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Dry Flies and How They Are Made
from: Fly Fishing 101Fly 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Artificial flies were originally made using natural materials like feathers, fur, wool and similar materials.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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Fly Tying News
Fly fishing fair & swap and sell
Redding is in the center of some of the best fly-fishing in Northern California. In order to create more awareness of the sport and the great fly fishing opportunities available in our area, the Shasta Trinity Fly Fishers are holding a free Fly Fishing Fair & Swap and Sell at the Caldwell Park Pavilion area on Saturday, Oct. 2 from 8 a.m until 2:30 p.m.
Read more...Sac fly gives Phillies edge over Brewers
Placido Polanco hit a tying sacrifice fly and Wilson Valdez hustled home with the go-ahead run on an errant throw on the same play, lifting Roy Halladay and the Philadelphia Phillies to a 5-4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday night. Philadelphia Phillies - Roy Halladay - Milwaukee Brewers - Plácido Polanco - sport
Read more...Gold Rush Cup Fly Fishing Challenge
The Gold Rush Chapter of Trout Unlimited, based in Dahlonega, Ga., has decided to expand its annual Gold Rush Cup Fly Fishing Challenge into a two-day event this year. The second annual event will take place this fall on the beautiful and picturesque waters of the Chestatee River.
Read more...Gallardo comes back down to earth
Brewers SP Yovani Gallardo pitched seven solid innings on Monday against the Cardinals, allowing two runs off four hits. The right-hander gave up a sac fly in the first inning before settling down over his next four. Then in the sixth, Gallardo uncorked a wild pitch that allowed the game-tying run to score. He worked a perfect seventh but left with the game tied at two. Gallardo struck out four ...
Read more...Molina hits a grand slam, Cardinals beat Brewers
Yadier Molina simply wanted a sacrifice fly. Instead, Molina's grand slam capped a six-run eighth inning and the St. Louis Cardinals overcame Corey Hart's two homers to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 8-6 on Monday. The Cardinals had taken a 4-2 lead in the eighth, and Molina came up with the bases loaded and one out.
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