Fly Fishing

Choosing the right fly fishing rod is a game of decoding sometimes confusing numbers. Manufacturers have agreed on some standards related to weight and length. The angler looking for a fly rod has...

Flat wing-style streamers differ from the more familiar hackle wing streamers in two ways. First, the wing feather rests flat over the hook shank rather than upright along the shank. Second, flat...

Fly fishing is enjoyed by millions of people every year. Many of these fly fishermen enjoy tying their own flies. A fly-tying station is important to these fly tiers because it holds most of the...

Walleye are one of the most sought-after gamefish in the northern United States. Walleye are usually caught on spinning rods using jigs or live bait, but they can be caught on fly rods. Walleye...

Where permitted, it is not uncommon for an angler to fish multiple flies at the same time by affixing the extra flies to "dropper strands" that branch off from the main leader at intervals....

Catching a tarpon on a fly rod is one of the most exciting saltwater fishing experiences available. Tarpon are big, fast fish that frequently makes spectacular leaps when hooked. The Coachroach...

A fishing pole storage rack keeps your rods neatly organized. More important, it keeps them from being damaged. You can make a rod rack with minimal investments of cost and time. A floor-based...

Some anglers frequently try to increase their odds of catching fish by using more than one fly at a time. In fly-fishing, the strand of monofilament connecting a second fly is generally called a...

The family of saltwater flies known as deceivers was originally developed by one of fly fishing's most prolific, contemporary innovators--Lefty Kreh. This pattern is so famous that it has appeared...

Many fly patterns utilize epoxy glue to add body and substance to the fly and to firmly fasten some components of the fly to the body. According to the web site onlineflytyer.com, epoxy has been...

Native brook trout are easily spooked. They are also fairly difficult to get to. More often than not, finding sequestered populations of native brook trout entails some hiking and maneuvering...

Fly tying benches provide a work space and organize the tools and supplies used to tie flies for fly fishing. The design of the bench will be influenced by the amount of space available and...

Spooling fly line onto a Pflueger fly reel is fairly easy. If done correctly it will prevent a large fish from pulling all your line off the reel and getting away with your line. In fishing...

A fishing vest is a handy piece of clothing, especially for fly fishermen. A spin fisherman usually is on the bank or in a boat with all of his tackle in a tackle box right next to him. A fly...

Trout flies imitate two types of fish food, insects and bait fish. Bait fish are imitated by streamer and bucktail flies. There are many patterns of each; some are local favorites, while others...

Epoxy has a wide variety of uses in tying flies. It can be used to create a glossy wing case on nymphs, as in Umpqua's "Micro Mayfly," designed by Mike Mercer, or, as in most cases, to create a...

For some fly fishermen, the goal of fishing is to catch fish using only on the most natural-looking flies possible. But for others, the goal is to have fun and catch fish on any fly that works....

If the packaging that comes with your reel does not specify or recommend the amount of backing to put on your reel, or you have simply lost those specifications, determining the amount of backing...

Fly line backing accomplishes two things: It takes up extra space on a fly reel so the line will flow out easier and it gives a margin of error when large fish are hooked. If the backing is to do...

Cranefly larvae are very large are found naturally in either a tan or olive body colors. As a weighted subsurface nymph, it may be fished very effectively under an indicator and in tandem with...

Fly fishing is a challenging and fun means to catch fish, especially if you've fished that way long enough to know how to cast right into the "circle" and entice a nice trout, salmon, bonefish or...

Lightning bugs can become some of the most productive nymphs you add to your arsenal of flies. They work during a hatch and when there is presumably nothing for the fish to eat. Their flash and...

Fly-line backing is so much more than just a lot of string wound around the core of a fly-fishing spool; without the backing, fly-fishing would be impossible. Proper fly-line backing setup, use...

Most fly rod blanks manufactured today are made by wrapping graphite or fiberglass cloth, known as "scrim", around a steel mandrel. The process causes the scrim to have a bias in direction which...

Backing line on a fly reel serves two purposes. It increases the diameter of the spool, so it takes fewer rotations of the reel to draw in the fly line, and it provides extra length for when a...

