Fly fishing

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

Fly fishing is a sport that pits person verses nature and person verses self. It embraces a wide rang of human emotions and experiences that require self-mastery and a healthy respect for the natural world. A Fly fisher is likely to experience joy and agony, wisdom and stupidity, patience and frustration, as well as a plethora of other emotions in a single outing. The art of fly tying, fastening an assortment of fur, feathers and other materials to a hook with thread, involves proportion, creativity, and precision. Reading the water, i.e. locating fish, requires trial and error investigation, scientific understanding, and intuitive perception. In fly fishing, one casts the heavy line rather than the fly; this involves rhythmic coordination, accuracy, and persistence. Hiking through streams and rivers challenges one’s strength, agility, and balance. Striking and landing the fish require wisdom, patience, and instantaneous decision making. And not least of all, the telling of the “fish story” draws on the person’s sense of humor, imagination, and memory recall. At each step in the process the fly fisher has the opportunity for success or failure. Often, as in life itself the failures are frequent, but they only add savor to the sweet taste of success. If an angler gets “hooked” on fly fishing, there many fly fishing clubs and organizations around the world that seek to educate their members, provide camaraderie and friendship, and promote good stewardship of the environment.

History

The use of an artificial fly lure was first 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.

Modern fly fishing originated on the fast, rocky rivers of Scotland and Northern England. The first detailed writing about the sport comes in two chapters of Izaak Walton's Compleat Angler which were written by his friend Charles Cotton and described fishing in Derbyshire Wye.

British fly-fishing was enhanced in the 19th Century, with the development of dry-fly techniques used on 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 in these rich rivers tend to grow very close to the surface, making traditional wet fly fishing impossible. The fly would snag in weeds long before it reached a trout. It became necessary to develop new techniques that would keep the fly and the line floating on the surface. These became a foundation for later developments.

Lines made of silk, instead of horse-hair, were heavy enough to be cast in the modern style. Charles Cotton and his predecessors fished their flies with long rods, and light lines allowing the wind to get the fly out to the fish. The use of new woods in fly rods, first Greenheart, then bamboo, made it possible to cast flies into the wind on silk lines.

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 hollow core that were superior to anything developed before.

In the late 19th century, anglers, such as Ray Bergman, in the Catskill Mountains of New York began using the fly to fish the region’s many trout-rich streams such as the Beaverkill and Willowemoc Creek. Many of them wrote about the practice and invented new flies, drawing yet more anglers to the region, which is still considered the birthplace of American dry-fly fishing. 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.

Participation in American flyfishing peaked in the early 1920's in the eastern states of Maine and Vermont and in the midwest spring creeks of Wisconsin. Ernest Hemingway helped to popularize fly fishing, and deep-sea fishing, through his works of fiction, including The Sun Also Rises and The Old Man and the Sea.. In the late 20th Century, interest in flyfishing surged as many discovered the tranquil nature of the sport. Books, movies such as A River Runs Through It, cable fishing shows, and a competitive fly casting circuit added to the sport's development.

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

Though fly fishing was originally developed as a method for catching trout and salmon (salmonids), it now extends to warm water species such as bass, bluegill, and carp, and numerous saltwater species like permit, snook, jack, tarpon, etc.

Fly Tying

The fly tier, one who ties flies, uses a thin thread to fasten fur, feathers and other materials onto a hook. These flies are created in sizes and colors to match naturally occurring food or simply to excite the fish. There are two basic types of flies typically used by the fly fisher. They are dry flies and wet flies.

Dry flies imitate emerging and flying insects or terrestrial bugs (grasshoppers, beetles, spiders, etc.) and are tied with materials that tend to float, such as feathers that are hackled (wrapped) around the hook to create numerous surfaces that allow the fly to rest on the water’s surface tension. Dry flies are often coated with a floatant and sit on the surface of the water. When fishing for trout, the fly fisher will often cast the dry fly upstream in moving water and allow it to drift into the feeding area of a rising fish.

Wet flies are fished beneath the surface of the water and are created to imitate various underwater stages in the life cycle of insects (macroinvertabrates), small baitfish, or crayfish. Types of wet flies include nymphs, streamers, and true wet flies.

Fly Casting

Fly rods are relatively light and long while the fly line they cast is relatively heavy. The line provides the casting weight. The fly line may be tapered and of differing densities causing it to float or sink. The line is matched to the rod according to a weighting system. The fly itself may weigh very little and is normally attached to the fly line by a 2-3 meter leader which may taper to a very fine line at the tip end, also called the tippet.

The main difference between fly fishing and other types of casting is that in casting, you are using the weight of the lure to "throw" it out (much like throwing a baseball). In fly fishing, the "fly" is virtually weightless and you are using the weight of the line to place the fly in the desired location. A fly line can be "cast" without any fly or lure on it at all, a feat that would be impossible with a typical casting rod and reel. Through this method, an angler can present a fly gently and under control instead of plopping down with a big splash. Stealth is often critical in fly fishing.

