Fly Fishing

Fly fishing is a method of angling thought to date back to Roman times. It consists of using a hook decorated to resemble some form of insect as the bait.

No additional end tackle is used, with all your casting weight being inside the special "flyline" used (which is more like Washing line than normal Monofilament fishing line), additional casting power is provided by the action of the special "fly rod", and special "flycasting" techniques used to put your fly out to where you want it.

The rods & lines used can be easily matched both with each other + the task required thanks to the "AFTM" (American Fly-Fishing Tackle Manufacturers) rating system, with AFTM#1 being the lightest (usually for fishing small streams for small trout of around 8oz) while an AFTM#10-12 is used for Salmon Fishing, Pike fly fishing + Tropical Saltwater fly fishing. The most commonly recommended for those starting this kind of fishing being a half way AFTM #5/6 or AFTM #6/7.

The primary target species of fly fishermen are game species (fish of "Salmonid" genus), such as:

• Salmon
• Trout
• Char / Charr
• Grayling

Though it is increasingly being used to catch non-game species, such as Pike (Esox lucius) + other species referred to in the United Kingdom & Mainland Europe as "Coarse Fish" (e.g. Carp, Roach, Rudd, Perch, etc.).

It is also used in tropical climates for "Tropical Saltwater" fly fishing, for species such as "Bonefish" (Albula vulpes) & "Tarpon" (Megalops atlanticus) - both regarded as among the hardest fighting fish you can catch (the Bonefish having a reputation of being able to strip over 100yrds of line off a Flyfishing reel within seconds).

Recommended Further Reading[edit]

John Bailey's Complete guide to FlyFishing (New Holland Publishing) - ISBN 1580112331

External links[edit]

• Guide to the tackle needed to start fly fishing
• History of Fly Fishing