Sunday, July 25, 2010

The Correct Equipments And Gears For Fly Fishing

Fly fishing is an old exercise, over the centuries, the fishers and manufacturers have developed a lot of knowledge about the design of fly fishing equipments. This exercise beginning at the time of the Roman Empire, and till now the basics haven't changed. The superior thing to do is to learn about fly fishing equipment and how all of the parts works before a person become one in the quest for catching variety type of fishes.

Using Fly Fishing Equipment
It is very important that you select equipment that is well fit to the particular fishing situation. While a particular fly rod might be used in different or special situations, its' range of applications is very far narrower that a spinning rod. If one really wants to be familiar with about the equipment used for fly they should engage a fishing instructor or guide that is proficient in fly fishing equipment and have them teach the person what they need to know. By the ways, certain parts of the fly fishing equipment can be very costly but it's a needed and part of learning to fly fishing.

More about Fly Fishing Equipment
When you want to try fly fishing for species other than trout, the rod and reel must be heavier but just as important is that the lure will be dissimilar. One can't fish with spinner baits with a fly rod or plastic worms, but in the market there are baits that are sold for specific use with a fly rod. There are many smaller cork top water types of bait. Some look like a frog or other amphibians and aquatic reptiles. The difference between fly fishing lures and regular lures is easy to tell. The fly fishing equipment is a lot lighter than conventional baits. The action of the bait is imitated with the fly rod in a popping manner that will attract fish to the lure.
Following will explore some of equipment options. Although this may look quite basic, but I ensure you will learn something new and interesting.

BANCHORY, SCOTLAND - FEBRUARY 25:  Robert Harper, the Ghillie (game keeper), displays his flies on the lower Crathes beat on The River Dee, February 25, 2009 in Banchory, Scotland. Internationally renowned for its salmon fishing, bookings on the river are up 20% on last year despite the credit crunch. Recent years have seen high numbers of salmon catches in Scotland, bringing good news to a number of rural communities in the current economic climate.  (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Choose the Best Gear
With fly-fishing equipment, you have to choose the correct gear with the type of fishing in your mind. In order to do this, you need to study the basic gear that every fly fisherman, whether deep-sea fishing, going out to a local creek, lakes, rivers or streams, it is composed of the following components: the rod, reel, line, and of course the almighty fly.

The Rod
The rod is one of the most unique parts of fly fishing gear. It is longer and more flexible than your normal fishing pole, sometimes more than twice as long as the normal person high. The rods are sold by weight, the weights indicating a rod suitable to use in what type of situation. The higher number weights, its mean the rod is better for heavier game. For instance, a line weight of one to three is suitable to catch small trout. While a 15-weight line, is used for saltwater fishing for larger fishes. The material of the fly fishing gear is usually made of fiberglass or graphite. The graphite is the most common type. It is much lighter than the fiberglass, and it also casts line much better.

The Reel
The reel is used to store the fly fishing line and it has evolved so that mechanical improvements can make it an asset to your fly fishing experience. Now, the reels can help you catch fish more effectively, with drag systems that let you to better catch fish that pull a lot of line during the fighting. One thing you may want to take note is when you plan to go fishing in saltwater, you need to purchase a reel that consists of corrosion-resistant components like titanium or anodized aluminum.

The Line
When purchasing your fly fishing line, you need to consider the weight of your fly line; it must be match that of your rod for the best results. It is important to use the correct weight of fly line when fishing. These fly lines can be basically grouping them into two groups, Floating or Sinking Lines. The Floating Lines also call dry line are used for techniques that are require a top water lure or the fly just below the waters surface. The Sinking Lines are used for techniques that use a wet fly, which goes underneath the surface of the water, like when fishing a nymph or other under water bugs.

The Fly
It is important to use the correct files at the right places. You also need to tailor your flies to the fish that you're trying to catch, whether wet or dry. Some flies, such as streamers, try to imitate and look like the small fish that make up the diets of other fish, while others, like midges and mayflies and attempt to resemble the surface insects that they take their names from. With this information and other pieces of fly fishing gear provided above, if you purchase based on what type of fish you trying to catch, it will definitely increase your successful rate.

