Fly fishing

Fly rod and reel with a wild brown trout from a chalk stream.

Fly fishing is a distinct and ancient angling method, most renowned as a method for catching trout and salmon, but employed today for a wide variety of gamefish species including pike, bass, panfish, and carp, as well as saltwater marine species, such as redfish, snook, tarpon, bonefish and striped bass.

Overview

In fly fishing, fish are caught by using artificial flies that are cast with a fly rod and a fly line; the fly line (today, almost always coated with plastic) is heavy enough to send the fly to the target. It is accordingly immaterial that the fly is, for all practical purposes, weightless.

The artificial flies are created by tying hair, fur, feathers and other materials onto a hook with thread. The first flies were tied with natural materials, but synthetic materials are now extremely popular and prevalent in most flies. The flies are tied and material arranged in sizes and colors to match local terrestrial and aquatic insects, baitfish and other fish food attractive to the target fish species. Fly lines are heavier than regular fishing line, some made to float and some heavier to sink.

Unlike other fishing methods that use weight in order to cast baits or lures, fly fishing relies on the rhythm imparted to the rod and fly line, with the fly trailing, to project the offering to a likely spot holding fish. It is similar to sending a wave along a garden hose in order to get a kink out. Holding the rod in the strong hand and the fly line down by the reel with the other, the angler works line out a bit at a time as momentum carrying it forward and backward allows. A common rule is to end the forward cast at 10 o'clock (12 o'clock is rod straight up, 9 O'clock flat forward, 3 O'clock flat backwards) and the backcast at 2. Ideal forward and backcasts would have proper stop points with the fly line laying parallel to the river surface before going in the opposite direction. When desired on the forward cast, as the line pulls forward with momentum imparted by the fly rod, the angler lets go of the line and lets it fly forward, carrying additional slack line out of hands grip. Flyline speed and geometry in the forward and back cast yield a tighter or looser unfurling (referred to as the "loop") of the flyline. The better the rhythm and line control the further and more accurate the cast. A poor cast is quickly indicated by the line becoming entangled.

In fly fishing, flies are either fished on the surface (dry flies), partially submerged (emergers), or below the surface (nymphs, streamers, and wet flies.) An imitative dry fly represents an insect that might land on or emerge from the water's surface, like a grasshopper, dragonfly, mayfly, stonefly or caddisfly. Other surface flies include poppers, hair bugs, that might resemble mice, frogs, etc. Sub-Surface flies are fished to resemble a wide variety of prey including aquatic larvae, nymphs and pupae, baitfish, crayfish, leeches, worms, crabs, etc. Most flies are also categorized as either imitative, meaning they resemble some natural food source, or attractors, which contain a medley of triggering characteristics designed to entice fish without representing a common food source.

History

Most Historians credit the use of an artificial fly lure as first being recorded by the Roman Claudius Aelianus near the end of the 2nd century. He described the practice of Macedonian anglers on the Astraeus River:

...they have planned a snare for the fish, and get the better of them by their fisherman's craft. . . . They fasten red . . . wool round a hook, and fit on to the wool two feathers which grow under a cock's wattles, and which in color are like wax. Their rod is six feet long, and their line is the same length. Then they throw their snare, and the fish, attracted and maddened by the colour, comes straight at it, thinking from the pretty sight to gain a dainty mouthful; when, however, it opens its jaws, it is caught by the hook, and enjoys a bitter repast, a captive.

In his book Fishing from the Earliest Times however William Radcliff (1921) gives the credit to Martial (Marcus Valerius Martialis) born some two hundred years before Aelian, who wrote:

...Who has not seen the scarus rise, decoyed and killed by fraudful flies...

The last word has been translated as either moss "mosco" or flies "musca" but catching fish with fraudulent moss seems unlikely.

Modern fly fishing originated on the fast, rocky rivers of Scotland and Northern England. Other than a few fragmented references however little was written on fly fishing until The Treatyse on Fysshynge with an Angle was published (1496) within The Book of St. Albans attributed to Dame Juliana Berners. The book contains, along with instructions on rod, line and hook making, dressings for different flies to use at different times of the year.

