BAGHDAD SCHOOL OF FLY FISHING HANDBOOK

by

Joel G. Stewart

CONTENTS:

1.                  FLY FISHING INTRODUCTION

2.                  STRUCTURED APPROACH

3.                  FLY RODS

4.                  FLY REELS

5.                  FLYLINES

6.         FLIES

7.         EQUIPMENT ASSEMBLY

8.         CASTING

9.         FISH

10.       HABITAT

11.       FOOD

12.       BEHAVIOR

FLY FISHING INTRODUCTION

So you want to start fly fishing, great!  Some where, at sometime most fishermen have seen someone fly fishing.  Maybe on a stream, perhaps in a movie or even an add in a fishing magazine.  It is a beautiful thing to watch and a good caster makes it seem so easy.  It has an appeal whether it be the art of casting or an angler looking to take his fishing to another level. 

To begin fly fishing, forget what you know about fishing.  Well, not everything, but fly fishing is 180 degrees out from most methods people use to fish (bait casting, and spin casting).  Understanding how it works requires a paradigm shift.  Fly fishing does not require the lure to be weighted, as in other popular methods.  A virtually weightless lure is attached to a line that has weight. In fact, it is easier to cast a flyline without a fly than with one.  The weighted line is cast, pulling the fly along and carrying it to the target.  Any size fly from miniscule midges representing insects only a few millimeters long to huge streamers imitating baitfish nearly a foot in length can be fished with a fly rod.  A fly rod can allow an angler to present fish an offering that may appear more realistic to fish than other methods. 

A fly fisher is often more in tune with his quarry than others.  Not always, but the very nature of the sport requires an intimate knowledge of the fish sought, which other methods often do not.  Fish can be caught by running a hook through a worm at the end of a stick, requiring little or no skill.  The bait is alive, giving off all the vibrations and smells of an easy meal.  To catch the same fish on a fly that only looks like an easy meal requires greater skill.  The bait draws fish from the surrounding water; the fly fisher must put his offering in a narrow window for the fish to see.  If a fish cannot see the fly, the fly will not be taken.  Bait allows an angler to exploit the fish’s sense of smell and touch, the fly does not.   Now the same can be said for an angler throwing artificial baits, but most lures are designed to give off some level of noise or vibrations, again exploiting another of the fish’s senses which the fly fisher cannot.  Additionally, the range of cast and therefore the amount of water covered by spin and bait casting equipment are greater than anything a fly fisher can typically achieve.  Also, spinning equipment does not require as much practice (to begin with or master) as fly fishing tackle.  All these challenges require the fly fisher to understand his quarry, and know precisely what fly to put where for success. 

Europeans came up with fly fishing centuries ago and it has evolved into the sport we have today.  Until the mid-twentieth century rods were commonly made of split bamboo fitted with simple brass reels, silk lines and catgut leaders.  The flies on the end were simple bits of feathers tied on wire hooks.  The past 50 years have seen enormous changes as technology was applied to equipment.  Modern rods are comprised of man-made materials which are both light and strong.  Reels are now machined aluminum with disc drags and large arbors.  Flylines are highly engineered composites coupled with ultra-fine, super-strong monofilament tapered leaders.  Flies too have evolved with technology and in addition to fur and feathers they are made with just about anything, natural or man-made, that can be attached to a hook.

Mention fly fishing to most people and they picture a scene with a man in chest waders on a trout stream.  Fly fish is not solely a method to catch salmonoids (trout and salmon), just about anything that swims in fresh or salt water can be caught with flies.  Most game fish are either carnivorous or at least omnivorous and usually something they eat can be imitated by flies to entice them to be caught.  Flies have been tied to imitate insects, fish, crustaceans, worms, grass, algae and seed pods to catch just about everything that swims. There are number of ways to subdivide fly fishing pursuits, This primer takes a two-dimensional approach, fresh water and salt water.  While the basics of casting remain the same for both, the tackle and techniques vary a great deal.  This primer covers fresh-water fly fishing. The opportunities for fly fishing is salt water are at more numerous and varied than those for freshwater.  Generally, the fish are bigger and often more plentiful in salt water.  The oceans of the world are an amazing play ground for the fly fisher fortunate enough to have access to them.  To cover this dimension would take another book’s worth of information.

The classic fresh water fly fishing scenario was brought into the mainstream when Robert Redford produced a movie based on Norman MacLean’s biographical book A River Runs Through It.  Pristine mountain streams and jumping trout caught the imagination of people all across America and the popularity of fly fishing sky rocketed.  However, often overlooked are the so-called “rough” or “warm water” fish.  No matter where an angler lives, there is likely a creek, river, pond or lake with fish to put a bend in a fly rod.  Often such spot can be fished after work or even a lunch break.  With a few tackle and fly modifications, a wide variety of freshwater fish can be taken on flies. These include all the bass, numerous species of sunfish, pike, pickerel, muskellunge, channel catfish, chubs, shad suckers and carp.  The first few fish in the preceding list are popular game fish, but not for fly fishers.  The last fish, carp is definitely an under-appreciated quarry for fly rodders.  A bonus to fishing for non-traditional species is a lack of competition, as the sport of catching some of these species has not caught on, yet.

FLY FISHING – A STRUCTURED LOOK

Fly fishing can be described as a structure.  A structure built on a foundation of skill sets which support two pillars.  Both pillars must be of equal strength for a stable fly fishing structure.  Too much of one and not enough of the other will lead to an unbalanced fly fisherman.  The first pillar is the fly fisherman who must present an artificial representation of food so it appears like a natural food source.  This pillar is entirely under the control of each individual. The second pillar is the fish and uncontrolled by the angler.  The fish is the angler’s quarry and the stones forming the foundation of this pillar are where and how the fish lives and what it eats.   These pillars are the quintessence of fly fishing.  Skill sets are the building blocks or stones of this structure’s foundation.  Skill is the act of applying knowledge.  Fly fishing knowledge comes from science – biology and physics.  Science from one discipline or another is the basis for nearly everything in fly fishing.    The variety of approaches in teaching fly fishing varies as greatly as the waters where the art is practiced, this primer describes just one.  However fly fishing is taught, nothing works so well as actually fishing.  Getting beginners out on the water casting and dealing with the variables of fish, flies, wind, current and obstructions is the best way for them to learn..  Every time an angler hits the water their knowledge base grows and the supporting stones become bigger, thus stronger under the pillars.  The intent of this primer is to break down the elements of fly fishing in this structure and provide a beginning fly fisher with enough knowledge to begin building the required skill sets.

 HUMAN

Beginning with the human pillar, its foundation is formed by equipment, upon which is laid casting (use of the equipment) and finally flies.  Man is the predator, the top of the food chain and his quarry is fish.  To pursue fish, the angler must have a base of knowledge.  The advantage human has over fish is his brain.  A man’s brain is about the size of  a large grapefruit, a fish’s is about the size of a bean.  The fish knows its environment and is in tune with it.  Man is an intruder who exploits his ability to make tools to overcome the fish’s advantage.  The pillar of human stands upon the stones man can control while the fish column is supported by stones man cannot control, but must understand.  Man becomes a fly fisherman when he can bridge the span between the columns.