Cindy Heller is a professional writer. Visit Fly Fishing Women to learn more about fly fishing in Canada and fly fishing in Montana.



 

Fly Fishing Supplies And Tackle

An experienced fisher knows, in order to fully enjoy the fishing expedition, all the necessary fly fishing supplies must bring along. If you has engage a guide, some time the company may supply you some fly fishing supplies, such as vest, reels, fly lines and leaders, flies, tackle storage and dry shakes. However, some touring companies may request you to bring your own fishing supplies, such as fishing clothing, watercraft, combos, and as well as your own waders.

Buying Fly Fishing Supplies
There are many fishing stores that sell fly fishing supplies. For fishers who live in cities close to the ocean, to extensive lakes, or to major rivers, where fly fishing is a popular sport, you should much easy to locate the fishing stores that sell fly fishing supplies or you can have them deliver to you thru online ordering.
Fishers can buy the fishing supplies thru internet, it is very convenience for those who need to travel outside of their own city to enjoy fly fishing trip. Online shopping means that you can get all the fishing supplies you want right from home. There are many websites on the net that are just as trustworthy as your old neighborhood fishing stores. You can get everything from flies to hooks, and reels to whole fly fishing kits and benches, all at different prices. Whatever you need to do is just a mouse-click away.
The fact is that you cannot check and test the supplies out yourself online. So, for the new hand fisher, try to purchase the supplies at a physical store when possible. The trick to getting good fly fishing supplies is to have a place you trust, where you can ask questions, you can get great rods and lures, well-made, effective flies and materials to tie flies with. You can test out the various reels and choose the ones you are most comfortable with. For inexperienced fishers, it is better you do some research online, in books or asking experienced friends before purchase any fly fishing items.

How to maintain Fly Fishing Supplies?
It is not so difficult or time consuming to carry out the maintenance of fly fishing supplies. But one important thing you must know is always wash and clean all equipment in warm water and mild detergent, particularly when you have used the equipments in saltwater. Next thing is before storing the equipments, make sure there are completely dry. Always protect and take good care for all the equipment away from the sun, rain, dirt, humidity, cold, heat, and any other conditions that may cause corrosion.

Collecting fly fishing tackle
Collecting fly fishing tackle can be fun and very enjoyable in many ways. Nowadays, the enthusiastic fisher is also become a collector of antique and classic fly fishing tackle.
For the new collectors, you should have, at least, had some knowledge on how the equipment was adapted for different types of angling.

Not Released: Fly fishing pole, fish, net and hat on lawn (Photo by Ben Radford/Getty Images)

History of Fly Fishing Tackle
Did you know that fly fishing can trace its roots back to nearly 2,000 years ago? The first account of fly fishing tackle is commonly credited to a Roman named Claudius Aelianus, a 2nd century teacher of rhetoric and roman author. When he described a fishing technique used by the Macedonians fishers on the Astraeus River used an artificial fly lure to catch fish.
Fly fishing as known today, beginning at the Scotland and Northern England, and expanded to the rest of England, the Scandinavia, Canada, United States and the Alpine mountain regions of Europe. As is naturally expected, the expansion of fly fishing to such different parts of the globe, the advent of the machine age and other advances in technology resulted in different styles and development of fly fishing tackle. A clear example is with high-tech carbon, fiberglass and steel replacing the stick and nylon replacing the horsehair line, but the goal is still the same. Numerous of those old reels were crafted by the hands of artisans with both great precision and great beauty.

