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What is Fly-fishing?

An introduction by Terry Lawton

The following article is intended as an introduction to fly fishing and will, I hope, be of interest to people who have discovered this site and do not fish, are, perhaps thinking about learning to fish, or even coarse fishermen who are thinking of giving fly fishing a go.

Sit on the river bank on a warm spring or early summer's day and if there are trout in the river, sooner or later you will see a swirl in the water and a series of rings making their way down stream. The swirl was a trout taking a fly and as he poked his nose through the surface of the river, he made the rings which gave away his position. This is what every fly fisherman wants to see. Sadly, it does not always happen. Although fly fishing is at its best on warm, sunny days, great sport is to be had when the weather is less than perfect, particularly at the end of the season.

There really is more to fishing than simply catching fish. Fishing is not always fun if it is too easy. Needs to be difficult enough to be challenging and rewarding if fish are caught. But if it is too difficult and you can't catch anything, then that is not fun either.

Fly fishing is the most challenging, intriguing and frustrating way of catching trout. It is not always the best or most effective but it is the most demanding and rewarding. Fly fishing, whether you are fishing a river or stream, lake or reservoir, falls into two main areas: dry fly fishing and nymph or wet fly fishing. Dry fly fishing is what most people think about if they do, in fact, give fishing any thought. Both forms use an artificial fly tied from feathers, thread, hair and fur designed to represent usually, but not always, some type of natural fly that is likely to be eaten by a trout. The artificial might represent the nymphal or underwater form of a fly that has not yet hatched or the winged insect as it sits on the surface of the water.

Like the natural insect it is tied to represent, the artificial fly has no weight. This poses a challenge to the fisherman: how to propel the fly to the trout. Over the years very special rods and lines have been developed to overcome this problem. Anything to be thrown or cast must have some weight - try throwing a feather. In fly fishing the weight is provided by a thick, heavy line. The weight of line is matched to the fly rod and by waving the rod backwards and forwards, energy is created and it is this energy which propels the fly towards the quarry. While expert casters can cast enormous distances, most fish are caught within 5 to 10ms of the angler.

Dry fly fishing

The best known and classic form of fly fishing is dry fly fishing. The fisherman uses an artificial fly (made from thread, fur, feather, tinsel etc) tied to imitate a real fly, which he casts so that it will float on the water, pass over a feeding trout which will rise and take it. When hooked, the fisherman tries to control the fish's attempts to escape, tiring it enough either to bring it to hand so that it can be released unharmed, a retrieved from the water with a landing net and then dispatched quickly with a priest, so named because it is used to administer the last rites.

Perhaps the main appeal of dry fly fishing is that everything can be seen. The angler casts to a rising fish, he can see his fly on the surface and he will see the trout rise and take his fly. But - and this is a big but - the majority of trout feed underwater. This leads us on to nymphs.

Nymph fishing

Nymphs are the underwater form of many of the flies that trout eat. The eggs laid by flies in the river or lake hatch and the result is a nymph which makes its way to the surface where it hatches into a fly. Nymph fishing uses imitations of the different nymphs which are fished underwater. To many fishermen, nymph fishing is much more challenging than dry fly fishing, primarily because the action takes place below the surface and you can see much less of what is happening. Don't be put off by this though, persevere and learn to fish nymphs if you want to be able to catch trout consistently.

On rivers anglers fish upstream in general as there is less chances of a fish seeing you as they can't see behind them. Mountain and moorland streams more likely to be fished with wet or sunken flies and thus downstream.

Tackle

There is a bewildering amount of tackle available and it can be difficult for the novice to decide what is and is not needed. The essentials are a fly rod, reel, line, cast and flies; something to make dry flies float; a priest to despatch fish when caught; a box to keep flies in; nylon to tie on the end of the cast (to which the fly is attached) and a pair of scissors.

There are thousands of patterns of flies available, some designed to catch fishermen rather than fish! Each area will have its own favourites although there are, of course, many many flies that are effective anywhere in the world that trout are found and fished for.

How to start

The best way to start fly fishing is either to go on a course or find a friend who will show you the basics. Talk to friends who fish: if they don't, one of them know someone who does. The annual Game Fair (held late July) and Chatsworth Angling Fair (at the beginning of May) offer basic casting instruction and information on courses available around the UK, many of which are run by the Salmon & Trout Association. Much useful knowledge can be gleaned from books. Read this review of Flyfishing For Dummies - while this book has its faults, it's very strong on the atmosphere of fly fishing.

What are the good points of the sport? It is one of very few sports where you can make the most important pieces of tackle - rods and flies. Moving quietly along river bank or around lake is an ideal way to observe wildlife which is often unaware of one's presence. Fly fishing enables one to get away completely from all the stresses and strains of daily life

Other rewards include an enormous number of books on all aspects of fly fishing: some are works of literature others simply pedestrian. But with so much of fishing, you never know when you are going to find a gem. Almost any book on fishing will help you to get through the long closed season.

What are the bad points? The worst must be the start of the closed season (but it is an opportunity to tie flies, make and overhaul tackle etc). And the propensity to get into major tangles usually just as a fish starts rising.

A final warning. If you are tempted to have a go, fly fishing is a drug - if you get "hooked" (pun intended) - and your life will come to revolve around this most wonderful of sports.

For an introduction to the tackle you will need, check my BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO ESSENTIAL TACKLE article.