Fly fishing has sometimes been viewed as a rich man’s pastime.  Nothing can be further from the truth.  Fly fishing equipment can be expensive, but does not have to be. The equipment does not improve the fisherman’s performance, but rather the fisherman who makes the equipment perform.  Fly fishing is about becoming part of a system, learning how to function within the parameters defined by nature and human.  If the goal were to simply catch fish, then a net or dynamite would suffice.  The goal is to understand the equipment, the quarry and oneself.  When this triad is complete there is a satisfaction than can only be described as tranquil elation.

EQUIPMENT

Jumping into fly fishing can be more than a little overwhelming.  To get on the water without drowning begins with choosing the basic equipment.  The absolute basics required to fish are: a rod, reel, line and fly.  That stated, the beginner will find a vast array of equipment whether they shop on-line or go to a store.  Nothing can replace the one on one service available when shopping at a good fly shop and is the recommended manner for a novice to get outfitted.  Begin by choosing a rod, then matching a reel and a line to it.  They should compose a well-balanced system that the individual is comfortable with.  Next, comes assembly, which is no simple undertaking.  Rigging all the components together can be confusing, bewildering, and down right discouraging without some help. The best place to get assistance is the shop where you purchased the equipment.  Next would be class taught by a professional.  Additionally, fly fishing friends are usually willing to show a beginner how they do it.  Lacking any of those choices, what follows is a list of the basics.

Table - 1

Dissecting equipment into two parts will help in keeping all the information organized.   The first part consists of the rod, reel, and line.   The second is all the tools and accessories which are required to function, but not all the paraphernalia that is so inherent to this pastime.  Many newcomers to the sport are overwhelmed by all the gear that is available.  Above, I have tried to list only the items that are essential to being successful.  Other items may make certain things easier, or more organized, but all you need to catch fish is what is listed above.  

FLY RODS

Let’s look at the rod first.  The first thing a beginner notices is that fly rods are long, much longer than common spin and bait casting rods.   The reason is that the rod is a two function tool.  It is a lever used to impart the energy of the casters arm into the line and as a spring, used to collect and store the inertial energy of the flyline.  A long and complex explanation of all this could follow, however this is a general overview and individuals may choose to later explore the intricacies of fly rod design.  Additionally the fly rod serves to absorb the energy of the fish as it pulls against the line, preventing the line from exceeding its working load and parting.

Up to and through WWII, bamboo was about the only thing fly rods where made of.  Intricate works of art hand made by master craftsmen, they are still popular in some circles.  After WWII, the expanding use of plastics greatly influenced rod construction and by the 1950s fiberglass was the rage.  Then in the late 1970s graphite came onto the scene and most modern fly rods are made of graphite or graphite-fiberglass composites.  With the intended purpose of this primer to be an introduction, fly rod descriptions will be confined to graphite.

The fly rod begins with what is called a blank.  The blank is a long, thin and hollow cone of graphite fibers held together by resin.  The tip of the rod is a shock absorber and should be the most flexible part of the rod. A fly rod is usually divided into two or more parts because of the lengths required (7 to 10 feet).  The junction that allows for joining the parts is known as a ferrule which has male and female ends.  The female ends always open back towards the handle.  The heavy end of the blank is known as the butt, and to this end of the blank the handle and reel seat are attached.   The reel seat is usually metal and contains a stationary hood, a sliding hood

 Fly rods are categorized in three ways, length, line weight and action.  Length is typically from seven to nine feet, though there are extremes on both ends of that scale.  Basically, the longer the rod, the more leverage available and the shorter the rod, the more control the caster has over the line.  Next, is line weight which is explained in detail in the section on flyline, but basically flylines are rated by how the line weighs.  As with rod length, power increases with line size and control decreases.  The user must find the balance of the two that suits their needs.  As mentioned the rod is designed to flex.  The amount of flex in a rod determines what kind of “action” it has.  Action is a term applied to fly rods to describe how it stores and released energy.  A rod stores and releases energy because its conical shape allows it to bend without breaking or kinking.  The energy put into the rod comes from motion – motion of the line and the caster.  As energy is applied to the rod’s tip, the fibers flex in the opposite direction.  This process is called loading and is how the rod stores energy.  When the applied force is removed, the rod will return (unload) to its static state.  Loading and unloading of the rod is one part of the science enabling the caster to throw the flyline.  Action is gauged in three basic categories - slow, medium and fast.  A slow action rod is very flexible, bending easily along most of its length and returning slowly to its static state.  A fast action rod is stiff, bending only in the upper third and snaps quickly back to its static state.  These two ends of the fly rod action spectrum are for those who push envelopes and fish in the extremes requiring specialized equipment.  The rod for the beginner and average fly fisher lies in the middle, the medium action rod.  Slow and medium actions are typically easier to cast, while fast action (stiffer through the entire rod) rods allow for more power transmission into the line for distance and casting into the wind. 

FLY REELS 

Early fly reels where simply a device that allowed for storage of line.  Though more complex, modern reels are functionally not much more.  That is not to say that the reel does not deserve consideration.   Today’s modern reels come in a wide range of size and function.  The basic single-action fly reel is simple, consisting of a spool sitting on a spindle housed in a frame.  The frame attaches to the rod by means of a foot that fits into grooves or a hood on the rod’s reel seat.  The handle is a simple dowel on a spindle and mounted to the spool.  The retrieval ratio is 1:1 – every turn of the handle is one turn of the spool.  Compared to a spin casting reel that may be 4:1 or a baitcasting reel that has a ratio of 6:1 a fly reel does not bring in line very fast.  The line is controlled by the casters free hand and allowed to puddle below the caster’s hand.  The drag can be a simple affair made of a spring-backed pawl that engages a gear on the spool or a more elaborate adjustable disc-drag.   The latter is more expensive than the former, but allows for more versatility in playing fish.  Another feature of the reel is an exposed rim.  That means that the outer portion of the spools rim rides above the frame where additional friction can be applied by the angler.  This is known as palming and allows the angler to instantly control the amount of resistance on the line.  Reels are made of many materials, but typically are machined from aluminum with a few internal pieces being plastic.

Most modern fly reels are available with extra spools.  Not as expensive as a second reel, an additional spool allows an angler to change flylines without unloading and re-loading a reel.  The spool slips off the spindle by simply depressing a lever or button releasing the attached spool so the spare can quickly be put on.  A single reel with two or three spools can greatly increase the depth of a fisherman’s capabilities.

The four things a fly fisher should look for in a reel are size – matched to rod and line with enough line capacity to hold flyline and backing; simplicity – it must be able to be disassembled on the water; drag – the drag must be functional and easy to adjust; and the spool should have an exposed rim.