Finding Collectible Fly Fishing Tackle
Finding collectible Fly Fishing Tackle is not tough, but it will take some time for searching. So, just relax and prepare to spend money and time; with some luck, you may able to find a significant and valuable assortment of such Fly Fishing Tackle. Following are few ways to look for collectible and valuable Fly Fishing Tackle.
First, try to subscribe to one or two magazines that talk about the fishing collectibles. The magazines usually will touch on the different kinds of collectible fly fishing tackle, and it will also provide information, like where to purchase, the manufacturers were, the suppliers, use, give the history, and the tradition of such collectible equipment.
Second, is the online internet market? The Ebay.com has more fishing gear than you could ever imagine, new and used one. No of auction houses also have several fantastic fly fishing tackles at auction. Langs Sporting Collectibles is one of the best for this. You also can try the some bloge and other online collector websites.
Third, another helpful source of information are books that can be found at bookstores or libraries, fly fishing clubs, friends, relatives and stores that specialize in collectible and antique items. Another place you can try is some old fishing stores, they still may have classic and antique fly fishing tackle, and the owners of such stores usually has stories to tell, just as each fisherman does.
The fly fishing collectors should also invest time, study and learning about common defects, monetary value, ratings on condition, construction techniques and maintaining, all this information definitely will help add value during your searching of the fly fishing tackles.
Cindy Heller is a professional writer. Visit Fly Fishing Women to learn more about vintage fly fishing tackle and arkansas river fly fishing.

Techniques of Wet Fly Fishing

Many anglers who are new to fly fishing consider dry fly fishing the "traditional" way of catching trout. Well, that's not entirely true. Wet fly fishing dates back hundreds of years, well before dry fly fishing came around.
Wet fly fishing is one of the best ways for anglers to get introduced to sub-surface fishing. Unlike nymph and dry fly fishing, where skill, practice and precise imitations are needed to effectively take trout consistently, wet fly fishing can provide rewards quickly - even to beginner anglers. Unlike dry fly fishing and nymph fly fishing - when using wet flies, the angler is not attempting to precisely imitate any particular insect.

Wet Fly Fishing : Basic Overview
Instead of looking precisely like a particular type of insect, a wet fly is more an imitation of a stage of life of aquatic insects. Many wet flies imitate a struggling nymph as it attempts to reach the surface of the river. These same wet flies also suitably imitate dead or drowning insects. Either way, one thing about wet flies is that they generally imitate aquatic insects in motion (moving to the surface, drowning in the water, etc...) - not just floating merrily along in the current, completely helpless (although that is done, too!).
Unlike dry fly or nymph fly fishing, wet fly fishing can also be very rewarding to beginner anglers. Perfect, or even good technique, is not needed for new anglers to hook some nice fish. And the reason for this is because of the way most wet fly fishing is done - neither requiring perfect casts nor split-timing when setting the hook.
When fly fishing with wet flies, anglers frequently will use 2 or more flies together. By using two or more flies together in a dropper setup (described later), an angler can improve their chances of finding biting trout.
So, let's take a close look at how wet fly fishing works, what is used and why any angler should give it a try - even on those rivers that are normally the dry fly fisherman's playground.
There are many different types of flies available for wet fly fishing. Normally, most wet flies have soft hackling.
The reason for this is because this type of hackling has fibers in it that move around in the water - sort of inviting the trout to take it in.
Additionally, unlike most nymphs, wet flies are designed to sink rather quickly, since wet fly fishing is generally done closer to the bottom of the river. For this reason, many wet flies tend to be a bit heavier and are tied in a wide variety of ways. Each way designed to sink the fly in a particular manner than the typical nymph.
Frequently, wet flies tend to be fished in areas that have fast moving water. Because of this, many anglers fly fish wet flies using a sinking tip line. While using a sink-tip fly line can definitely aid the fly in getting down to the right depth, an angler who only has a floating fly line should not despair. Generally, simply using weights on the leader or the fly line can do an adequate job of pulling down a wet fly to the right depth.

Mar. 30, 2010 - Missoula, MT, USA - Fly fishermen catch early season cutthroat and brown trout near Missoula, Montana on a beautiful Spring day. The fisherman caught the fish on dry flys, nymphs and emergers with fly rods. The conditions varied between cloudy, sunny, rain and wind.

