Copy of `Hooked on Flies - Flyfishing terms`

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Hooked on Flies - Flyfishing terms Category: Hobbies and Crafts > Flyfishing Date & country: 29/01/2014, UK Words: 205

Yolk sac
the membrane-covered food pouch found on the belly of a newly hatched fish. It nourishes the growing fish until it is able to feed itself.

Zinger
slang for a retractable device. Useful for hanging items such as nippers off your vest to keep them out of the way when not in use.

S Cast
cast used to put deliberate and controlled slack into a cast; used in getting a drag free float and in conjunction with mending line (see drag, dead drift, mending line).

Z-Lon
trade name for a synthetic yarn used in making carpeting. Can be used for many purposes in fly tying such as nymph bodies, spent wings, and trailing shucks.

Whip Finish
knot used to tie off the thread when finishing a fly.

Wind Knot
an overhand knot put in the leader by poor casting, greatly reducing the breaking strength of the leader

Wet Fly Swing
typical presentation method for fishing a wet fly. Cast the fly downstream and across, and then swim it across the current. Commonly used to imitate swimming mayflies, emerging caddis, and small fish.

Wading staff
a walking stick especially adapted to provide stability to a wading fly angler when moving through fast or deep water. Some wading staffs are foldable and can be kept in a fishing vest pocket until needed.

Weight Forward (WF)
an easy casting fly line because it carries most of its weight in the forward section of the line; instead of a level middle section, like a double taper, it quickly tapers down to a fine diameter running line which shoots through the guides with less resistance for added distance; the most versatile fly line.

Wet Fly
any fly fished below the surface of the water; nymphs and streamers are wet flies. Also a traditional style of fly tied with soft, swept back hackle, and a backward sweeping wing; the forerunner of the nymph and streamer.

Waders
high topped waterproof boots; two main types used in fishing: boot foot and stocking foot; boot foot have boots built in, just pull on and go; stocking foot requires the use of a pair of wading shoes and provides better support and traction.

Wading Shoes
shoes built specifically to be worn over stocking foot waders; can be made of leather, nylon or other synthetic materials.

Upwing flies
the Ephemeroptera order of flies, whose wings are nearly vertical and who possess two or three tails or setae.

Vest
a fly fisher's wearable tackle box; numerous styles available; particularly important in wading situations.

Vise
tool used for holding the fly hook while materials are tied on.

Wader belt
an adjustable belt cinched near the top of chest waders to keep out water, particularly recommended as a precaution to the waders filling up with water in the event of a fall.

Turn Over
words that describe how the fly line and leader straighten out at the completion of the cast.

Undercurrent
the flow of water beneath the surface which can be opposite the surface flow on stillwaters.

Unloading the Rod
unbending the rod. Transferring the casting energy from the rod back into the fly line.

Upstream
against the current of the river or stream.

Upwind
into the wind.

Tinsel
a thin silver, gold or brass-colored ribbon used in adding shine ton flies, often as ribbing or for fly bodies.

Tip section
the top section of a fly rod, smallest in diameter and furthest from the rod grip.

Tippet
the end section of a tapered leader; the smallest diameter section of a tapered leader; the fly is tied onto the tippet.

Trout Unlimited
non-profit organization dedicated to the protection and improvement of trout fisheries, with an emphasis towards wild trout.

Thorax
normally associated with nymphs, however can be a part of the fly, usually the area behind the head, mainly constructed with dubbing.

Terrestrial
term used to describe land-based insects which are often food for fish.

Tag
(or tag end). The end of the line that is used to tie a knot (also see Standing Line).

Tail
part of the fly usually constructed of fine feather or hair, on the end of the hook.

Tailwater
the downstream section of a river or stream found below a large man-made dam. The most famous and productive tailwaters are from bottom-discharge dams, making the water relatively cold and constant in temperature.

Tapered Leader
a leader made of monofilament and used for fly fishing; the back or butt section of the leader is of a diameter nearly as large as the fly line, then becomes progressively smaller in diameter as you approach the tip end (see knotless tapered leader, knotted leader, and tippet).

Stripping line
retrieving the line by pulling it in through your fingers as opposed to winding it in on the reel.

Surgeon's Knot
excellent knot used to tie two lengths of monofilament together; the lines may be of dissimilar diameters.