FLY LINES

The line used in fly fishing is a composite of three lines, the backing, the flyline and the leader which connects the fly to the flyline.  Flylines are just as complicated as rods and reels.  Flylines has only one thing in common with other fishing methods – it is the component in the fishing system tying the angler to the fish.  There end the similarities.  Flylines are not measured by their breaking strength, but rather by the weight of the line.  The weight, in grains, of the first 30 feet of line determines the size.  Sizes run from the smallest, 0 to 16.  Line sizes above 10 are generally for salt water applications.  The line must be matched to the rod and the caster’s style.  The weight of the line loads the fly rod and maximizes the efficiency of the system.  Use a line too light and the rod is under loaded and will not cast well.  The opposite is true for an overloaded rod.  With most modern rods it is a safe bet to go up or down one line size and still be able to cast, but the rod will work best with the line weight it was designed for.  Original flylines were made from spun silk and required a great deal of care to use and maintain.  Silk lines had to be cleaned frequently and rotted over a period of time.  Modern flylines are a composite system, made of a braided nylon core encased in a plastic coating.  The coating allows the line to pass through the guides of the fly rod with minimal resistance and prevents the nylon from becoming water logged and changing the weight of the line.  The nylon gives it strength and weight.  Sand dust and grit will damage the coating on a flyline, but they are very durable.  Flylines still require an occasional cleaning with mild soap and water, but are tough and will give years of service.

Line shape is also a factor.  The shape of a line determines where the weight of the line is carried and therefore the impact on loading the rod.  Lines are level, double taper and weight forward in shape, as shown in Figure 4.  A level line has a constant diameter along the entire length.  A double tapers thickens toward the middle evenly from both ends.  This loads the road earlier than a level line, given the same length of cast.  Additionally, a double taper can last longer, because when one end is worn out, the line can be reversed on the reel using the opposite end.  A weight forward line thickens from the middle to just before the tip, putting most of the weight in the first 30 feet, allowing the rod to load early in the cast.  The diagram exaggerates these tapers, in reality they are spread over the length of the line   Flylines are also designed to access different parts of the water column.  Generally there are thee types, floating, sinking and sink-tip lines.  The most common flyline is a floating line.  As the name indicates this line remains on the surface of the water, making it easy to see and easy to lift off the water with the rod.  Next is the sinking line, which depending on design moves down in the water a few feet a minute.  The longer it is in the water, the deeper it goes.  This line is very hard to pick up off the water and re-cast, but necessary for getting to deep lying fish.  Lastly is the sink-tip line, which has the first 10-20 feet which sink and the rest of the line remains on the surface.  This is the compromise between getting a fly down and the difficulty in picking up a full sinking line.

What size rod and line does the beginner requires depends on the species being pursued. The range for trout rods is usually 3 to 6 though rods as light as 0 are available.  Bigger trout in bigger waters may require a 7 or 8 weight line.  Smaller bass and panfish call for a 5 or 6 weight rod.  Large bass, northern pike and carp will require also require a 7 or 8 weight line.  Most in-shore salt water applications call for 8 weight lines and larger.  Off-shore species such as sharks, tuna and bill fish are pursued with line weights in the teens.  For most beginners a 5 or 6 weight rod is a good starting point.  Once a size is determined the type of line (floating, sinking or sink-tip) should be chosen.  Typically the beginner will be best served with a weight forward floating line.  Additional lines can be added later. 

The first thing a novice notices about flyline is how thick it is.  In order to attach a small fly to the line, a leader is necessary to transition from the large diameter plastic coated fly line to a thin length of monofilament.  The leader has three primary parts – the butt, the mid-section and the tippet.  The butt is heavy stiff monofilament which attaches to the fly line.  The mid-section is lighter more flexible monofilament and finally the tippet is fine supple monofilament.    A flyline ranges from 60 to 90 feet in length.  This is not long enough to play large fish, so the fly reel is filled with line called backing.  Backing is usually braided line rated at 20 or 30 pound test.  Smaller in diameter than the flyline a typical fly reel can hold 75 to 100 yards of backing plus the fly line, giving the fisherman up to 300 feet of line to play a fish with.  Figure 5 depicts the complete system of backing, fly line and leader.   These are the basics on flylines.  With each type and shape of line there are numerous various and designs for specific applications.  Fly casting is very specialized and anglers have adapted many techniques which require special lines.

CHOOSING EQUIPMENT

A great deal of information about rods, reels and lines has been presented here, but the beginner still has not been given much about choosing gear.  This is a very personal decision and several factors are involved.  The bottom line cost is always the first consideration, whether one chooses to admit it or not.  Second is the primary fish and type of water the angler will be on.  Lastly is the individual’s commitment.  If just trying to see if fly fishing is something to be enjoyed, the novice probably does not want to take out a second mortgage.  However, if the fever has set in, then spending the kids college fund may not be out of the question.   Now, working through the selections is actually a process of de-selection.   All decisions stem from the fact that this primer is for beginners.   Starting with cost, the beginner is going to have to buy all the equipment to start and may not want to put out the money to buy the best of everything.   The cost scale for a complete equipment setup begins at about $75.00 for the bargain basement and well over $1000.00 for the higher end.  As with anything, the best bet is in the middle A budget of $300-1000.00 is recommended to begin with disbursed as indicated below in order of priority:

So how does the beginner navigate through all this?  Start by going to a reputable fly shop.  As fly fishing has become more en vogue, a fly shop is probably not too far away.  Go to the rack and start handling rods.  Most stores will accommodate and allow you to test-cast them.  A rod should feel responsive to you. No matter what the salesman says if you don’t like the feel of it in your hand, don’t buy it.  The rod is the caster’s interface with the delivery system and must be comfortable to the caster.  The rod is a conduit, transmitting energy from the caster’s body into the line and must fit the individual.  There is no perfect formula except to experiment with various rods and buy the one that feels best and fits in the established budget.  The reel should be one that is sized for the line weight of the rod, with an exposed rim and easy to operate drag system.  The reel must hold the flyline and at least 100 yards of backing.  It must also balance the rod at or near the mid-point of the handle when loaded with line and backing.  The backing should be strong enough to handle big fish and small enough to allow 100 yards or more on the spool beneath the flyline.   The flyline should be a color that is easy for the angler to see on the water and matched with the rod and reel.  As previously described the larger the number for a flyline, the heavier it is.  The heavier the system chosen, the greater the fatigue felt by the caster.  Again, selection criteria are fish and water.  Generally, the bigger either of the two, the bigger the line required.  However, bigger is not always better, as smaller line weights allow for more delicate presentations.  Without beating around the bush, this primer is meant to help out  a novice, so the beginner who plans to fish for trout  and maybe the occasional bass would be best off by choosing a 8 ˝ foot 5 or 6-weight two-piece rod.  A combination of rod, reel and line in to meet these specifications of a reasonable quality can be purchased for under $2000.00.