Wet Fly Fishing : Dropper Flies
As mentioned, wet flies are frequently fished in groups of flies - not just a single fly by itself. When a second, or third, fly is used, it is called a "dropper fly". A dropper fly, which is a very effective and rather ancient method of wet fly fishing, is a fly that is tied to the main leader.
When rigging up your fly fishing gear using a dropper fly, simply attach the first fly onto the end of the tippet as you normally would. Then, for the second fly, take a 12 inch of tippet material and tie it to the leader about 12-24 inches above the first fly. Attach the second fly to the end of that line. You now have a dropper fly set up.
Additional flies can also be attached - you are in no way limited to just using 1 or 2 flies. However, the more flies you have, the greater the likelihood of tangles occurring - both when casting and in hooking underwater obstructions. For beginner anglers, it is probably best to start with one fly, then go to two flies when comfortable with basic casting and wet fly fishing technique.
Either way, one nice thing about a dropper fly is that it allows anglers to test out flies at the same time. Thus, you can tie on one type as normal, then tie on a completely different looking wet fly as a dropper fly. It's a great way to quickly experiment around to see what works and what doesn't on a particular river (especially a new one you've never fished before). you may even be rewarded with having two or more fish hooked simultaneously.


About The Author
Brett Fogle is the publisher of Fly Fishing Secrets, an insiders guide to flyfishing tips and techniques of the pros. To sign up for free flyfishing tips and other articles, please visit www.fly-fishing-secrets.com.
brett@macarthurwatergardens.com

2 Things You Must Know About Fly Fishing

The popularity of fly fishing has been a hobby that a lot of people like it very much and it is growing day by day. Anyone can now participate in fly fishing sports irrespective of their abilities or other differences, which is why now there are so many fly fishing lovers. You should be able to understand the techniques as well as equipment required. Followings are 2 things you must know to be successful in fly fishing.

A) Fly Fishing Basics
To improve your fly fishing skill, you must first go for the proper Fly fishing basics course. Once you have the basic skill, you should be able to catch fish easily at every place.
One of the fly fishing basic skill that the course will teach you is the reel and rod. The rod used by fly fishers is different from regular rods. They are thinner and taller and each rod is an assured weight. A four or five weight rod is used to catch pan size and trout fish. Rods has a lot of size, vary from small to large rods. The large rods usually use in ocean fishing. By selecting the rods correctly, it will make your fishing easily.
Another fly fishing basic is the reel, the reel type is no the same from the normal one. It's something that you should inquire about at every fly fishing store in order to understand.
Other Fly Fishing Basics
Next, is the fishing line, it is also completely different from normal one. The fly fishing line is totally visible and is much larger in diameter. Some fly lines will float on water and others are made to sink in water. A tippet (a monofilament line) is tied at the end of the fly line. This is what really does the fishing. It is about six feet long and the lure is tied to the end of the fly line. In this way, the fish is not able to see the fly line. In actual fly fishing, we use artificial flies in place of large heavy lures.
Usually, the lure used for fly fishing isn't a true lure.

B) Fishing Flies: Many Varieties and Widely Available
For beginners knowing the type of flies and during what part of the year they can be productive is of great importance in succeeding with fly fishing. The fly fishing come in many Varieties models and is available in many of the fishing shops.
Types of Flies and When to Use its
Do you know fish are not stupid? At least, not for the bigger ones, if not they will not grow to such huge sizes by being dumb. The large fish, usually know that a nymph floating on the surface is out of place, the dry flies are usually to intend to emulate bugs normally found on the surface while nymphs are supposed to look like hard shell bugs and are typically fished near the bottom with little bit or no movement to the fly. For the adult flies, in general should not be around in the early spring. For the Wet flies, there are fished just under the surface, imitating emerging bugs under the surface with twitching of the line making them more attractive to those hungry fishes.
It is however necessary to be able to relate the fishes to the flies as well as the type of water (freshwater or saltwater) that you will be fishing in. Most flies are one of a kind and form the most important items of the fishing equipment, and you will surely need to take extra care of the files after having purchased the files because it is essential not to get your fly fishing flies crush or entangled, them accidentally due to their fragile nature and delicate.
It is thus essential for the fishers to keep the flies safely stored in suitable fly boxes, which must be kept absolutely dry after every use. In order to dry the fly box, you should try and air-dry which will prevent the flies from losing their shape, or hooks becoming corroded. Since the flies have practically lightness they can simply be crushed, mean you need to prepare more spare flies. It is also important that you experiment with the files as well as practice movement of the fly so that you get adept at handling the files.
Another skill knows how to tie the flies is also an art in itself, and you will probably be most acquainted with the Woolly Bugger as well as the Frankenstein fly, and all of the other millions of exotic fly available on the market today. Fishers will most probably be most well familiar with the Woolly Bugger, which is useful in almost all the situations, and is relatively easy to tie as well. Even though you may not get the tying right the first time, with effort, you will ultimately get there and with luck, your Frankenstein Fly will help you even to catch a large sized fish.
Experience greater pleasure
Above are just a 2 things you must know for fly fishing. By study, understanding and knowing the fly fish basic and different type of files use, it will certainly help you catch more fish. Many fly fishing knowledge and basics skill can be achieved thru practicing fishing and learn thru experience. Going for a fly fishing course, learning from an expert or hire a guide for fly fishing is definitely will help you improve your fishing skill. Once you get the entire thing right, you will experience greater pleasure as well as success from this gorgeous sport of fly fishing.
Cindy Heller is a professional writer. Visit Fly Fishing Women to learn more about fly fishing at Rocky Mountain and fly fishing in Key West.