Popular locations

North American fly fishing for trout is now generally centred in the western states and provinces with Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, British Columbia and Alberta, and California holding the most interest. The city of Calgary, Alberta holds the distinction of having one of the world's best trout rivers (thanks to nutrient rich runoff from the city's waste water sewage) run through the centre of the city, although West Yellowstone is arguably the center for Western Fly Fishing in North America. Famous North American waters include the Henrys Fork (home to Mike Lawson) and Silver Creek (Ernest Hemingway's favorite haunt) in Idaho, the Yellowstone and the Blackfoot & Madison in Montana, the Deschutes, the North Umpqua and the Rogue rivers in Oregon, the Pitt, Hat Creek, the Owens and the East Walker in California, Lee's Ferry on the Colorado River in Arizona, the San Juan in New Mexico, the Upper Delaware and the Green River in Utah, and the Arkansas, the Frying Pan, the South Platte and the Blue River in Colorado, and the White River in Arkansas.

The Golden Triangle of flyfishing is a geographic area described by an equilateral triangle with Glacier National Park as the apex and the lower corners encompassing Yellowstone Park and much of eastern Idaho.

Although not as widely popular among fly fishers as the west, other regions including the Canadian Maritime provinces and Newfoundland and Labrador, the upper Great Lakes region (in both the U.S. and Canada), New England and most of the Appalachian corridor also offer abundant opportunities for fly fishing for trout. Many of the traditional “Holy Waters” of North American fly fishing can be found in these areas: New York’s Beaverkill, Michigan’s AuSable and Two Hearted (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, Pennsylvania’s Letort, Penns Creek, and numerous others. There are also tens of thousands of miles lesser known but very worthwhile streams.

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. 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.

Salt-water fly fishing has 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 sport fish.

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, where many believe holds the largest runs of salmon species in the world.

How to

The fly angler uses a rod longer and lighter than those used for cast and spin fishing. Fly fishing rods can be as short as 2m (6 ft) long in freshwater fishing and up to 4 m (14 ft) long for saltwater or spey rod fishing. The average freshwater rod is around 8 to 9 feet in length and weighs between 2 and 5 ounces, though a recent trend has popularized lighter, shorter rods.

There are several types of casts in fly fishing that are used in a variety of situations. The most common cast is when the angler whisks the fly rod forward and back using primarily the forearm and upper arm, using the wrist to soften the motion. Generally, the rod is moved from the 10 o'clock position to the 2 o'clock position without letting the line touch the water or ground. The objective of this motion is to "load" the rod tip with energy and allow the energy to travel the length of the fly line creating distance and control. This motion, known as 'false casting', can be used to pay out line, dry a soaked fly, reposition a cast, or show off one's casting abilities. False casting continues until the desired amount of fly line is airborne: perhaps as little as 3m (roughly 10 feet) for small streams, but averaging around 10m (30 feet) in most freshwater conditions. Anything over 18m (60 feet) in freshwater is likely to impress fellow anglers more than the fish, but many saltwater situations call for casts well beyond 25m (82 feet).

When a 'false cast' is 'released' the line floats gently down to the water. Casts are made to an area of the stream represented by a "bioenergetics model". This model represents where a fish in a stream can maximize it's food intake while minimizing its energy output. 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 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. After several moments the angler withdraws the fly by pulling in a small portion of line by hand (this is called 'tending' the line), then lifting the tip of the rod. The angler then makes another presentation, perhaps after a few false casts. 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 he eliminates the slack in the line to get the fish 'on the reel' in order to use the reel's mechanism ('drag') to slow the fish's runs.

Another aspect of fly fishing is choosing the appropriate 'fly'. While flies originally were made to imitate flying insects, they have evolved to match the diets and stimulants of the targeted species. These can be: aquatic larva and pupae, fish, eggs, worms, grasshoppers, mice, frogs, leeches, etc. Other types of flies are simply 'stimulators' which are used to anger or trigger a natural aggressive response from species such as spawning salmon.

Fly fishing for trout usually takes place in small streams and ponds, as well as rivers or lakes; although the basics are the same, methods and flies vary. Methods and flies also vary substantially across regions and countries. The UK, the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Tasmania, Patagonia and parts of Europe are probably the most common destinations for freshwater trout fishing. World destinations include parts of South America on the Amazon as well as the Patagonia region.

Fly Rods

As stated, most fly fishing 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 the famous masters (Leonard, Dickerson and Winston to name but three) in good condition may fetch prices well over US$2,000, and new rods from competent contemporary builders may bring nearly that much. These rods offer grace and form, and they demand a 'slow' or 'soft' casting style that's beautifully suited to refined, leisurely fishing. In competent hands, they provide more than adequate performance in most freshwater trout fishing situations.

On the other hand, fly rods made from man-made materials generally offer greater versatility, durability and performance than bamboo, and they require less maintenance. Fiberglass rods became popular in the years following World War II, but by the late 1980s, graphite rods had emerged as the material of choice for that mass market. Some makers are currently experimenting with new technologies and high-performance materials such as boron, but graphite rods still cover the broadest range of fly rods for all purposes, from 'ultralight' to two-handed spey rods to serious saltwater rods built to cast exceptionally long distances and deal with strong winds.

See also:

• Fly lure
• Amadou

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Berenbaum, May R. (1995). Bugs in the System: Insects and Their Impact on Human Affairs. Perseus Publishing, 264-268. 
• Radcliffe, William (1974). Fishing from the Earliest Times. Ares Publishers, Inc.. 

External links

• Directory of fly fishing links

da:Fluefiskeri de:Fliegenfischen es:Pesca con mosca gl:Pesca con mosca it:Pesca con la mosca ja:フライ・フィッシング sl:Muharjenje fi:Perhokalastus sv:Flugfiske

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