By: Shannon Brown
Fly-fishing, a fun sport
Fly-fishing is an ancient angling method especially effective in catching trout and salmon. This distinct method of angling uses artificial flies to lure or excite fish. Fly-fishing helps anglers catch the fish easier than the traditional way.
There are two basic forms of fly-fishing, dry flies and wet flies.
Dry flies need coating with floatant in order for it to sit in the surface of the water. Dry flies are mostly effective in upstream and moving water. Dry flies help anglers' spot where fish resides like pools and pocket in streams. Thus, it is easier to detect them and catch the fish.
The use of wet flies is beneath the surface of the water. Wet flies are nymphs, lures and true wet flies. It works as effective as dry flies except that in cases where weeds are many and almost touching the surface, wet flies blends with the weeds and thus may not be as effective as the dry flies.
Fly-fishing was developed in the 19th century, dry fly technique is very effective especially for slower and clearer rivers.
This is because weeds in rich rivers tend to grow closer to the surface, thus traditional wet fly fishing is almost ineffective. Dry fly
fishing is thus useful by keeping the fly and the line floating on the surface. This makes fish excited and aggressive; the angler can then spot the location of the fish and in turn catches fish easier.
Later developments of fly-fishing made this concept as basis, thus in the latter part of the 19th century, anglers develop love for fly-fishing. This gave birth to fly-fishing, the sport among its aficionados.
Various parts of the United States host fly-fishing sports such as in the waters of Catskill Mountains of New York and the provinces of Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, British Columbia, Alberta and California.
Anglers in North America also develop various literatures pertaining to fly-fishing. The sport of fly-fishing and all these literatures gave North America the reputation of being the birthplace of dry fly-fishing, specifically the City of Calgary, Alberta. It is arguably one of the world’s best trout rivers, thus it remains to be the epicenter for the Western Fly Fishing in North America.
Various other states in America keeps the growing number of fly-fishers such as Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Arkansas. The growing number of anglers that are drawn to the sport of fly-fishing keeps the popularity at its peak.
Dry or wet fly-fishing, whichever is more effective in the rivers where you fish will help keep the sport exciting. It may not be long that other countries will learn to love the sport and make it a globally loved sport.
How does fly-fishing work?
Fly fishing uses longer and lighter rods; sizes vary from 2m (6 ft) for fresh water and up to 4m (14 ft) for salt water fly-fishing. Weight for fresh water rods are between two to five ounces.
Popular types of casts in fly-fishing follow its variety in situation specifics. Anglers uses common cast when the angler whisks the fly rod forward and back using his forearm and upper arm, the wrist is used to soften the motion.
The rod movement varies from 10 o’clock position to 2 o’clock position without touching the ground. Anglers do this to load the rod tip with energy and to travel the fly line creating distance and control; they call this motion false casting.
False casting needs to be done to excite the fish or make it aggressive enough so that when the fly touches the surface, it will be sure that the area where the fly touches is where most of the fish are located and thus will be easier to spot and catch them.
Whether you are a fly-fishing aficionado for outdoor excitement or having fun with your family, using the proper equipment will help you develop love for the sport. Keep it exciting and enjoy fishing at its finest in most popular fly-fishing locations in the country. There are many locations, thus you will not have a problem in spotting nice locations for you and your family for this wonderful outdoor adventure.
Shannon Brown is a native of Colorado and an avid fly fisherman. He has created a new website just for fly fisherman. Stop by and visit him at: All About Fly Fishing
Sunday, 16 March 2008
An History Of Fly Fishing
By: D Best
Fly fishing has been around in various forms for many centuries. While we are unable to be exact about the dates early historical records suggest that Macedonian fishermen were using artificial flies to catch fish as early as the second century. The Roman Claudius Aelianus described the Macedonian anglers as using six-foot rods with six-foot line. Aelianus detailed how the Macedonian fishermen would craftartificial flies from a hook with red wool and insect wings tied on. These Macedonian fishermen were apparently quite successful with their technique. There is also some evidence that fishing with artificial flies may even predate the second-century Macedonian techniques.
Unfortunately, little else was written about ancient fly fishing methods. It was not until 1496 before any major published works describing fly fishing were known.It is thought that the origin of modern fly fishing as we know it today probably developed in England and Scotland. Fly fishing techniques similar to modern techniques began to be developed in England during the 19th century.
Around this time fly fishing clubs were also known to have been formed in England to accommodate the growing interest in the sport. A major reason for the interest in fly fishing in southern England was because of the prevalence of shallow, weedy rivers. Fly fishing proved to be well-adapted to this type of water course and enabled those participating in the sport to show off their fishing rods and other fly fishing equipment.