EQUIPMENT ASSEMBLY

Normally, none of the gear listed above comes ready to fish, another reason to seek out a brick and mortar store vice on-line shopping.  The money saved on-line is not worth the support absent from e-trade.  However, some people do not have access to a fly shop and must buy from afar. This means the angler must attach the backing to the reel, flyline to backing, leader to flyline, tippet to leader, and fly to tippet before any casting and fishing takes place.

KNOTS

Assembly requires learning and using a few knots.  There is a plethora of information on fishing knots available and the beginner can be over-whelmed.  Outlined here are the basics to get started.  As an angler’s confidence and skill grow, so can their inventory of knots.  The knots will be described in detail in the section that employs them.  Knots literally make or break a fisherman.  Knots join the multiple lines required and weaken any line.  A simple overhand knot can weaken monofilament by as much as 50%.  Another issue with knots is heat caused by friction.  When a knot is tightened, the material of the line or lines, rubs together and the friction causes heat, which weakens the line.  To feel how much heat, take a 3 foot length of 20lb monofilament and pull it through your clenched hand – it will get hot enough to leave a mark if you pull too fast.  To prevent this, each knot tied in monofilament must be moistened by either water or saliva, the latter being the lubricant of choice, due to proximity and ease.  When tightening a knot, pull slow and steady, do not jerk it tight.  Once a knot is tight, test it – better to break a knot just tied than to break with a fish on the line.

Describing knots requires some knowledge of basic terminology.  Knots are used to join two or more lines together while maintaining as much strength in the line as possible.  To practice tying the knots described in this primer, cut two four foot lengths of eighth inch nylon rope rather than trying to tie them with monofilament.  Use an eye-bolt for the eye of the hook.  The cut end of the line is called the tag end.  When describing the leader the thicker tag end is called the butt.  The rest of the line is referred to as the standing line.  The tag end is all the line after the union of the lines being joined, the standing line before the joint.  Turns refer to wraps of the tag end around itself, the hook, standing lines or any combination of these three.  A loop refers to a bend in a line with the tag end being one side of the loop and the standing line being the other.

The list in Table 3 shows the knots used for this primer.  There are dozens of books dedicated solely to fishing knots, but these knots will get a beginner on the water. 

Table 3 - Knots

Putting the line onto the reel is next.  First, find a place to work with a flat working surface and good light.  Some necessary tools are a pair of small scissors, fingernail clippers, a small pair of needle-nose pliers, a pencil, a few small screw drivers, a large needle, and a small plastic straw (a coffee stir stick or cotton swab with the ends cut off).

Begin the process by removing everything from its packaging.  Next, put the reel on the rod (note the rod should not be assembled, yet).  The reel hangs under the rod and is attached to the rod by placing the foot of the reel onto the reel seat at the butt of the rod.  There is a groove at the base of the handle for the forward part of the foot and a sliding hood for the rear of the foot.  The sliding hood is held in place by one or two locking nuts.  Use caution and only tighten the reel to the seat using finger pressure (no gorilla grip or pliers).  The reel's line guard should face forward, with the handle on the free (non-casting) hand’s side.  Ensure the instructions for the reel are available.  Most modern fly reels come set up for left handed operation.  This allows the fisherman to operate the reel with out taking the rod from the casting hand.  So a right-handed caster reels with the left and vise versa for a lefty.  Using one hand to cast and fight a fish and the other hand to operate the reel has more advantages than the switching-hands method.   If retrieve direction conversion is required, the manufacturer will have conversion instructions with the reel, along with operating instructions. It is usually a very simple and straight forward task requiring only basic tools (the screw drivers and pliers listed above). 

FILLING THE REEL

The composite system of backing, fly line and leader which forms the fly line must be assembled by the angler.  The knots listed earlier will be used to assemble all the elements of the flyline.

The first thing on the reel is the backing.  Backing has a purpose other than to provide the angler line beyond the flyline in that it serves increase the size of the arbor (center spindle) of the spool, allowing for quicker retrieval of the flyline.  Use only braided nylon or Dacron line for fly-line backing. Nylon monofilament should not be used for backing, as it stretches. 

Begin by unspooling the end of the backing and pull off about six feet. Thread the backing line down through the rod's largest guide (the one closest to the reel and called the “stripping” guide). Now pass the backing around the reel's spool, entering at the line guard opening (forward and front of reel), passing it around the spool and back out the line guard opening.  Take care not to allow it to pass between any of the reel's frame posts.  Tie an Arbor Knot (Figure 6) with the backing tag end and incoming line, and slip it down tight against the spool arbor (center post). Trim off the excess tag end after the knot has been slipped down tight on the spool arbor.   Place a pencil, stick, or dowel through the hole in the backing spool. Use a bench vise or another person hold the spool as backing is wound onto the reel. Be sure the backing unwinds slowly, under light tension.  Holding the rod's butt section by its handle with one hand, begin winding the backing onto the reel with your other hand. Keep the backing spooling onto the reel evenly by using one of your rod-hand fingers to move the backing back and forth across the spool. Keep reeling under modest tension until the needed amount of backing is on the reel. Be sure to stop reeling before the end of the backing comes through the stripping guide.   The backing has now increased the diameter of the spools arbor.  The increased arbor diameter ensures flyline stored on the spool will not be as coiled as tight.  The flyline is plastic coated braided nylon and much larger in diameter than the backing to which is must be attached.  The union of the two lines must be strong and streamlined.  These criteria are met by using any number of knots, and the Albright Knot is commonly used.

ALBRIGHT KNOT

Use to attach backing to flyline or to join sections of monofilament that vary greatly in diameter (e.g.: tying an 80-lb. shock tippet to a 15-lb. class tippet when saltwater fishing).

Step 1: Form an open-ended loop in the flyline (or larger diameter monofilament). Pass the backing (or smaller diameter strand) through the loop and take one turn around flyline.   Step 2: Wind the tag end of the backing around itself and the flyline loop. Take 10-12 winds, keeping them in place with left hand. Pass the backing through the loop so that it comes out on the same side it entered on.   Step 3: Slide the coils of backing together and toward the end of the loop, stopping 1/8" from end. Take care that backing does not slide off end of flyline before tightening.   Step 4: Tighten by pulling on the tag end of the backing while holding both strands of flyline in left hand. Pliers or a hemostat can be used on tag end. With left hand still holding both ends of flyline, pull on standing part of backing. Pull tag end of backing again and standing part one more time. Complete tightening by pulling only on standing parts of flyline and backing.   Step 5:  Trim the tag end of flyline and backing.

Once the fly line is attached to the backing, wind it onto the reel.  The backing and flyline together should fill the spool to within a half inch of the cross frame of the fly reel. This gap allows for looser line spooling when fishing.

The flyline must now be prepared for attaching the leader.  This is done by attaching a 16 inch piece of 20-25 lbs monofilament line to the end of the flyline using a nail or tube know, as shown below.  Later, a Surgeon’s Loop is tied into the end of the monofilament to allow the leader to be attached.  A Needle Knot can be used to make this union, but is more complex and requires more preparation.  As the focus of this primer is getting the angler fishing quickly, the Nail Knot is demonstrated.