Fly Fishing, The Top 10 Myths

The old myths are shattered. You'll be introduced to fly fishing in an entirely different way. Fly fishing is no longer considered difficult to learn or expensive to participate in. You'll soon come to realize that this sport is easy to learn, and will reward your efforts with many fantastic days on the water!
Learning to fly fish is an excellent way to utilize all of the natural resources that are available to everyone -- world-wide. Oceans, streams, lakes, bays and estuary's literally teem with game fish, and are easily accessible . By learning to fly fish, you will enjoy the natural world around you, get some easy exercise, relieve the strain of everyday life, and even better, there are no greens fees or country club dues - no membership tab, and no lines to wait on!
Here's the list of myths:

1. Fly Fishing is difficult
Fly casting will take a few practice sessions to become proficient enough to hit the water -- but that's all you'll need to get started. Why not take a look at some online fly fishing lessons (see the resources section at the end of this article) -- then practice in a park, your backyard or another private place. Hit a lake or pond, where you won't find many obstructions behind you to get in the way. Catch a few pan-fish, learn to land fish - now you're ready for the stream, ocean or wherever you'd like to fly fish!
 
Mar. 30, 2010 - Missoula, MT, USA - Fly fishermen catch early season cutthroat and brown trout near Missoula, Montana on a beautiful Spring day. The fisherman caught the fish on dry flys, nymphs and emergers with fly rods. The conditions varied between cloudy, sunny, rain and wind.

2. Fly Fishing is expensive
It simply is not. Fly fishing can be expensive if you spend a lot of your hard earned mullah on premier, top of the line (dare say - overpriced?) fly gear. Don't go bottom of the line either - inexpensive equipment is hard to use because inexpensive materials are heavier and not as stiff as quality graphite. Very inexpensive gear simply does not hold up to rugged fishing use - and we are rugged, aren't we?
So -- look around. There are some great deals on beginner fly fishing outfits -- don't let the word "beginner" scare you away. This gear is not only fairly priced, but the rods are specifically designed to be easier to cast and will last a long time if you take care of them. Take this from a fly fisher that broke his very first (and precious!) fly rod in the hatchback of a Toyota Celica! Some fly rod outfits even come complete with a protective rod & reel traveling case!

3. You can only Fly Fish for Trout
You get the picture. Trout stream, pipe in mouth, tweed jacket, leather patches, wicker creel...
Wrong. Today's fly fishing is so much more exciting than that (but if the above excites you - by all means - knock yourself out!).
I took up fly fishing in my early twenties as the result of a childhood memory of my father and other fly fishers on the famous Beaverkill in Roscoe, NY. Let's just suffice to say that there was a lot of tweed and wicker in the '60's. Today the world has changed! Now -- picture this forty-something year old with his wife on the flats in the Florida Keys hunting down barracuda, bonefish and permit. All tropical, all cool, all hot, we were fishing machines -- it was everything you'd ask for in the excitement department!
Species: so many - let's see, OK - trout, bass (large-mouth and small-mouth), carp, pike, pickerel, perch, sunnies, crappies, steelhead, salmon (many varieties - and Lox is not a variety of salmon!), then there's striped bass, bluefish, false albacore, bonito, weakfish, bonefish, barracuda, permit, mangrove snapper, snook, Spanish mackerel , jack crevalle. Oh the list goes on! But I'll stop.