The first detailed writing about the sport comes in two chapters of Izaak Walton's Compleat Angler which were actually written by his friend Charles Cotton and described the fishing in the Derbyshire Wye.

British fly-fishing was further developed in the 19th Century, with the emergence of fly fishing clubs, along with the appearance of several books on the subject of fly tying and fly fishing techniques. In southern England, dry-fly fishing acquired an elitist reputation as the only acceptable method for fishing the slower, clearer rivers of the south such as the River Test and the other 'chalk streams' concentrated in Hampshire, Surrey, Dorset and Berkshire (see Southern England Chalk Formation for the geological specifics). The weeds found in these rivers tend to grow very close to the surface, and it was felt necessary to develop new techniques that would keep the fly and the line on the surface of the stream. These became the foundation of all later dry-fly developments. However, there was nothing to prevent the successful employment of wet flies on these chalk streams, as George E.M. Skues proved with his nymph and wet fly techniques. To the horror of dry-fly purists, Skues later wrote two influential books, Minor Tactics of the Chalk Stream, and The Way of a Trout with a Fly, which were very influential on the development of wet fly angling. In the northern England and Scotland, many anglers also favored wet-fly fishing, where the technique was more popular and widely practiced than in southern England. One of Scotland’s leading proponents of the wet fly for fly fishing in the early-to-mid 19th century was W.C. Stewart, who published "The Practical Angler" in 1857.

In Scandinavia and the United States, attitudes towards methods of fly fishing were not nearly as rigidly defined, and both dry- and wet-fly fishing were soon developed and modified for use in the waters of those countries.

Lines made of silk, instead of horse-hair, were heavy enough to be cast in the modern style. Cotton and his predecessors fished their flies with long rods, and light lines allowing the wind to do most of the work of getting the fly out to the fish. But the use of new woods in fly rods, first greenheart, then bamboo, made it possible to cast flies into the wind on silk lines. These early fly lines proved troublesome, as they had to be coated with various dressings to make them float, and taken off the reel and dried every half-hour or so.

American rod builders such as Hiram Leonard developed superior techniques for making bamboo rods: thin strips were cut from the cane, planed into shape, and then glued together to form light, strong, hexagonal rods with a solid core that were superior to anything developed before.

Fly reels were soon developed as well. At first they were rather simple in terms of mechanical construction, more a less a storage place for the fly line and backing. In order to tire the fish, anglers simply applied hand pressure to the rim of the revolving spool, known as 'palming' the rim. (See Fishing reel).

In the United States, fly fishermen are thought to be the first anglers to use artificial lures for bass fishing. After using fly patterns and fly tackle designed for trout and salmon to catch largemouth and smallmouth bass, they began to adapt these patterns into specific bass flies. Fly fishermen seeking bass developed the spinner/fly lure and bass popper fly, which are still used today.

In the late 19th century, American anglers, such as Ray Bergman, in the Catskill Mountains of New York began using fly tackle to fish the region’s many trout-rich streams such as the Beaverkill and Willowemoc Creek. Many of these early American fly fishermen also developed native fly patterns and wrote extensively about their sport, increasing the popularity of fly fishing in the region and the United States as a whole. The Junction Pool in Roscoe, where the Willowemoc flows into the Beaver Kill, is the center of an almost ritual pilgrimage every April 1, when the season begins. Albert Bigelow Paine was another New Englander who wrote about fly fishing, producing The Tent Dwellers about a three week trip he and a friend took to central Nova Scotia in 1908.

Participation in fly fishing peaked in the early 1920's in the eastern states of Maine and Vermont and in the Midwest in the spring creeks of Wisconsin. Ernest Hemingway helped to popularize fly fishing, along with deep-sea fishing, through his works of fiction, including The Sun Also Rises. But it was the development of inexpensive fiberglass rods, synthetic fly lines, and monofilament leaders in the early 1950s that revived the popularity of fly fishing, especially in the United States.

In recent years, interest in fly fishing has surged as baby boomers have discovered the sport. Movies such as A River Runs Through It starring Brad Pitt, cable fishing shows, and the emergence of a competitive fly casting circuit have also added to the sport's visibility.

A hatchery at Maramec Spring in Missouri raises trout sought after by fly fishermen.