Knowing how to quickly and efficiently tie a leader to a fly with a clinch knot will increase the amount of time you spend fishing while decreasing a main component of what can be frustrating for...

Having a proper rack to store your fishing rods is essential for any fisherman with a sizable collection. In addition to keeping your house better organized, by storing your rods in racks, you...

Spey casting, a form of casting that has no backcast, is a fly-casting technique that originated in Scotland. In a sense, spey casting is a roll cast that involves line repositioning. Spey casting...

The following hopper pattern uses the best of both synthetic and natural materials to create a durable, visible, buoyant and accurate grasshopper pattern. Foam is the ideal synthetic material with...

Fly tying is an art form and a science that requires selectively placing various materials on a fishing hook in an attempt to imitate an insect. The hook is rigidly held by a vise while the fly...

Adding fly line to an empty fly reel is a fairly easy endeavor that requires the use of a few knots. Having worked as a fishing guide and in a fly shop for five years, I know that it can take some...

Fly fishermen wear fishing waders to allow them to stand in water for long periods without becoming unduly cold or soaked. Fishing waders can either be hip boots (boots that come up to the mid- or...

Fly tying entails taking a fishing hook and tying twine, wire of a variety of colors and sometime even feathers to mimic a fly that would land on the water to make a trout strike it. These flies...

Fly tying tools can become overwhelmingly expensive and as a result it makes the most sense to fashion your own tying tools to avoid the high costs and to complement your own tying style. There...

Crystal River Fly Rods and Reels are popular equipment for the fly angler. Like all fly reels, Crystal River reels use a type of line specifically designed for fly fishing, which comes in two...

Fly fishing is a fascinating sport that combines the excitement of catching fish with the opportunity to develop refined fishing techniques, which eventually translates into catching more fish,...

Fly-tying enthusiasts use a dubbing loop to apply dubbing materials, usually fur, in a manner that imparts a particularly fuzzy or rough look to a fly pattern. A dubbing loop is generally used to...

Few sport-fishing experiences can match the thrill of catching a muskellunge (muskie) on a fly rod. The muskie's primary diet consists of fish, so an angler using dry flies or nymph patterns is...

Fly fishing gloves are used mainly in colder environments where you don't want your hands to freeze to your reel. The issue with gloves and fishing is the warmer the glove is, the harder it is to...

A well-designed tapered leader is a crucial part of an effective fly-fishing outfit. A tapered leader consists of monofilament line segments knotted together to form a line that incrementally...

Fly fishing is an exciting way to catch fish. It is fishing in its simplest form: A stick and a string with a reel that has a one-to-one gear ratio.

Whether you use your waders once a year or once a week, there will come a time whena lack of care will cause you some repair. There may also come a time when those "old" waders have just plain...

A fly fishing rod in skilled hands can be poetry in motion. The floating line wafts overhead in a rhythmic motion until the angler drops the dry fly dead-center in a pool of still water, where a...

Saltwater fly fishing combines the challenge of hooking hard-fighting fish with relatively light tackle for unparalleled angling excitement. Catching a tarpon or even a mako shark on a 7-inch...

Saltwater fly fishing is not the same as fishing off the pier or going deep sea fishing. There is a skill to casting that must be practiced, and nearly everything about it takes quite a bit of...

Of the virtually hundreds of different patterns and variations in the design and construction of fishing flies, they all fall into one of five general classifications based on the type of baitfood...

When most people think of fly-fishing, casting for trout, salmon, panfish and the occasional bass comes to mind. Not many think of going after the elusive and utterly fierce muskie with flies....

Fly fishing is a popular form of recreational fishing, most commonly used to catch trout, salmon, bass, carp and pike. Instead of using a traditional bait and lure, fishermen instead use an angled...

Fighting in a steelhead is one of fly fishing's greatest rewards. It's also a big challenge to know the right technique for the given location, the time of year, and both the speed and clarity of...

Jigs have long been a favorite of spin fishermen, and rightfully so, because they are highly effective for many different species of fish. On the contrary, the jig is not usually associated with...