NAIL KNOT

The last component of the composite flyline is the leader.  The leader is a length of monofilament line that tapers from a very heavy (butt) end to a very fine (tippet) end.  The leaders tapers to allow for a smooth transfer of energy as the flyline unfurls from cast and delivers the fly onto the water.  The leader can range in length from a few feet to a dozen or more.  Leader length varies based on fly size and fishing conditions.   For the beginner, leaders should be in the seven to nine foot range.   Leaders can be tied by hand to create the taper from the butt to the tippet, or they can be purchased pre-made with a smooth even taper.  The latter is by far the easiest to obtain and the choice of most fly fisherman.  The butt section comprises about 60% of the leader’s length with the remainder split evenly across the midsection and tippet.

The leader is attached to the flyline by means of a loop to loop connection.  Most pre-manufactured tapered leaders have a loop already tied into the butt section.  This is then looped onto the butt joined earlier to the flyline.

Leaders like flylines are rated in size.  Unlike the monofilament used for spin and bait casting, the line is not rated solely by test strength, but rather by diameter.  A system from 0x through 8x identifies the final diameter of the tippet.  A 0x tippet is .011” in diameter and the scale decreases by .001 until 8x which is .003” in diameter.  The line test strength of the tippet varies from manufacturer to manufacture, but a 0x tippet will likely be 12-14 lbs and an 8x tippet less than 2 pound test.

The tippet is the weakest link in the line system.  It is also the section of the leader that must be repaired and or replaced as flies are changed.  There are a couple of knots that can be used to attach a tippet to the mid-section of the leader.  The easiest of the two is the Surgeon’s or Barrel Knot, the other is the Blood Knot.

SURGEON'S KNOT

The Surgeon’s Knot is used to tie a tippet to the end of leader or for the finer sections of tapered leaders and to tie loops anywhere along the length of the line for connections and dropper loops.  Quicker and stronger than the Blood Knot it is also better for joining pieces of leader material that differ by more than .003" in diameter.

Figure 10 –  Line Loop

Step 1: Clip off section of tippet material and lay next to end of your leader with two strands overlapping by 4" to 6".  If making a loop, double the standing line back on itself.  The standing line and tag end form one side of the knot and the two halves of the loop form the other.   Step 2: Tie an overhand knot in this doubled section by forming a loop and bringing end of leader and entire end of tippet through the loop together. Keep loop open.   Step 3: Double the overhand knot in this doubled section by bringing the same double strand through the loop once more.   Step 4: Lubricate and tighten by holding all four ends and pulling steadily.   Step 5: Trim tag ends close to knot.

Figure 11 –  Line to Line Connection

BLOOD KNOT

The Blood Knot is used to join sections of line similar to the Surgeon’s Knot.  Though not as strong, this knot has the advantage of not requiring the full length of one of the lines being joined.  All that is required is the two tag ends, making it useful in tying long tippets.

Figure 12 –  Line to Line Connection

Step 1: Clip off section of tippet material and lay next to end of your leader with two strands overlapping by 4" to 6".    Step 2: Cross the line to the left over the line to the right forming an “X.”  Hold both lines at this intersection.    Step 3: Grasp the tag end of the line pointed to the right and make five or six wraps around the standing line.  After the last wrap, fold the tag end back to the left and pass it through the intersection of the two lines and hold it there.   Step 4: Repeat the process with the tag end of the line pointed to the left, making five or six wraps around the standing line, doubling the tag end back to the right and passing it through the intersection of the two lines in the opposite direction as the other tag end.   Step 5: Lubricate and tighten by pulling both standing lines steadily being careful not to allow the tag ends to come free from between the lines.   Step 6: Trim tag ends close to knot.

The set is not ready to fish just yet.  Next is rigging up the rod.  Get started by putting the rod's sections together by connecting the ferrules. Most rods are two-piece, so there will be only a single ferrule connection. Multi-piece pack rods with as many as six sections have additional ferrules. Take care not to allow dirt into the ferrule, as this will wear it out and the rod will not stay connected together.  Lines up the guides as the sections are joined and gently push the pieces together.  As with the reel seat, a gorilla grip is not required and can damage the rod. Now, that the rod is assembled, watch where you put it.  It is hardy tool for fighting fish, but easily damaged by abuse.  Don’t lay the rod down or prop it against a flat surface where it can slide and fall.  Watch out in particular for doors and tailgates – they  break more rods than fish ever do.  Attach the reel to the reel seat.  Next pull out the leader and 15 feet of flyline.  Fold over the flyline about two feet from the leader connection and pass the doubled end through each guide, pulling the line and leader up through the guides.  Be careful where you place the butt of the rod (and subsequently the reel) while you are threading the rod.  Do not allow the reel to sit in dirt or sand, as this will damage the inner workings. 

The line and leader have been coiled around the spool and will have a memory (coils).  Straighten the leader by pulling it through one hand as you grip it.  The friction will heat the monofilament and straighten the coils.  Do not grip the leader too hard, you may injure yourself or impart too much heat into the leader and weaken it.  Repeat as many times as necessary to remove all coils from the leader.  The flyline too will have to be straightened.  This is done by gently stretching an arms length of flyline at a time. 

The last step in rigging the system will be to tie on a fly.  For practice casting, tie on a piece of bright yarn.  It is must safer than a hook for beginner and easier to see.  Use the terminal knots described below to attach a fly to the tippet. 

TERMINAL KNOTS

Terminal knots terminate the fishing system by attaching hook to line.  There are a number of knots for attaching flies to the tippet and three are described below, the Pitzen, Improved Clinch and Palomar knots.  The Pitzen knot is the preferred knot of the three.  Before tightening any of these knots, again lubricate the line with water or saliva or risk of loosing fish.

PITZEN KNOT

IMPROVED CLINCH KNOT

PALOMAR KNOT

With the fly tied on, the angler is rigged and ready to hit the water, except for the line lying on the ground and the fly dangling in the wind.  Right above the handle is a very small guide that is parallel to the rod instead of perpendicular like the rest, called a hook keeper.  Grab the fly and hook it into the keeper.  If a rod lacks a hook keeper, catch the hook on the base of the handle or the hood for the reel foot.  Crank the loose line back onto the reel until there is a slight bow in the rod tip, Be sure to keep the leader outside of the tip guide.  If the leader goes inside the rod's guides pull it out, pass the leader around the reel seat, hook the fly in the keeper and bring the leader under tension.  Now watch where the tip goes, it is seven to ten feet in front and susceptible to tangling in the brush.  A good way to carry the rod from point to point on the water is with the tip pointing behind you.  This however, will not work in thick brush, where the tip must be threaded ahead of the angler as the wildest thickets are penetrated in search of big fish.