Famous Names In Fly Fishing

Fame in Fly Fishing comes in many forms. Some are consummate technicians and students of the sport. Others are great writers and story tellers. Many are innovators, bringing new techniques, fly patterns, materials and equipment to the sport. And many are pioneers of conservation and preservation of the environment so that the quarry of the sport--fish--have healthy and quality places to live.

Great Fly Fishing Technicians

Joan Wulff - Championship Caster, Runs the premier Wulff School of Fly Fishing in Lew Beach, N.Y., Author of "Fly Casting Techniques"

Vincent C. Marinaro - Wrote one of the most important angling books of the 20th Century A Modern Dry Fly Code and revolutionized American trout fishing with his experiences on the Pennsylvannia spring creeks in the 1940s and 50s.

Ed Mitchell- Introduced many people to the art of saltwater fly fishing in his three books,Fly Rodding The Coast 1995,Fly Fishing the Saltwater Shoreline 2001 and Fly Rodding Estuaries 2003

Preston J. Jennings - Was probably the first American Fly Fishing writer to tie the entomology of trout stream insects to the artifical flies and how to fish them in his 1935 seminal work: A Book of Trout Flies.

Writers and Story Tellers

John Gierach - The consummate Fly Fishing writer of the 1990's and 21st Century. Author of numerous anecdotal and technical books on fly fishing.

The Innovators

Gary Loomis - Founder of G. Loomis Rods, one of the early pioneers of graphite rod technology.

Bob Clouser - Owner of Clouser Flyfishing in Middletown, PA, writer, guide and creator of the Closer Deep Minnow genre of streamers that are used extensively in cold, warm, fresh and saltwater fisheries.

Conservationists

Dan Bailey - Owner of Dan Bailey's Fly Shop in Livingston, Montana is often credited with saving the Yellowstone River in Paradise Valley from being dammed in the 1970s.

Fictional

J. R. Hartley - author of the fictional Fly Fishing in a very popular Yellow Pages advert.

Popular locations

Freshwater fly fishing is practiced throughout the United States, with the greatest number of fly fisherman located in the northern United States and Canada, especially the Rocky Mountain States of Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, California, Alaska, and the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta. West Yellowstone is arguably the hub for fly fishing in North America, though the wild waters of Alaska almost certainly surpass any of the lower 48 states for size and number of fish caught. Famous North American waters include the Henrys Fork River (home to Mike Lawson) and Silver Creek (Ernest Hemingway's favorite haunt) in Idaho, Glacier National Park and the Yellowstone, Bighorn, Bitterroot and Madison Rivers in Montana, the Kenai River in Alaska, the Deschutes, North Umpqua, and the Rogue Rivers in Oregon, the Pit, Hat Creek, McCloud River, Owens and the East Walker Rivers in California, the Upper Delaware and the Green River in Utah, the Arkansas, Frying Pan, South Platte and the Blue Rivers in Colorado, Lee's Ferry on the Colorado River in Arizona, the San Juan river and Rio Chama in New Mexico, the Nueces and Guadalupe Rivers of Texas, the White River in Arkansas, and the Tellico River in North Carolina.

Other popular fly fishing destinations include the Canadian Maritime provinces and Newfoundland and Labrador, Island Lake river and God's Lake River in northern Manitoba for Brook Trout, the upper Great Lakes region, New England. Most of the Appalachian corridor also offers abundant opportunities for fly fishing, both for trout and for smallmouth bass. Many of the traditional “Holy Waters” of North American fly fishing can be found in these areas: New York’s Beaverkill River, Michigan’s Au Sable and Two Hearted rivers (the latter made famous by Hemingway’s “Big Two-Hearted River” although there is widespread agreement that internal evidence in the story suggests he was actually describing the nearby Fox river), Wisconsin’s Bois Brule River, Pennsylvania’s Letort River, Penns Creek, and numerous others. There are also tens of thousands of miles of lesser known smaller rivers and streams. One of the lesser known rivers in New England is The Upper Connecticut. In Northern New Hampshire close to the Canadian Border the river is a fast flowing stream that feeds many lakes on it's way to Long Island Sound. Brown and Rainbow Trout and Land-Locked Salmon are numerous on The Trophy Stretch in the Pittsberg, New Hampshire area.

