By: Heather Hodson
As a new or intermediate fly angler, one of the most intimidating parts of the sport is choosing the right fly. Sometimes the perfect, most unique fly is the ticket. You can also fool a fish by tying on a pink attractor pattern and fishing it confidently.
Learning how to read water, set up your leader, and fish, the fly, is more important than choosing the correct fly. This is why the Fly Fishing 1o1 online course has less emphasis on entomology and more time spent on the subjects mentioned above.
The bugs will come. When I first started to learn how to fly fish, I had several mentors suggest different hatch textbooks. I opened the first page and felt utterly overwhelmed. The books stayed closed on my bookshelf for two years until I had enough knowledge to open them back up. SUGGESTION – Get something with pictures!
We discuss and go into great detail about the fly types, fly examples, leader set-up for each fly type, and how to fish every kind of fly in our Online Recorded Courses. You learn anywhere at any time. Register HERE.
Fly Fishing takes patience and an incredible amount of time on the water to understand the many components. You’re not going to learn it all at once. Even those who have been fishing for a lifetime are still learning. This is not a fad diet; it’s a lifestyle. Enjoy the journey.
Entomology is defined as the study of insects. At its most basic level, fly fishing entomology understands the category of insects and what stage of life the bug is in. Understanding the hatch comes with experience, observation, and most importantly, time on the water.
What is a Fly?
Fishing flies are artificial bait designed to imitate insects at different stages of their lives, aquatic baitfish, small animals, invertebrates, crustaceans, and other fish food.
Fly Types
To choose the correct fly, you must understand the different fly types. The difference between not catching fish and tight lines is understanding the different fly types and when to use them.
- Dry Fly
- Float
- Mature Stage of Adult insects
- Terrestrials
- Float
- Land Dwelling
- Grasshoppers, Critics, Beetles, Ants, Etc.
- Emerger
- Above and Below the Water
- Float
- Mature Stage of Adult Insects
- Wet Fly
- Sink
- Fishes Just Below the Surface
- Imitate Drowned, Drifting, or Hatching Insect
- Nymph
- Sink
- Any Immature Stage of Aquatic Insects
- Streamer
- Sinks
- Mimics Bait Fish or Other Large Aquatic Prey
