Beginner Fly Fishing

by Michael Adams

The purpose of this article is to help the beginner fly fishing. The terminology and the basic methods used in fly fishing may be unknown to the beginner fly fishing person, so we will start from the very beginning. Therefore, if you are a beginner fly fishing person, please read on.

The instruments required for fly fishing are usually called tackle, although if you want to be more specific about the type of tools you need, you can tack on the words "fly fishing". In this way, you get the phrase: "fly fishing tackle". Fly fishing tackle, or gear, basically consists of artificial flies, a fly rod, a fly reel and fly line. The way it  works is: the fly is attached to the line, which is wound around the reel, which is attached to the rod or pole, which is used to cast the fly or other bait.

In order to be able to cast the fly as far as possible, the line needs to be a bit heavier than other types of fishing line, because a weight is used in other forms of fishing to achieve the same effect. Furthermore, the artificial flies come in all kinds of shapes, sizes and colours to reflect real, live flies or other insects, depending on the type of fish the angler intends to catch.

In general, the artificial fly is made of hair, plastic, feathers, fabric, fur and other materials in order to make the lure as closely resemble as possible the insect or fly most commonly eaten by that particular species of fish at that particular month or time of the day. This means that each fishing spot requires that you select a certain kind of artificial fly that will look like the insects living in the area that your desired type of fish  frequent. Therefore, a type of fly employed in one part of the river may not be as successful as you'd come to expect in another part.

There are variations in the classification of flies too. They fall into two basic overall categories, which are referred to as 'attractive' and 'imitative'. The imitative artificial flies look like real insects, whereas the attractive flies only rely on colour or the reflection of light in order to attract fish without necessarily looking like the fishs' natural prey.

Other classifications are then used to further sub-divide artificial fly fishing lures into: a] dry (resembling grasshoppers, dragonflies, etc. which float on or near the surface of the water); b] sub-surface (resembling larvae, pupae) and c] wet (imitating leeches and minnows and other small fish or fry).

One of the main distinguishing features between fly fishing and non-fly fishing is that fly fishing depends to a greater extent on the weight of the line to get the artificial lure to that part of the water where the fish are schooling, probably at some distance from the fly fisherman. The line is often green and hollow, looking like the plastic coating around thin electrical wiring, so that it will float.

However, non-fly fishing relies instead on the added weight, often made of lead previously, to draw the line off the reel and carry it forward to the right spot, where the weight or even split shot will also take the bait or lure down in the water to the feeding fish.

I hope that this short article has helped the beginner fly fishing person understand basic fly fishing terminology and prctice, so that the beginner fly fishing person can read more advanced articles and talk to experienced fly fishermen with confidence.