CASTING FUNDAMENTALS

The image of a lone fly caster hip deep in a river with the sun glistening on a 40 foot loop of flyline is often seen gracing the covers of magazines and advertisements.  It is a beautiful thing when man, mechanics and method flow into a rhythm that carries a tiny fly ever so delicately to an unsuspecting fish.  Fly fishing is a sport where a large part of the enjoyment comes from executing a perfect cast.  That enjoyment is only increased when a fish takes the offering.

Fly casting is the art of imparting energy from the angler’s body to the flyline.  Remember, it is the line that is cast, not the fly.  The fly is just along for the ride and in fact can impede the cast.  The caster uses the rod as a lever/spring to toss the flyline, carrying a fly, to the target.  

To start casting, assume the basic stance, which is facing the target, feet shoulder width apart and torso squared (Figure 16.  The casting hand is the angler’s primary hand which holds the rod with the handle above reel.  The grip should be firm, but not tight and allow the fingers to curl up to meet the base of the palm.  The thumb should naturally fall into place along the top of the handle, pointing towards the rod’s tip.  The non-casting or free hand is used to control the line and reel. 

The basic motion of the cast is a 90 to 100 degree arc, 60 degrees forward and 30 to 40 degrees back from a the vertical perpendicular of the anger.  Another way to think of it is with the angler being in a clock, the forecast is to 10 o’clock and the backcast is to 1 or 2 o’clock, if a right handed angler is facing to the viewers left.  This primer uses degrees, because it does not matter what the viewer’s perspective is, as shown in Figure 17.

The rod moves primarily in two direction, back and forward through the casting arc.  The backstroke sends the line behind the angler and the forestroke throws the line forward.  Most of the angler’s energy is transferred to the line in the forestroke which is also knows as the powerstroke..  The backstroke is used to maintain the energy, but is not as much energy is transferred as in the forecast.  Figures 18 and 19 illustrate.

Figure 18 – Backcast

Figure 19 – Forecast

Fly casting requires the three “Ps,” patience, practice and perseverance.  One without the others will leave the beginner uttering words that would make a sailor blush.  For practice choose a small pond or grassy open.  When practicing the cast, one should not be fishing.  Fishing distracts from the fundamentals that must be practiced to be properly applied. 

To get started the caster assumes the basic stance with a good grip on the rod.  He then strips out 20 feet of line off the reel and through the guides and let it puddle on the ground. He holds the rod straight out in front, parallel to the ground. 

Now the caster quickly lift the rod up and back, tossing the line into the air behind the him, beginning the back stroke.

The caster stops the rod tip 30 degrees back, and hesitates, allowing the loop of line to flow back.  The line unfurls behind the caster and just before it completely straightens, the forward stroke is made.  The rod flexes as the lines momentum carries it back – this is called loading.  Energy from the line is now stored in the rod, as it acts like a spring.  The rod is brought forward quickly.  This does not require a great deal of strength, but rather speed.  The energy used to speed the rod through the forestroke is transferred to the line.  Speed equals power and the faster the rod travels through the arc, the more energy in imparted to the line.  However too much speed, and the line will come out of the loop too quickly and the tippet will break with a snap or popping sound, just like a whip cracking.  Part of the art in casting is finding the right amount of energy to maximize the cast without breaking the system.  The rod tip is abruptly stopped 60 degrees in front of the caster.  Stopping the rod tip causes a loop to form in the line.  Again the caster hesitates and the loop is allowed to unfold.   As with the backcast, the rod will flex, storing energy as the line carries forward.  This is rod loading and this energy is used in the next backstroke to help propel the line into the backcast.  Casts that do not end with fly delivery to the target are called false casts.  These casts are used to feed line into the moving system with each stroke increasing the amount of line.  As the amount of line in the system increases so must the hesitation at the end of each stroke to allow the loop to unfurl. The basic stroke is repeated in false casts until all the desired line is in the air.  When the angler is ready to put the fly on the water, an aiming point is picked and the fly is allowed to unfurl onto the water.  The further out the target the higher above it the caster must look to hit it.  This causes the rod tip to stay higher while the loop opens up completely. The rod tip is lowered as the line and fly settle onto the water.  The steps of the cast are illustrated in Figures 20 to 43.

Figure 28 – The Rod Loads as the Forestroke continues

Figure 29 – The Forestroke Continues Past the Top of the Casting Arc

Figure 30 – The Forestroke is Stopped at 60 Degrees forward of the Caster and the Rod Unloads

Figure 31 – The Caster Hesitates as the Loop Unfurls Forward

Figure 32 – The Second Backstroke is begun Just Before the Loop Unfurls Completely

Figure 33 – The Backstroke Continues to the Top of the Casting Arc

Figure 34 –  The Backstroke is Stopped at 30 degrees Aft and the Rod Unloads

Figure 35 –  The Caster Hesitates While the Loop Unfurls Behind

Figure 36 –  The Line has Straightened and the Forestroke has Begun

Figure 37 –  The Rod Loads as the Forestroke continues

Figure 38 –  The Forestroke Continues Past the Top of the Casting Arc

Figure 39 –  The Forestroke is Stopped at 60 Degrees forward of the Caster and the Rod Unloads

Figure 40 –  The Caster Hesitates as the Loop Unfurls Forward

Figure 41 – The Rod is Lowered Out of the Casting Arc – the Amount Determined by Distance to the Target

Figure 42 – The Line Unfurls and Begins to Descend to the Water

Figure 43 – The Line Settles Onto the Water

The BASIC fly cast has been described here.  It is difficult to learn from reading, it requires hands on training.  A beginner can get that from a professional instructor, a fly fishing guide or a friend.  Once the basic cast is understood, the beginner must practice.  Again, the three “Ps” are critical to learning to fly cast.  Practice takes perseverance which requires patience.  It will not come immediately but in stages.  First the beginner seems to flail about senselessly, slapping the line to and fro.  Then the caster begins to develop a feel for the energy flow in the system.  Suddenly the loading of the rod is noticed when the strokes are stopped in the correct positions fore and aft.  A level of intimacy with the flow of the system will follow.  Finally, the caster becomes part of the system not as a outside power source, but an integral piece in tune with the other components, synergistically uniting into fluid delivery of the fly.

FLIES

Capping the foundation of the fisherman’s pillar is the fly.  Flies are not just lures, but rather an art within the art of fly fishing.  They are creations of fur, feathers, yarn and just about any thing that can be tied onto a hook to fool a fish into eating it.  Typically flies represent an insect (in some form or another), baitfish or aquatic animals consumed by fish.