In Europe, Scandinavia is a popular destination for fly fishing, especially for salmon, and good trout fishing may be had in the Alpine mountain regions of Austria, Italy, Yugoslavia, Germany, and Switzerland. England is still home to the sport as well, varying from the stunning chalk streams in south to remote hill lochs in the north. In addition to River Test, River Itchen, the Kennet, the Lambourn, and the Avon in the same area of southern England may also be considered legendary. Along with the River Don and the River Dee, Scotland boasts the River Spey after which an entire genre of two-handed fly rods and casting techniques is named. Ireland has some of the most prolific sea trout and salmon fishing known. There is also abundant brown trout, pike, etc. The Connemara Region,along with it's stunning scenery, holds Lakes Corrib,Mask And Conn with spectacular fishing for numerous species. The rivers, streams and estuaries are too numerous to name. Saltwater fly fishing is also rapidly growing in popularity both in the Atlantic and The Irish Sea.

On the other side of the globe, the active geothermal area around Lake Taupo on the North Island of New Zealand is another world-famous trout destination, particularly the Tongariro River near Turangi. Australia also has many fly fishing destinations, especially in the South-Eastern states of Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales. The central highland region of Tasmania has built a reputation for exceptional lake fly fishing.

Salt-water fly fishing has also rapidly expanded in popularity, especially along the Gulf Coast and the Florida Keys for such species as bonefish, tarpon, redfish, and permit, and along the mid-Atlantic and Northeast coasts for bluefish and striped bass. The Bahamas and Belize also provide outstanding opportunities for salt-water fly angling. Christmas Island in the Pacific is famous for bonefish, and various parts of coastal Australia offer a wide variety of saltwater fly fishing action.

In recent years, more exotic locations for reaching native populations of species have become popularized such as Mongolia ( for the largest Salmonid species in the world, the taimen ), and the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, believed to be the site of one of the largest salmon runs in the world.

More and more fishermen are also discovering non-traditional fly rod targets like catfish and carp. The Red River around Lockport, Manitoba is a great place for both these species.

In Castel di Sangro (Italy) there's the International Museum of the fly fishing Stanislao Kuckiewicz.

How to

The fly angler uses a rod longer and lighter than those used for cast and spin fishing. Fly rods can be as short as 2m (6 ft) long in freshwater fishing and up to 4.5 m (15 ft) long for two-handed fishing for salmon or steelhead. The average rod for fresh and salt water is around 9 feet in length and weighs between 3 and 5 ounces, though a recent trend has been to lighter, shorter rods for fishing smaller streams.

There are several types of casts in fly fishing, which are used according to a given fishing situation. The most common cast is the forward cast, where the angler whisks the fly into the air, back over the shoulder until the line is nearly straight, then forward, using primarily the forearm. The objective of this motion is to "load" (bend) the rod tip with stored energy, then transmit that energy to the fly line, resulting in the fly line (and the attached fly) being cast for an appreciable distance. Casting without landing the fly on the water is known as 'false casting', and may be used to pay out line, dry a soaked fly, or reposition a cast. Other casts are the roll cast, the single and double haul cast, the tuck cast, and the side, or curve cast.

Once on the water, the fly may either float or sink, depending on the type of fly and the style of fishing. This presentation of the fly onto the water and subsequent movement on or under the water is one of fly-fishing's most difficult aspects, because the angler is attempting to cast in such a way that the line lands smoothly on the water's surface and the fly appears as natural as possible. At a certain point, depending upon the action of the fly and water currents, the angler then makes another presentation. If a fish strikes, the angler pulls in line while raising the rod tip. This sets the hook in the fish's mouth. The fish is then played, either by hand, where the angler continues to hold the fly line in his hand to control the tension applied to the fish, or by retrieving all slack in the line, utilizing the reel's drag to slow the fish's runs.

