Fly Fishing Lingo

Learn Fishing Lingo

Fishing lingo or fly fishing lingo will help you get started as a beginning fly fisherman. I have broken this down into 6 topics.

1. Stream Safety -- Coming Back Alive
2. What are the Trout Doing?
3. Anatomy of Fly Fishing Rods
4. Three Main Fly Fishing Casts
5. Four Types of Drifts
6. Fishing the Drift

 

1.  Stream Safety -- Coming Back Alive

When you get to where you are going to fish. Stop and take a little time to examine the water and the stream structure Reading the water you are going to fish.

What kind of stream is it? A small one 6 feet to 15 feet, medium 15 feet to 35 or 40 feet or larger. How fast is the stream flowing and how deep is it where you are going to fish? Misread these two stream characteristics and you could end up floating face down in a pool somewhere.  If you are in a fast flowing stream and the water starts moving you downstream toward danger, wading back upstream to safety can be almost impossible.

Chest waders full of cold water can quickly lead to the onset of hypothermia and exhaustion.  Waders full of water may take you to the bottom fast depending on your circumstances. A set of water filled chest-waders will severely hamper your ability to swim to safety.  Many waders have a drawstring top.  When necessary, cinch the top tight to your chest to slow down water flow into your waders.

If you do go down, get on your back, point your feet downstream to act as bumpers, keep your head up and try to paddle or steer with your hands into slower water or the bank where you can get out of the water.

If possible, try to get out of the water before any fast rapids or you get tangled in brush piles.  Typically brush piles will create some kind of back current during high water and can hold you under water if you become entangled.

Wearing a non-stretchable polyester or nylon wader belt to help keep water out of your waders is a good idea.

Once on the Gallatin River in Yellowstone Park, I was about to step off the bank into gin clear water. I could see the bottom clearly and wanted to fish from the opposite bank. To see how deep the water was, I stuck my 9-foot rod straight down clear to the reel without touching bottom. If in doubt, take time to check.

a. Bottom structure -- is it small to medium rounded rocks that have been worn smooth over time. These types of bottom structure can be very tricky to navigate. Sometimes a wading staff will be of great value in these streams.

Is the bottom structure smaller rocks with some or lots of larger rocks? This type of structure makes for great fish hiding places but can be hard to wade.

Are the rocks covered with moss that gets slimy and makes wading harder?

If the water flow caught you, how would you get out? Is there a path to safety? Could you wade at a 45-degree angle to the current to a safe place?

Never and I mean never start wading a river until you know how you are going to get back from where you want to go. Always err on the side of caution. We want you beginners to hang around and become "old pain in the butts".

Remember -- There are bold fishermen. There are old fishermen. But there are no old -- bold fishermen.

 

2. What are the trout doing and eating?

Rise Forms -- are the patterns a trout makes as it takes a fly. There are several distinctive forms.

Sipping Rise -- a quiet rise, producing a circular waveform. Much like dropping a rock in a pool or water. A rise form of this kind may be large trout. Especially at dawn or dusk feeding times.

Jumping Rise -- where a trout will come out of the water to catch a rising insect. This may mean a caddis hatch is going on. Try and catch some insects to examine. Caddis rise rapidly from the bottom, explode through the surface film and fly away. Trout know they have no time to waste if they want their dinner.

Tailing Rise -- where you see trout with their noses down in the bottom and their tails at surface or out of water. When you see this kind of activity, be ready to switch to nymph fishing. Turn over some rocks and examine the nymphs you find. See if you can determine what the fish are feeding on and offer them a good imitation.

You see insects over the water and in streamside willows but still can't determine exactly what the fish are feeding on. Take out your net seine (should be white to show up small insects clearly) and turn over some rocks or scuff the stream bottom so the insects kicked up will flow into your seine.  When you have determined the prevalent insect, switch to the closet pattern you have to it.

