory serves me correctly he was using clousers the past several times I fished with him.

I have seen the flies which incorporate plastic curly tails and the like. I personally don't consider them to be true flies. You sort of build them rahter than tying them. But thats only my opinion. If thats what floats your boat, go to it.