ResearchThe Fine Art of Fly Fishing
So a guy walks into a bar with a rod and bait box, and the bartender says "Where are you going with that?", and the guy says "I'm going fly fishing!", and the bartender asks, "What do you do with the flies after you catch them?" This is one of the rare occasions where the bartender actually gets to say the punchline.
For most people, fishing is just fishing. It's all engineering instead of art. You just throw some bait on a line, toss it in the water and wait for a nibble. But for fly fishing enthusiasts, it's so much more that it's a way of life. As an ancient angling method, fly fishing is a method that was initially developed mainly for catching trout and salmon. Since that time, however, it is also used to catch pike, carp, bass and other species. Most historians credit the use of an artificial fly lure as first being recorded by the a Roman who answered to Claudius Aelianus, near the end of the second century. Modern fly fishing originated on the swift, craggy rivers of Scotland and Northern England. Little was written on fly fishing until "The Treastise on Fishing with an Angle" was published in 1496 within The Book of St.Albans. This book contains, along with instructions on making the rod, line and hook, dressings for different flies to use at different times of the year. But all we modern folk have to do is buy it at the store. See how lucky you are?
Fly fishing uses an artificial fly as bait, which is tied to a hook. The idea is to create an illusion that will match a natural vision of a food animal to attract the fish. Fly rods, which are used for fly fishing, are lighter in weight than standard fishing rods, but long in their design. The lines, themselves, are also heavier in order to provide the casting weight. The lines may be designed to either float or sink and are typically matched to the fly rod according to their weight.
So, what is the big difference between fly fishing and regular fishing? It can't be just the equipment. The main difference in fly fishing and regular casting is that with regular casting, you use the weight of the bait to throw out the line, while fly fishing uses a weightless bait and a weighted line that directs the actual placement. There are several types of casts in fly fishing, which are used according to a given situation. The most common is the forward cast, where the angler whisks the fly into the air, back over the shoulder and then forward, using primarily the forearm as if you were cracking a whip. The line will travel a considerable distance.
Casting without landing the fly on the water is known as 'false casting', and may be used to do any one of paying out line, drying a soaked fly, or repositioning a cast. Other casts are the roll cast, the single and double haul cast, the tuck cast, and the side, or curve cast, and one of which could have a whole article devoted to them in themselves. Fly fishing is commonly done in two different forms, consisting of either dry or wet. Dry flies are coated to sit atop the water's surface, where wet flies are placed beneath the water's surface in an attempt to lure fish.
In the most common technique, the dry fly is supposed to float. This presentation of the fly onto the water and subsequent movement on or under the water is one of fly-fishing's most difficult aspects. What we're trying to do is make it behave just like an insect landed on the water. The effect is easily spoiled 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. At a certain point, depending upon the action of the fly and water currents, the angler then makes another cast. If a fish strikes, the angler pulls in line while raising the rod tip, which sets the hook in the fish's mouth. The fish is then played, either by hand while the angler continues to hold the fly line to control the tension applied to the fish, or by retrieving all slack in the line, utilizing the reel's drag to slow the fish's runs.
The best advice for the aspiring fly fisher is to have some patience. It takes practice and skill, and not everybody can master it. Hence, it is fishing raised to an art.