If you get no activity after 10 to 15 minutes, don't be afraid to experiment with size and pattern changes. This is part of fly fishing frustration and the excitement of exploration too.

Are there trees or willows along the streamside? Willows make great places for stream insects to sit and dry their wings before flying back over the water to mate and lay eggs. But trees and willows can eat your flies too so be aware of them.

Willows make a grand place for you to capture streamside insects and see what is hatching. Don't neglect the ground at streamside. Stoneflies crawl out of the water and into streamside willows or structure to dry their wings.

Once on the South Platte River at Waterton, Colorado; I saw a hatch of stoneflies in the 3 to 4 inch range crawling out of the water. The sandy bank was literally alive with them there were so many. Guess what pattern we started fishing?

 

Holding Water for Trout

• Run -- a place where the water comes in between a bank and a rock or between two rocks. A run can be fast to slow.  If the run has several large rocks along one side, trout can hold against the side of these rocks.  The same applies to a bank area.
  
  Does the run flow into a pool? How deep does the pool look? Can you see the bottom? Is the bottom filled with moss that may be covering up dangerous larger rocks and large fish too? 
   

• Pool -- a larger area of water on a river. Generally with slower water flow.
   

• Riffle -- a slower flow of water over smaller rocks or gravel.  A riffle can be at the head or tail of a pool.  Often a foot or less deep in the late season, riffles can be very productive when fished with a two fly rig.
  
  Some years ago in October, I fished a set of riffles on the Poudre River below a fish hatchery. Using an ugly Royal Wulff dry fly as my top fly and a gray RS2 as the dropper, I caught and released 8 -- 17 to 19 inch rainbow trout in about an hour.
   

• Rocks -- These are places where fish are likely to be on station to feed. Behind, beside or in front of medium to large rocks. As water passes over the sides of rocks, the current speed is reduced making it easier for fish to hold. Fish generally will not expend more energy than necessary to catch food. Using more energy than they get from the food leads to death.
  
  In between rocks or just over rocks on a stream bottom that is mostly smaller to medium rock structure. In this situation, trout may develop a camouflage pattern on their back that makes them hard to see.
   

• Seam Water -- Where two current flows come together.  Generally there is a slower and a faster flow.  Fish will hang out in the slower flow and dart out into the faster flow to capture a tasty morsel.  Look for seam water where an island splits the main current or a couple of large rocks may divert part of the main flow.

3. Anatomy of Fly Fishing Rods is here --
Anatomy of Fly Fishing Rods

4. Three Main Fly Fishing Casts to Master

Setting Up the Cast:  

1. Stance ==> The foot of the casting side should be back at roughly a 45 degree angle from the lead foot and about shoulder width apart.  Right handed -- right foot back.  Left handed -- left foot back.  This stance allows your body to twist back and forth with the cast easily.  If you stand with your feet parallel to each other, you constrict the body's ability to move and limit your casting accuracy and distance.
2. Grip ==> First locate the balance point of the rod by placing the rod on the edge of the index finger with the reel pointing down.  The balance point is where the rod is level or close to it.  This point is generally about 1/4 to 1/2 inch back from the front of the cork grip on most rods.
   
   The grip the rod with the thumb on top of the rod and the reel point down. Fingers should be wrapped around the rod.  The finished grip is much like holding a hammer.
3. Elbow Control ==> The idea in the overhead and roll cast is to obtain a tight loop which will roll line accurately to the target.  To achieve a tight loop, maintain your elbow on a constant level as you move the rod from the pickup, to the back cast, to the forward stroke.  Holding the elbow "On The Shelf" is much easier done when the feet are placed as described in the Stance.  When your upper body can pivot with little constriction as you move the rod back and forth, the elbow will almost automatically stay in a constant plane. 
   
   When you raise the elbow up on the back cast, your loop will open up and you will loose line speed, distance, and accuracy in your forward stroke.