Types of Artificial Fly

Another aspect of fly fishing is choosing the appropriate fly pattern (See Fly lure). While the fly was originally invented to mimic flying insects, it has continually evolved to match the considerable diet of trout and many other species. These can be aquatic larva and pupae, eggs, worms, freshwater shrimp, grasshoppers, crickets, crawfish, mice, frogs, tadpoles, sculpin, leeches, etc. Other types of flies are 'attractors' intended to trigger a natural aggressive response from various species, most notably spawning salmon and bass. An attractor is not tied to represent any particular insect or creature. The bass popper is a type of topwater attractor fly. Yet another fly type is the streamer, a long-tailed hair or feathered lure tied to simulate a minnow or other baitfish, and fished below the surface of the water.

Fly fishing for trout, panfish, or bass can be done in rivers, small streams, creeks, lakes, or even ponds - though the basics are the same, methods and fly patterns vary according to the species sought and the environment. Many more fly fishermen are also pursuing other species such as bass, resulting in new types of fly patterns. For example, the weedless, diving fly has been developed to allow fishing for largemouth bass in areas of heavy cover or aquatic growth.

The fly itself can weigh very little and is attached to the fly line by a 3-12 foot (1-4 meter) leader which normally tapers in diameter to a very fine line at its termination, also called the tippet. Most artificial flies range between size #2 (large) and #22 (very small). The principal difference between spinning or bait casting tackle and fly fishing is that spinning or bait casting utilizes the weight of the lure to cast the lure, while a fly is cast by the weight of the line. In fact, a fly line can be "cast" without any fly or lure on it at all, a feat impossible with a typical spinning or casting rod and reel.

In early years of Fly Fishing, flies were characterized by the target species. There were Salmon Flies, Trout Flies and Grayling Flies. As the sport of Fly Fishing became popular in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, there was great debate over the merits of Dry Flies versus Wet Flies and Nymphs. Today, characterizing the types of artificial flies used in the sport is much more complicated because fly fishers target 100s of species around the globe in a wide variety of water types. That demands significantly more diversity in fly types. Additionally, the increasing use of synthetic materials instead of natural materials to construct artificial flies has created types of flies unheard of 100 years ago. The subject is further complicated by the historical characterization of fly types. They have been characterized by several different and many times not exclusive criteria. A Dry Fly was intended to be fished on the surface and resemble adult prey while a Wet Fly was to be fished under the surface and could resemble drowned adults, immature prey or baitfish. The flies were designed and constructed with those techniques in mind. The Nymph as a fly type was designed and fished to resemble immature prey, but the Nymph as well was a Wet Fly as it was fished under the surface. Nymphing was also a technique and Wet Flies could easily be fished using a nymphing approach. The Streamer, popularized in the 1930’s by Ray Bergman in Trout (1938) and later by Joseph Bates in Streamer Fly Tying and Fishing (1950) is also a Wet or sub-surface fly type. Most Salmon and Steelhead Flies, named for the target fish, are of a Streamer type, but there are also Dry Steelhead flies. Flies intended for saltwater species are fished both on the surface as well as sub-surface. There are even flies intended to resemble roe and rotting flesh. Indeed any fly type taxonomy would have a lot of overlap.

In 1856 Charles F. Orvis founded The Orvis Company in Manchester, Vermont. Orvis has been selling artificial flies for 150 years. In their 2007 fly fishing catalog, they use the following taxonomy to categorize fly types:

Fly Category	Sub-Categories and Examples
Dry Flies and Emergers	Mayflies, Olives, PMD/Sulphurs, Gray/Tan/Brown, Green Drakes, Tricos, Spinners, Caddisflies, Prospecting Flies, Midges, Terrestrials, Stoneflies
Nymphs	Prospecting Nymphs, Beadheads & Tungheads, Mayflies, Caddis, Stoneflies, Midges, Crustaceans, Eggs & Worms
Streamers	Muddlers & Sculpins, Traditional & Bucktails, Zonkers & Matukas, Buggers & Leeches
Wet Flies	Soft Hackles, Classic Wets
Saltwater Flies	Baitfish Imitations, Bonefish/Permit, Crab Flies, Tarpon, Striper/Blues/Bonito/False Albacore, Snook/Reds/Sea Trout, Barracuda Flies, Sailfish/Marlin/Tuna Flies
Bass and Panfish Flies	Poppers, Hair Bugs, Crawfish, Eels, Shad Flies
Salmon and Steelhead Flies	Steelhead Flies, Atlantic Salmon Flies