In keeping with this primer’s theme of addressing things in threes, flies too can be grouped into threes.  The three groups are dry flies, wet flies and streamer flies.   Dry flies are designed to float in the surface film of the water conversely both wet and streamer flies are fished below the surface.  Dry flies imitate adult aquatic and terrestrial insects riding on the surface of the water.  Wet flies represent either drowned adult aquatic insects or nymphs, the larvae of aquatic insects.  Streamer flies, called streamers, represent small fish, leeches, crayfish, frogs or other animals.   Dry and wet flies are typically small like the insects they imitate, while streamers can be quite large in comparison, some two to three inches long.  Dry flies embody the romance of the sport in fly fishing.  Man is a creature of visual stimulus and dry fly fishing provides the greatest amount of visual stimulus.  The angler can see the fly and can also see the take, keeping him engaged through the whole process.  While wet flies and streamers have visual cues when being fish, the strike of a fish is not as clear as with dry flies.  However flies fished below the surface represent the bulk of the food eaten by fish.  Some species rarely take flies on the surface, while others will launch themselves out of the water to take flies not only on the surface, but even out of the air!  

A fly is created by tying the construction materials to a hook with thread.  The composition of the fly is normally according to a recipe or patter.  There are hundreds of books on fly tying, each one containing many patterns.  There are traditional standards which can be traced back to the origins of the sport and there are new patterns developed each year.  No matter how simple or complex, the common denominator of flies is the purpose of making a fish take the fly into its mouth, normally because the fly looks like food, but sometimes because it annoys the fish.   The specifics on what flies an angler requires is determined by the species of fish and the food they eat.  Most anglers hit the water with fly boxes filled with flies to cover any option that may present itself, but find they rely on a few tried and true patterns that always catch fish.  Tables 4-6 contain a number of fly patterns, grouped by type.  These are only to illustrate the basic look of a number of common patterns.

 Table 4 – Dry Flies

Table 5 – Wet Flies

Table 6 – Streamers

Fly patterns all have one thing in common – the hook.  The components of the hook are shown in Figure 44.  Hooks come in various shapes and sizes.  Within a specific size they vary by the size of the wire they are made with and the length of the shank.  Size is determined by the gap and for fresh water flies range from the smallest size 32 to size 1.  Hooks larger than size 1 are made, but are not typically used for fresh water fishing.  The eye can be down-turned, up-turned or straight.  The location of the eye determines the angle the leader will lie in relation to the shank and effect how a fly rides in the water.  Down-turned eyes are the most commonly used hooks, but straight eyes are becoming more popular, particularly for streamers.  Shank size is determined by a multiple of a standard length, which is one and one half times the gap distance.  A 1X hook is a standard shank, a 2X twice as long.  A short shank hook generally has a shank that is as long as the gap.

The hook forms the frame upon which the fly is tied.  The basic parts of a fly are shown in Figure 45.  Figure 46 shows a classic dry fly as it sits in the surface tension of the water, supported by three points – the tail, the hook and the hackle fibers.

FISH

Some readers may disagree with the practice of identifying fish as a pillar, but in my structure the roof would fall in without the fish pillar for fish are the reason the human pillar exists.  This pillar is primarily biological and the uncontrollable pillar.  It too is built upon a three layer foundation: habitat, behavior and food.  Again, science plays a large role in this pillar.  Though instead of physics and engineering, biology is the primary discipline.  Biology gives answers to how fish behave, were they live and what they eat.  Fish live in a world of water and the angler must understand – water, still and flowing; warm and cold; deep and shallow.  Additionally a basic understanding of geography and seasonal weather patterns will help in understanding fish.  Exploiting all this knowledge to full advantage is what separates fisherman from casters and forms the foundation for the pillar.

Some species of fish pursued by fly anglers have already been touched on and it is not the intent of this primer to provide an extensive knowledge base on any, but rather a broad overview of the opportunities available to the beginning fly fisherman.  Fish can be grouped into cold water species and warm water species..  Topping the list in popularity for fly fishing are the cold water species and salmonoids and in particular trout are kings of the list.  Warm water species are also popular with fly fishermen and species typically pursued by fly anglers are bass, crappie, panfish, catfish and pike.  Rough fish, normally warm water species, are not popular among fishermen in general, but are becoming more popular as pressure increases and opportunity decreases on other species.  Rough fish species include carp, suckers, and gar. 

There are dozens of species of trout in North America, some native, some not.  Most popular are the Rainbow Trout, native to the west coast, Brown Trout, imported from Europe and Brook Trout, native to the east coast.  Other species include Cutthroat Trout, Golden Trout, Lake Trout Artic Char and Bull Trout.  Brook Trout, Bull Trout and Arctic Char are not true members of the trout family, but members of the char family, though closely related.  Salmon are in a league of their own, with one species, the Atlantic Salmon, native to the east coast and five species, Chinook or King Salmon, Silver or Coho Salmon, Pink or Humpback Salmon, Sockeye Salmon and Chum or Dog Salmon found on the west coast. 

This primer will focus on trout as they are the most popular species for the fly fisherman.  However, much of the material about habitat and food sources can be applied to other species.

HABITAT

Fish require three things to survive – water, food and security, same as humans.   All the requirements for fish must come from, exist in or be accessible from the water.  Fish must have water they can breathe in.  Different species have different tolerances for oxygen, but the water must have some dissolved oxygen.  Once there is water, fish have to eat so the water must have a food source.  The habitat required to support fish must have more than water and food. It must provide the fish security.  Security may be water depth, water speed, or physical objects to hide in, under or around.  Habitat for fresh water game fish falls into two categories, still and moving.  The requirements for fish remain the same; however the form they take in each varies.  Observing and understanding the habitat of a fish is called reading the water.  A successful fisherman must be able to read the water in order to know what to use to catch fish.

Moving water – rivers, streams and creeks are usually the easiest waters to read.  The current digs out a channel and provides the fish with a steady supply of food.  Trout species in North America generally require cold water (below 65 degrees) with minimal pollution.  Clear, cold streams are typically found in mountainous areas and these are the areas trout are native, but with the damming of rivers new fisheries have developed, called tailwaters.   Tailwaters produce some amazing fishing because they provide a steady flow of cold water year round without destructive effect of spring run-off as snow pack melts.  Levels do fluctuate as reservoir managers adjust lake levels and support down stream water demands, but not with the same flows as a flood.  No mater the size, rivers, streams and creeks all have very similar characteristics that form the habitat required for fish.  The water is moving in these bodies because the source is at a higher altitude than the destination.  For most waters in the U.S. the destination is the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico or the Pacific Ocean with the headwaters in the various mountain ranges across the country.  As the water flows down it carves and shapes the streambed.  The resulting types water can be put into three categories, pools, riffles, and flats which define fish habit.  Impacting this habitat is structure, either from the streambed or along the bank.  Structure is rocks, trees or anything else that affects the flow of water.

Riffles are fast moving water over a bottom of uneven rocks.  The surface can be severe as whitewater or calm as a series of ripples.  This is the food larder of a stream.  The larvae of aquatic insects attach themselves onto or under the rocks and are often washed downstream in the fast current.  Riffles often end by flowing into a deeper portion of the channel, called a pool.

Pools are the classic trout habitat.  Pools are formed as fast moving water digs out a deep spot within the channel.  Besides depth pools often have submerged logs and rocks with provide fish hiding spots out of the main current.  Plunge pools are formed below small waterfalls.  Cutbank pools are formed where the current has eroded under the bank, leaving a shelf over the water.  Eddies are small whirl pools created by back currents in pools.  The pool head is where fast moving water enters the pool and can be quite turbulent.  In the pool body, the water slows as it spreads into the deeper channel.  The water increases in speed at the tail, often flowing into a flat.

