How to Choose A Fly Fishing Fly

Fly fishing flies or game fishing flies are a unique part of the fly angler’s gear to catch fish. Unlike most of coarse and sea fishing the angler is trying to fool the fish into believing that the fly, tied from all sorts of natural and man made materials is actually food rather than using actual food as bait as is the norm in other sorts of fishing.

In the natural environment a trout, salmon or grayling is hunting for the natural food that occurs in the lakes or rivers where they live and understanding the life cycle of that food is important in order to understand how to tempt fish to take your fly.

The water contains many insects and many of these spend most of their life living and feeding in the water. So without trying to get too technical it is important to understand this in order to know which fly to fish with. Water based insects lay their eggs in the water and these grow into creatures that then live and feed in the water and then eventually rise to the surface and develop into a flying insect that then spends its life as an air born creature, often with the major purpose of meeting another of its kind and reproducing.

So in terms of fishing we need to mimic these insects and flies. What sorts of insects the fish are taking is dependent on the nature of the water and on the time of year as well as the temperature. That is why it is very important when approaching a new water to ask, if you can, what sorts of flies are catching at that water. You may have a fly that is very effective at one place, but if it is not mimicking a creature that is common at the spot where you are fishing today it is unlikely to catch.

So your first question is where are the fish feeding, deep down at the bottom of the lake or from the surface? Warm sunny days are more likely to see insects rising and turning into flies at the surface and so this is where the fish will be, whereas the chances are that on a cold windy day the fish will be feeding at or near the bottom.

If they are feeding low down you will probably want a fly that is mimicking a small fish or insect making its way across the bottom (these flies are often collectively known as lures) or perhaps fish are taking the likes of a blood worm. You will not only need to think about the nature of the fly but also how will you get it to the bottom of the lake; some flies are weighted but it may be that you need to use a sinking line to get it to the bottom. Floating bite indicators are also a useful way to manipulate the level at which you fly is presented to the fish.

Another key issue if you are wanting to mimic a real creature is how you move your fly through the water. If you are wanting to fool the fish into thinking it is taking a small fish you need to move it through the water, however, if the fish are taking buzzers rising from the bottom the best thing to do will be to just let it sit in the water as this will mimic the behaviour of a real creature as it makes its way to the surface to emerge.

Finally many anglers, myself included, believe that the most exciting sort of fishing is with a dry fly i.e. one that mimics the likes of a crane fly (daddy long legs) as it sits on the top of the water about to emerge as an adult after many months below water as a nymph. The great thing about this sort of fishing is that you can see the fish as it feeds and approaches your fly sitting there temptingly and then to resist the wish to strike too early!

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