FLY CASTING MAKES IT POSSIBLE to deliver a relatively weightless lure or imitation of a living creature on target, using line weight to develop momentum. That’s a fairly dry way of saying that, using a fly rod, you can catch fish with an artificial lure that can’t be presented by any other method. It means that you can successfully fool a trout that feeds upon tiny insects measuring less than an eighth of an inch long—or lure a 150-pound tarpon into striking a 6-inch feathered lure. Artificial flies are used to catch sunfish, bass, trout, pike, bluefish, shark, bonefish, sail-fish, salmon, walleye, and even catfish. The possibilities are endless. Any fish that eats insects, minnows, or crustaceans can be hooked with an artificial fly. Landing a 500-pound bluefin tuna on a fly rod is another story, but I’m quite sure you could hook one, as they often feed on 6-inch sand eels. Even shad, which are plankton feeders, can be angered into striking an artificial fly when they ascend freshwater rivers on their spawning run from the sea.
Fly fishing is most commonly associated with trout and salmon in streams; in fact, in most Atlantic salmon rivers in North America, fly-fishing gear is the only kind allowed by law. But the same tackle used for a 9-foot, 6-weight trout rod can provide endless hours of fascination in a Midwestern farm pond, fishing for bluegills. The heart-stopping leap of a smallmouth bass hooked on a fly-rod bug can be experienced on the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. A fly fisher who lives in Florida, hundreds of miles from the nearest trout stream, can use the same fly-rod outfit to catch largemouth bass one day, baby tarpon and snook in brackish canals the next, bonefish on shallow saltwater flats the next, and bluefish and Spanish mackerel in the open ocean for a grand finale
Fly fishing is an ancient pursuit, perhaps practiced first by the Roman poet Martial (A.D. 40–104), who reportedly used a feathered hook to capture a saltwater fish similar to a weakfish. History also documents Aelian, another Roman, as observing Macedonian anglers catching trout on artificial flies a hundred years later.
Throughout the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, references are made to the imitation of artificial flies when fishing for trout. The early fly fishers surely did not think of themselves as sportsmen; they were deceiving trout for more pragmatic reasons. Mayflies and other delicate creatures do not stay on a hook very well, nor do they retain their lifelike qualities after being impaled. The early fly fishers were merely utilizing a bait that would last for dozens of fish without falling off the hook. Fly-fishing tackle has changed considerably. Early anglers had no fly lines as we know them today. They fished with long rods—sometimes over 20 feet long— and long leaders. Using a technique called dapping, which suspends the fly over the fish, they would tease him into striking. Any distance required was obtained from the long rods they used. Reels were nonexistent, and the line was tied to the end of the rod.
of the latest lightweight metallic alloys cast floating fly lines made by an ingenious process in which tiny glass bubbles (called microballoons) are homogenized into a plastic line coating. Fur and feathers are being replaced to a large degree by synthetics, although many fly tiers prefer the traditional materials. But the principle is still the same: A relatively weightless lure is delivered to the fish via a long, flexible rod and a weighted line. And fly fishers are still searching for the perfect imitation, the fly that will catch a fish on every cast. Let’s hope that we never reach the end of that rainbow.
Almost everyone today has used or seen a spinning outfit, and to understand just what fly casting is, a comparison of it and spin casting may be helpful. Let’s take a look at two anglers, both casting from a boat for bass, both using a minnow imitation. A typical spin fisher’s lure weighs about a quarter of an ounce. One common type of spinning lure is carved from balsa wood or cast from plastic and is shaped like a minnow. It has a silvery painted finish, and a cup-shaped lip in the front makes it wiggle like a minnow when retrieved through the water. His tackle consists of a 6½-foot spin rod and an ultralight spinning reel that contains 200 yards of level 6- pound-test monofilament line. The lure is tied directly onto his line. Holding the rod at about the 10:00 position in front of him, he uses his wrist to bring the tip of the rod back to 12:30, beyond his shoulder; then a snap of the wrist quickly brings it back to 10:00, in front of him at eye level. At the same time, he straightens his index finger, which has been crooked around the line. The flex of the rod snaps the lure off into space, pulling the line smoothly off the reel. Air resistance and gravity slow the lure’s trajectory about 60 feet away, and it hits the water with a gentle splat. The angler retrieves his line and fishes the lure by turning a crank on the side of the reel; a mechanical bail gathers the line back onto the spool, moving the lure through the water with a minnow-like swimming motion. When the lure reaches the boat, he reels in more line until the lure is hanging a few inches below the tip of the rod. He is ready to make another cast.
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