The three basic casts you should learn and the parts of each type of cast

a. Basic Overhead Cast -- This is the traditional fly rod cast most people imagine when you mention fly fishing. It is used for presentation of everything from nymphs to wet flies to dry flies. The Basic Overhead Cast has 5 parts.

Pause -- This is the part just before you begin your pickup. You allow a moment for the current to straighten your line for you. This makes it easier to perform the Pickup. Strip some line toward you and hold it in your left hand in coils or at your feet in coils. (This retrieved line is for shooting toward the target.)

Pickup -- In this part, you lift the fly line off water by moving your hand, wrist, forearm and upper arm in an upward arc. Then bend the elbow and move the wrist, forearm and upper arm in a backward motion rotating at the shoulder. This will pick the line up and start the back cast over your shoulder.

Back Cast -- Keeping your hand, wrist, forearm, upper arm and shoulder in the same plane, power the rod backward to the one o'clock position if you had a clock beside you. Then let the rod drift slightly more to about the two o'clock position. DO NOT let the rod fall beyond the two o'clock position or you will have puddle of line at your back or hooks in your hear, hat or head and so on the forward cast. If you watch your back cast, you should see the line roll over and straighten out about the one o'clock position. When the line is straight, begin the Power Stroke.

Power or Forward Stroke -- Keeping the forearm, wrist, upper arm and shoulder in the same plane as the back cast, drive the whole arm forward, loading the rod. Continue the power stroke until the rod reaches the ten o'clock position. The let the rod tip drift down slightly and let go of the line shooting the line toward your target.

Shooting the Line -- The process of transferring the fly rod's energy to the line and shooting it to your target.

b. Roll Cast -- This is the other main cast every fly fisherman should master. It can be used to cast short to medium distances. (15 to 30 feet of line) It can be used as a means of picking up the line off the water too.

Wait for the line to get straight from you. Then slowly bring the rod into the back cast position with your casting arm slightly tilted away from your body. At this time, you will have a half loop of line from the rod tip to the water.

Drive the casting arm forward as you would in a normal overhead cast. The half loop of line should roll forward into the air. Point the rod tip at the target. The rolling loop will follow the direction of the rod tip to the target.

When performed properly, this cast can deliver small dry flies to large nymphs. I find it a lot easier on the arm than waving a fly rod around in the air all day.

c. River Load or Water Tension Cast -- "This is the easiest of all". Use the river's current to load the rod. Let the line get straight and almost 90 degrees in relation to the rod tip. Point the rod down toward the water. Using a side arm motion, quickly move the rod toward the target. The force of the river's current and your motion against the current will quickly load the fly rod.

Then let the power of the rod lift the line off the water and shoot the line toward your target. But be aware, if you are using weight on the line or in the fly, you should stop the rod about 90 degrees perpendicular to your target as the line will roll up and over the rod at a 90 degree angle to the rod. (Example, if you point the rod tip at the target with this cast, you will generally end up about 90 degrees upstream away from it.) When fishing all day, I find this cast to be the least tiring of all the casts. The river and rod are doing the work for you.

5. Four Types of Drifts

• Straight Upstream from you
• Upstream and across from you
• Downstream and across from you
• Straight downstream from you. I caught my first trout using this cast. A 2 lb. brookie, so don't laugh at it you old timers.

 

6. Fishing the Drift

This is the process of fishing from your target point to where you will pick up the line for your next cast. If you chose your initial casting position carefully, you can get a long drift, maximizing your chance of catching a fish.

Drag Free Drift This means you try and minimize the effect of the current flow on the fly. This is especially important when dry fly fishing. But it is just as important for nymphs too. If you were a trout, would you try and catch something going by at 10 miles per hour when all the natural food has been going by at 2 miles per hour.

Minimizing Stream Current Drag is done by mending your line. What this means is throwing a loop of line into the drifting line. Either upstream, downstream, a humpy mend or a series of s mends depending on the cast and the drift situation.