Fly fishing quickly became something of an elitist sport in England. English fly fishing purists insisted on fishing with dry flies only and looked down on wet fly fishing as being inferior. Despite this purist position wet fly fishing continued to be developed around the same time. In North American and Scandinavia fly fishing’s popularity continued to increase during the 19th century. However, anglers in North
America and Scandinavia did not share the English purists’ view concerning the superiority of dry fly fishing. North American and Scandinavian anglers fished both dry and wet flies.
Fly fishing materials have continued to develop over the years. Significant advances have been made in fly fishing equipment, including rods, reel, line, flies, and knots.
Early fly fishing rods were made from a tropical wood known as greenheart. Bamboo replaced greenheart as fly fishing popularity spread. Bamboo rods were further refined as American rod builders developed advanced rod building techniques that involved cutting the bamboo into strips before gluing the bamboo strips back together around a solid core. Following World War II fiberglass became a popular material for fly rod construction. This made the fiberglass rods more affordable than their bamboo predecessors since bamboo rods might take as much as 100 hours to build as they required less labor and finishing time. Modern fly fishing rods are usually made from a graphite compound. Modern rods are now much less expensive than earlier rods and perform exceptionally well.
Artificial flies were originally made from natural materials like feathers and fur. Most modern flies are made from synthetic materials.
Fly line has also been improved quite a bit. Fly fishing line used to be made of horse hair. Horse hair line was replaced by silk line. The silk line was an improvement over horse hair but the line still had to be removed from the reel periodically to allow it to dry.
US interest in fly fishing peaked in the 1920s with Maine, Vermont and Wisconsin being the most popular areas for fly fishing. Interest increased again in the 1950s with the development of affordable, fiberglass fly fishing rods, synthetic fly line, and monofilament leaders.
These developments served to make fly fishing a more affordable sport for many people.
Fly fishing has been around in various forms for many centuries. While we are unable to be exact about the dates early historical records suggest that Macedonian fishermen were using artificial flies to catch fish as early as the second century. The Roman Claudius Aelianus described the Macedonian anglers as using six-foot rods with six-foot line. Aelianus detailed how the Macedonian fishermen would craftartificial flies from a hook with red wool and insect wings tied on. These Macedonian fishermen were apparently quite successful with their technique. There is also some evidence that fishing with artificial flies may even predate the second-century Macedonian techniques.
Unfortunately, little else was written about ancient fly fishing methods. It was not until 1496 before any major published works describing fly fishing were known.It is thought that the origin of modern fly fishing as we know it today probably developed in England and Scotland. Fly fishing techniques similar to modern techniques began to be developed in England during the 19th century.
Around this time fly fishing clubs were also known to have been formed in England to accommodate the growing interest in the sport. A major reason for the interest in fly fishing in southern England was because of the prevalence of shallow, weedy rivers. Fly fishing proved to be well-adapted to this type of water course and enabled those participating in the sport to show off their fishing rods and other fly fishing equipment.
Fly fishing quickly became something of an elitist sport in England. English fly fishing purists insisted on fishing with dry flies only and looked down on wet fly fishing as being inferior. Despite this purist position wet fly fishing continued to be developed around the same time. In North American and Scandinavia fly fishing’s popularity continued to increase during the 19th century. However, anglers in North
America and Scandinavia did not share the English purists’ view concerning the superiority of dry fly fishing. North American and Scandinavian anglers fished both dry and wet flies.
Fly fishing materials have continued to develop over the years. Significant advances have been made in fly fishing equipment, including rods, reel, line, flies, and knots.
Early fly fishing rods were made from a tropical wood known as greenheart. Bamboo replaced greenheart as fly fishing popularity spread. Bamboo rods were further refined as American rod builders developed advanced rod building techniques that involved cutting the bamboo into strips before gluing the bamboo strips back together around a solid core. Following World War II fiberglass became a popular material for fly rod construction. This made the fiberglass rods more affordable than their bamboo predecessors since bamboo rods might take as much as 100 hours to build as they required less labor and finishing time. Modern fly fishing rods are usually made from a graphite compound. Modern rods are now much less expensive than earlier rods and perform exceptionally well.
Artificial flies were originally made from natural materials like feathers and fur. Most modern flies are made from synthetic materials.
Fly line has also been improved quite a bit. Fly fishing line used to be made of horse hair. Horse hair line was replaced by silk line. The silk line was an improvement over horse hair but the line still had to be removed from the reel periodically to allow it to dry.
US interest in fly fishing peaked in the 1920s with Maine, Vermont and Wisconsin being the most popular areas for fly fishing. Interest increased again in the 1950s with the development of affordable, fiberglass fly fishing rods, synthetic fly line, and monofilament leaders.
These developments served to make fly fishing a more affordable sport for many people.
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