Farlows of London, established in 1840 and currently in business at 9 Pall Mall in London, UK sells its flies using the following taxonomy, not that much different from Orvis. Probably the largest difference between the UK and US characterization of fly types is the Streamer (US) and Lure (UK) label:

Fly Category	Sub-Categories and Examples
Dries
Lures	Blob Flies, Boobies, Bungs, Fry Patterns, Glass Minnows, Golden Nuggets, Krystal Eggs, Muddlers, Nobblers, Nomads, Tube Flies, Tadpoles, Zonkers
Nymphs	Bead Heads, Mayflies, Damsels, Buzzers, Czechs, Shrimps, Pheasant Tails, Larvae and Pupae
Pike Flies	Bunny Flies, Divers, Bombers
Poppers
Salmon Flies	Salmon Singles, Salmon Doubles, Salmon Trebles, Tubes, Waddingtons, Irish Shrimps
Seatrout Flies	Sea-Trout Spiders, Sea-Trout Tubes
Steelhead Flies	Egg Sucking Zonkers, Sucking Leech, Bullets
Wets
Saltwater	Sea Bass Flies, Bonefish Flies, Tarpon and Barracuda Flies, Shrimps and Crabs, Poppers, Eels

Fly Rods

Sizes and Usage

Fly rod (and line) weights are typically written as Nwt where 'N' is the number (e.g. 8wt, 9wt, 10wt).

All fly rods are matched to an appropriate fly line according to weight. These fly line sizes are marked on the rod, from Size #0, #1, or #2 for the lightest trout and panfish rods, up to powerful and heavy #16 rods for the largest saltwater gamefish.

It is important to use the appropriately weighted fly line with the fly rod. Using too heavy a line or too light on a rod will dramatically effect your casting performance. It may also ultimately warp the rod blank. In general, you can safely go one fly line weight more or less (i.e. using a 8wt or 10wt line on a rod rated for 9wt). There are also rods with multi-line ratings. For example, a rod may be rated 7-8 weight. This indicates it is designed for either a 7 or 8 weight fly line. There are also some triple rated fly rods (e.g. 8-9-10 weight line). The drawback to multi rated rods is that in order to accommodate a wider range of line weights they often loose something in action or flexibility. For example, a rod rated for 8-9 weight line will be stiffer than a straight 8wt but softer than a straight 9wt rod.

Saltwater fly rods are built to handle powerful fish and to cast the usually larger more bulky flies used in the salt over longer distances and/or into strong winds. Saltwater fly rods are normally fitted with heavy-duty, corrosion-resistant fittings and reel seats equipped with fighting butts.

Bamboo and Split Cane

Fly rods vary between 2m (6 feet) and 4m (14 feet) in length. The earliest fly rods were made from greenheart, a tropical wood, and later bamboo originating in the Tonkin area of Guangdong Province in China. The mystical appeal of handmade split-cane rods has endured despite the emergence over the last 50 years of rod-making materials that offer more durability and performance: fiberglass and graphite.

Split-cane bamboo fly rods combine sport, history and art. It may take well over 100 hours of labor to select and split the raw cane, then cure, flame, plane, file, taper, glue, wrap and finish each rod. Quality rods made by famous rod-makers may fetch prices well over US$2,000, and new rods from competent contemporary builders may bring nearly that much. These rods offer grace, form, and, with their solid mass, surprising strength. Bamboo generally demands a 'slow' or 'soft' casting style that is more suited to refined, leisurely fishing. In competent hands, they provide more than adequate performance in most freshwater trout fishing situations.

Synthetic Fly Rods

Today, fly rods are mainly made from carbon fibre with cork being favoured as a grip. They generally offer greater versatility, stiffness, power, and performance than bamboo, are much less expensive, and require less maintenance. Fiberglass rods became popular in the years following World War II, and was the material of choice in fly rod construction for many years. However, by the late 1980s carbon/graphite composite rods (including premium graphite/boron and graphite/titanium blends) had emerged as the material of choice for most fly anglers, offering a combination of stiffness, sensitivity, and feel unmatched by competitive synthetic materials. Graphite composites are especially suited to the construction of multi-piece, takedown 'travel' rods, as the joints or ferrules used in the construction of better-quality graphite travel rods do not significantly affect overall flex or rod action. Today's modern carbon graphite composite fly rods are available in a wide range of sizes and types, from ultralight trout rods to bass fishing rods and two-handed spey rods.