Mar. 30, 2010 - Missoula, MT, USA - Fly fishermen catch early season cutthroat and brown trout near Missoula, Montana on a beautiful Spring day. The fisherman caught the fish on dry flys, nymphs and emergers with fly rods. The conditions varied between cloudy, sunny, rain and wind.

4. Fly Fishing has to be done in Exotic Locations
Although the Florida Keys are very nice, as well as New Zealand, Christmas Island, Belize and the like...
There are so many places close to home that can and will provide you with the total fly fishing experience. Your local park probably may have a stocked pond. That pretty little stream with the bridge that you cross every day -- may be a trout stream. The beach that you take the dog to for a run -- there are fish to catch there! Fly fishing is a great sport in that it enables you to open your eyes and enjoy the world around you.
Then again, a vacation sounds nice too!
Places: rivers, streams, creeks, brooks, tributaries, lakes, ponds, farm ponds, Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, bays, estuaries, jetties, flats, reefs...

5. You need a PhD in Biology to Succeed
You won't need a PhD in any subject to succeed in fly fishing! You might think so after conversing with some fly fishers. The reality is that you can over-complicate this sport as much as you'd like. Yes, here are times that fish are selective (won't take the fly you're fishing) --- but in most cases you can dupe them with a selection of about two or three flies properly fished.

6. You have to be an Olympic Athlete to Fly Fish
Just as in any other sport, you can participate to the level of your physical abilities and derive complete enjoyment! Groups continue to build handicap access sites on streams and lakes -- all over the US (and worldwide), and you can find a location to fly fish right outside your car!

7. You can't learn to Fly Fish on your own
Many have, and many will. Guides, fly shops, fly fishing schools and the like will try to convince you that you'll need those expensive lessons to get started. We disagree. And here are the key words -- "to get started". There are so many great resources for the beginner fly fisher -- just read a little, online or off, and get out on the water and fly fish!

8. I thought you had to attach a real live fly to the end of the line
Negative. Fly Fishing is all about imitating fish food with a hand-made "fly", often constructed of fur and feathers, but can also be constructed from man-made materials. The key here is imitating the natural food of the species of fish your are fly fishing for. For instance, saltwater species often feed on small minnows -- and saltwater "flies" often imitate small fish or minnows.

9. I can't do it, I tried once
Here's the thing about fly casting: You are not casting any weight at the end of the line as with a spin rod. You are casting the fly line itself. Here's a simple analogy: pretend that you are holding a stick with an apple pushed onto the top. You want to toss the apple across the room to your friend. You would have to swing the stick and abruptly stop the swing to let the apple fly off the top of the stick and hurl across the room to your waiting friend. Just imagine now that the stick is your fly rod, and the apple is actually your fly line. Fly casting is much the same as the analogy: your forward cast will start, just as when you swung the stick, and then stop abruptly to allow the fly line to hurl forward. See the resources at the end of this article for a cool animation that you can view, explaining the basics of fly casting.

10. You have to cast really far to catch fish
Most fish are you'll be targeting are within 30 ft -- or, you can get to within 30 ft of them. To cast to a fish this far away, you only have to be able to cast 21 - 23 ft of fly line, taking into consideration that most leaders (your terminal tackle) are 7.5 to 9 ft. We know, for certain, that with one or two practice sessions -- you'll be casting at least that far!
AnglerUniversity.com [http://www.angleruniversity.com] is an online resource for beginner fly fishers that combines online fly fishing lessons (with animations, video, and photos) with a fly shop that offers fly fishing combos, fly rods, fly reels, and accessories. Check out a couple of the resources below for fly fishing information and gear. When you're ready to fly fish -- make AnglerUniversity.com your first stop on the Internet!
I've included a couple of resources for you to check out:
Online Fly Fishing Lessons [http://www.angleruniversity.com/enroll3.asp]
Basic Casting Animation/Lesson [http://www.angleruniversity.com/lessons_intro.asp]
John Incantalupo - EzineArticles Expert Author
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