Fly Fishing is an angling method that aims to catch fish using artificial flies. Traditionally, salmon and trout are the types of fish caught using this method. But in recent times, a wide variety of fish have been added to the list like pike, carp and striped bass.
As an angling method, fly fishing differs from other methods in its technique for casting. Other methods rely on the weight of the lure to pull the line.
But in fly fishing, the line is cast rather than the lure since the lures used in this method are too light to be cast.
Casting in fly fishing can be compared to the way a whip unfurls when it is being cracked. It is said that a good angler can unfurl his/her line even before he/she does the return motion when casting.
This angling method has been around as early as 200 AD. It was first mentioned in a book entitled ‘Natural History’, written by a Roman author named Aelian.
One chapter of his book mentioned in passing the Macedonians’ way of catching their fish. It talked about how they tried to lure fish using imitation flies that they made themselves.
Based on Aelian’s description, the methods that they used are closely similar to the methods and purpose of the modern-day fly fisher in catching fish.
While it has been around for two millennia, fly fishing remains a relevant and exciting method of angling until this day and will remain so in generations to come.
Fly fishing is an interesting sport with a growing number of people participating. When people start out fly fishing they usually just buy all of the gear that they need, including their artificial flies. Once people get hooked on fly fishing though they often start thinking about making their own artificial flies as a way to stay involved with the sport during the off-season months. While some artificial flies can be tricky to make others are actually well within the abilities of the average fly fisher. Even children can learn to tie artificial flies and this is an excellent way to get them involved in the sport.
The earliest description of tying artificial flies dates back to the 2nd century. Macedonian anglers, fishing on the Astraeus River, had devised a method of fly fishing using artificial flies. These Macedonian fly fishermen started with a hook and then tied red-dyed wool around the hook. They would then tie small feathers onto the red wool to complete the artificial fly. Apparently these fishermen were quite successful with their primitive artificial flies.
18th century American fly fishermen took the design of artificial flies to a new level while studying the trout streams of the New York Catskill Mountains. These fishermen discovered that their success with fly fishing could be greatly improved by designing artificial flies that mimicked the native insects around the stream. These artificial flies successfully fooled the trout into thinking that a real insect had landed on the water. This knowledge gave rise to studying insect hatches to determine which artificial fly would be most successful. Different artificial flies are successful on different water at different times.
Artificial flies were originally made using natural materials like feathers, fur, wool and similar materials. Most artificial flies are now made using synthetic materials. Another recent development in artificial fly design has been the use of the barbless hook. Many fly fishers practice "catch and release" and extracting a barbed hook from a fish after landing it can be quite difficult. While barbless hooks make it somewhat more challenging to keep the fish on the hook they are easier to extract - from the fish or the angler!
Artificial flies are now made in thousands of designs and styles. The number of choices can be quite overwhelming to new fly fishers. All artificial flies have certain basic characteristics though and, despite newer materials and more choices, the basics of artificial fly manufacturing has not changed much in two thousand years of fly fishing. All artificial flies start with a hook. The hook is then disguised to resemble an actual insect that the target fish eat or to attract the target fish with color, motion, etc.
The materials that the hook is decorated with have changed over the years but some of the classic designs have not. Wool, fur and feathers were once common choices for artificial flies. Newer materials include plastic, mylar, foam and metals. These materials are either tied or glued onto the hook in special patterns to attract fish.
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