Fly Lines

As mentioned, fly lines come in a variety of forms. They may have varying diameters or tapered sections, or level (even) diameter. A fly line may float, sink, or have a floating main section with a sinking tip. A fly line consists of a tough braided or monofilament core, wrapped in a thick waterproof plastic sheath, often of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). In the case of floating fly lines, the PVC sheath is usually embedded with many 'microballoons' or air bubbles, and may also be impregnated with silicone or other lubricants to give buoyancy and reduce wear. Fly lines also come in a variety of models for use in specific environments: fresh water, salt water, cold or tropical temperatures, etc.

All fly lines are matched to the individual rod according to weight. Because the fly line, not the lure, determines casting, fly rods are sized according to the size of fly line, not the weight of the lure. Fly lines come in a wide range of numbered sizes (from a tiny #0 to a hefty #16) as well as profiles: double-tapered, weight-forward, shooting-head, etc. Most fly lines are only around 90 feet (27 meters) in length, sufficient for sporting purposes, though specialized shooting-head lines with a short, heavy front section and small-diameter backing are often employed for long-distance casting as well as competitive events.

In order to fill up the reel spool and ensure an adequate reserve in case of a run by a powerful fish, fly lines are usually attached to a secondary line at the butt section, called backing. Fly line backing is usually composed of braided dacron or gelspun monofilaments. Backing varies in length according to the type of gamefish sought, from as little as 75 yards for smaller freshwater species to as much as 300-400 yards for large saltwater gamefish.

All fly lines are equipped with a leader of monofilament or fluorocarbon fishing line, usually (but not always) tapered in diameter, and referred to by the 'X-size' (0X, 2X, 4X, etc.) of its final tip section, or tippet. For example, a freshwater trout leader might have a butt section of 20-pound test monofilament, tapering through 15, 12, 10, and 8-pound test sections, terminating in a a 5X (.006" diameter, usually around 4–5 pound test) tippet. A fly line is only as strong as its weakest link, which is the final tippet section.

Fly Reels

Fly reels, or fly casting reels were once thought of as little more than line-storage devices. In use, a fly fishermen strips line off the reel with one hand, casting the rod with the other, then retrieving slack line by rotating the reel spool. Manually-operated fly reels have traditionally been rather simple in terms of mechanical construction, with a simple click-pawl drag system. However, in recent years, more advanced fly reels have been developed for larger fish and more demanding conditions. Newer reels often feature disc-type drags to permit the use of lighter leaders and tippets, or to successfully capture fish that pull long lengths of line/leader. Many newer fly reels have large-arbor designs to increase speed of retrieve and improve drag performance during long runs. In order to prevent corrosion, saltwater fly reels often use aerospace aluminum frames and spools, stainless steel components and sealed bearing/drive mechanisms.

See also

• Fishing reel
• Fishing rod
• Fly lure
• Fly tying
• Bamboo fly rods
• International Museum of the fly fishing Stanislao Kuckiewicz

References

• Berenbaum, May R. (1995). Bugs in the System: Insects and Their Impact on Human Affairs. Perseus Publishing. pp. 264–268.
• Hughes, Dave (1995). Wet Flies: Tying and Fishing Soft-Hackles, Winged and Wingless Wets, and Fuzzy Nymphs. Stackpole Books.
• Radcliffe, William (1974). Fishing from the Earliest Times. Ares Publishers, Inc.
• Ulnitz, Steve; et al. (1998). The Complete Book of Flyfishing. Stoeger Publishing. {{cite book}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |first= (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
• Waterman, Charles F. (1993). Black Bass & the Fly Rod. Stackpole Books.

External links

• Aquatic insects in fly fishing
• 1496 "The Treatyse on Fysshynge with an Angle" fulltext
• Directory of fly fishing links