Flats are the areas of water below a riffle or pool that where the water is not as deep as a pool nor as rapid flowing as a riffle.  Fish will move into the flats during periods of feeding, particularly when a hatch is occurring.  Fish here are often wary and difficult to fool with flies. 

In all three types of moving water, the current is moving at different speeds as the water flows over different bottom structure, creating a situation where the fisherman must constantly mend his line to remove drag from his presentation.  Drag is artificial movement induced into the fly by the flyline and leader causing the fly to move faster or slower than the current it is riding in.  Fish can detect this and will refuse a fly that is dragging because it appears unnatural.

Still water – Lakes, reservoirs and ponds make up the balance of habitat and often provide the most accessible water available to anglers not fortunate enough to live near a trout stream.  Fish living in still water have the same requirements as fish in moving water – food and cover.  Structure is still the key to providing both.  Figure 48 shows how structure provides habitat for still water fish.  One note about cover – deep open water should be looked at as cover.  Fish have room to maneuver and escape enemies while acquiring food. 

BEHAVIOR

Fish follow patterns in a cycle of life.  They hatch, grow, reproduce and die.  Along the way they survive predators and natural disasters.  Everything fish do can be tied to a pattern, the hard part is identifying the pattern and its triggers.  Another determining factor in fish behavior is climate.  Fish are sensitive to everything in their environment and something as seemingly insignificant as a half degree change in temperature can trigger a change in behavior. 

Key to understanding fish behavior is knowledge of their life cycle.  Fish are cold blooded vertebrae which spend their life in water.  Food and oxygen come from the water.  Man is an intruder in the world fish are born into.  The life cycle begins with the spawn – which is when eggs are laid by females and fertilized by the males.  That is as much parenting as the fish gets.  From fry to fingerling to adult the fish is on its own.  As it grows, its life revolves around finding food and avoiding becoming food.  The bigger a fish becomes the more food it requires.  The food sources expand in variety and size as the fish develops.  An adult game fish will eat almost anything that is not bigger than itself.  Large fish learn to become ambushers, lying in wait for a meal to come by, resulting in the highest gain of energy with minimal expenditure.  Once an adult, the fish will answer the primal instinct to reproduce and enter the spawning pattern.  In this phase of life, the fish will generally not eat, but will protect the spawning area by attacking intruders and therefore still be caught.  Generally fish are not pursued on the spawning beds, but are fair game en route to spawning areas.  Sea run salmonoids are famous for their spawning behavior.  Bass fishermen plan vacations around the weeks of spring spawning and fall rivers in the Rocky Mountains draw crowds of fishermen pursuing big brown trout.  Some fish spawn a single time and die, while others spawn for multiple years laying millions of eggs over their life span.

Besides the cycle of life, climate plays a role in fish behavior.  Fish are very perceptive to changes in their environment, whether is be temperature, particulates in the water, changes in river flow, drops in air pressure moon phases or changes in light.  Different species respond to such changes in different ways and even the same species in different regions react differently.  A fisherman must study the local water and gain an understanding of the fish in it.  Listen to the talk in a fly shop or internet bulletin boards.  No one is likely to give away a secret location, but paying attention to the general trends and patterns will help develop an understanding the local water.

Three types of behavior that an angler needs to know are resting, feeding and fleeing.  Fish at rest are not responding to hunger, but can be induced into taking a fly out of instinct.  Fish in a feeding pattern are focused on a particular food source and the fisherman must attempt to imitate this food source to catch fish.  Fish fleeing from danger are impossible to catch and will take some time to calm down.  If frightened, fish should be left alone and allowed to establish one of the other two patterns of behavior before an attempt to catch them is made.

A fisherman must spend a good portion of his time on the water just looking.  The angler is looking for fish, structure and food sources.  Once these are identified then attempts to catch fish can be made.  Sometimes this can be as simple as watch the water but at others it may entail turning over rocks or looking on the stems of aquatic plants to see what sort of insects are present.  Sometimes fishermen use a small screen to catch drifting insects to find out what is in the water.  Taking water temperatures is another good tool in identifying what patters fish may be following.  Keeping a record of such observations on frequented waters will make patterns more apparent and easy to identify.

Two of the best tools for observing the water are good polarized sunglasses and a wide brimmed hat with a dark brim.  This combination will allow the angler to look beyond the surface glare and see several feet below the surface in clear water on a bright day.  On overcast days or in murky water they are not as useful, but still cut the glare and allow the angler to observe conditions and events.

FOOD

Food is the single biggest behavior trigger for fish.  Other triggers may take over momentarily, but survival depends on food and it is the requirement for food that the angler exploits most to catch fish.  While food may be a trigger, what food and when can also be a complex matter.

Fish pursued by fly fishermen are normally carnivores.  Some fish, carp in particular are omnivorous but it is the predatory behavior that is exploited by the angler to catch fish.  This primer will divide food into three categories – aquatic insects, aquatic animals and terrestrial insects.  Fish spend their entire life in the water, so it makes sense that the first two categories provide the bulk of the fishes diet.  However, enough of their diet comes from land based sources to warrant discussion.

Aquatic insects are born in the water, grow from eggs to larvae to pupa before becoming adults.  As adults they leave the water, mate, lay eggs and die.  Common aquatic insects range from microscopic midges to caddis flies, mayflies and giant stoneflies.  Most game fish will eat them in all stages, but it is most obvious in the later two stages when fish are feeding on the pupa and adults on or near the surface of the water.  These insects live in cycles and the adults hatch at certain times of year.  There are hatches year-round on most free-moving rivers, but spring and summer dominate the cycle.  On a productive body of water a hatch can be so thick that clouds of adults in flight can be observed from hundreds of yards off the river.  When a hatch of this magnitude occurs, even the most wary of fish lose some cautions and will feed heavily on the surface, making it easy for an angler to spot and cast to them.

GONE FISHING

I have not covered all the aspects of fly fishing and what I have covered has not been in depth.  This manual is intended as a primer to give the beginner the base knowledge required to further pursue the sport, not a total reference.  There are many of those already available, written by experts far more qualified than I.  It is my belief that from reading this primer, a novice could get on the water and manage to catch fish.  However, it is not intended to be the end solution and the budding fly fisherman should seek knowledge from any source available.  There are hundreds of sources, including books and videos but I recommend joining a local club and seeking out other fly fishermen.  Like this primer, their advice is free and there is a wealth of experience in most clubs.  The members are usually more than willing to share with a novice, sometimes to the point of saturation, but I think this is the best way to learn.

Remember, the only way to catch fish is to get out on the water and put a fly where there are fish.  It is now time to put out the “Gone Fishing” sign, and hit the nearest stream or pond.  Good luck!