The A-Z of Fly Fishing
Fly Fishing Offers Unique Challenges
Most probabaly fly fishing is one of the most long standing methods of catching fish. While most consider fly fishing a sport in the distant past it would have been an important technique used to catch fish for the table or for profit.
Fly fishing is one of the most challenging sports around and a great many folk enjoy spending quality time either on the banks or chest high in the water of many lakes, rivers, lochs and streams as well as, in some places, the waters of the sea. Of the many aspects of angling fly fishing is one of the most unique not only in the fly fishing equipment used but also in the method itself. The earliest written reports of fly fishing date back to the early eighteenth century and the great skill required has led to many calling it an art.
What is Fly Fishing?
Fly fishing is the method of catching fish with the aid of a fly. The fly fishing fly is an artificial lure created to both look like, and behave like, the natural food on which a fish may feed. Due to the nature of the technique and the type of lure used it is necessary to use a specially designed fly fishing rod, reel and line so to maximize the way it appears to be natural to your quarry and thus attract more fish.
Fly Fishing Techniques
With traditional fishing techniques, casting is done with the weight of the lure or bait leading the line into the water. With fly fishing, the fly is too light to pull the line and the casting technique involves throwing the line onto the water, which in turn sends the fly to the desired spot. Trout and salmon are the traditional targets for fly fishing, but many other species such as bass and panfish are also popular among fly fishermen.
The sport continues to attract anglers with many of them challenging themselves to catch as many different species of fish as they can by fly fishing. It is also growing in popularity to send a fly into the ocean for tarpon and other game fish, although the equipment used will much more durable than that used on lakes and in streams.
Casting Techniques Vary By Location
The method used to cast a fly line can be compared to whipping a rope on the ground to remove a kink in the rope. The line attached to the rod is lifted over the head and sent behind the angler and then rolled forward towards the target. This process is repeated several times when fly fishing until the line is out far enough to reach the desired position on the water.
There are two basic types of flies used in fly fishing, the dry fly, which is designed to stay on top of the water and the wet fly, which has a tendency to submerge, mimicking the actions of a natural prey for the fish. The flies used in fly fishing are usually tied by hand and designed to replicate the various stages of growth of a specific insect. Depending on the time of year, the fly can resemble an insect in its earliest stage and progress through adulthood, attracting the fish expecting the delicacy during that time of year.
~ The A-Z of Fly Fishing Team
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