Streamer
fly tied to imitate the various species of baitfish upon which game fish feed; usually tied using feathers for the wing, but can be tied with hair and/or feathers; tied in all sizes (see bucktail).

Strike
the action of a fish in trying to eat a fly. This term also refers to the movement of the rod a fly angler makes to set the hook.

Steelhead
a migratory rainbow trout.

Stock Fish
fish that are reared in captivity and stocked into fisheries.

Stonefly
very important aquatic insect; nymph lives for one to three years, depending on species; most species hatch out by crawling to the shoreline and emerging from its nymphal case above the surface, thus adults are available to trout only along shoreline and around midstream obstructions; adult has two pair of wings which are folded flat along its back when at rest; stoneflies require a rocky bottomed stream with very good water quality.

Spring creek
a creek or stream that gets its water from a ground flow or spring sources, rather than glacier/snow melt or surface run off. Spring creeks are generally at a temperature of the average rainfall temperature over the course of the year (the source of most ground water) and hence usually do not warm significantly in the summer nor freeze in the winter.

Stalking
creeping up on a fish, to surprise or not disturb it.

Standing Line
the part of the line that is joined to another piece of line when tying the tag ends together. Two standing lines are joined by tying their tag ends into a knot.

Spool
the part of the fly reel that revolves and which holds the backing and the fly line; may be purchased separately.

Spawn
the behavior of fish where females deposit eggs (also called spawn) on various surfaces (varying with species) and the male produces necessary milt to ultimately turn the eggs into fry.

Spey
a particular casting technique using special two-handed rods and a modified roll cast. It is named after a river in Scotland where it was developed.

Spinner
the egg laying stage of the mayfly; overall not as important to the fly fisher as the dun stage; (see mayfly and dun).

Sink Rate
the speed at which a sinking fly line sinks; there are at least 6 different sink rates for fly lines, from very slow to extremely fast.

Sinking Fly Line (S)
a fly line in which the entire length of the line sinks beneath the surface of the water.

Sink-Tip Fly Line
a floating fly line where the tip portion sinks; available in 4 foot, 10 foot, 12 foot, 15 foot, 20 foot, 24 foot, and 30 foot sinking tips; the 10 foot sink-tips are most commonly used and are practical in many applications; sink-tip lines are useful in all types of fly fishing, but especially in wet fly or streamer fishing.

Setting the Hook
the act of pulling the hook into the flesh of the fish's mouth. The amount of effort needed to do this varies with the size of hook, type of fish, and breaking strength of leader; most people strike too hard on trout and warm water fish and not hard enough on salmon and saltwater fish.

Shank
long straight part of the hook between the eye and the bend.

Shooting Taper
ST or Shooting Head

Sea-run
a term describing brown, cutthroat and rainbow trout that hatch in fresh water, migrate to the sea to mature, and return to fresh water to spawn. Rainbow trout (in the Pacific Northwest and Great Lakes) are the best known sea-run trout; these are called steelhead.

Roe
a collective term for fish milt and ova.

Roll Cast
one of the three most basic fly casts; allows a cast to be made without a back cast; essential for use with sinking lines, to bring the line to the surface so it may be picked up and cast in a normal manner.

Scud
a small freshwater scrimp-like crustacean that is present in most trout waters and serves as a food source for trout.

Rod Flex
the manner in which the rod bends during the cast during the acceleration phase of the cast. Tip-Flex rods bend primarily through the tip section, Mid-Flex rods bend down into the middle section, and Full-flex rods bend throughout the entire rod during the cast.

Reel Seat
mechanism that holds the reel to the rod, usually using locking metal rings or sliding bands.

Retrieve
bringing the fly back towards the caster after the cast is made; can be done in a variety of ways; important points of retrieving are to keep the rod tip low and pointed straight down the line.

Riffle
a small rapid in a river or stream.

Riparian
a term that describes anything of, inhabiting, or situated on a riverbank; often used in connection with ownership and fishing rights.

Rise
action of a trout as it rises for a fly on the water's surface.

Redd
a hollow scooped in the sand or gravel of a riverbed by breeding trout or salmon as a spawning area.

Quill
section of a primary or secondary feather used in fly tying.

Reach cast
a cast used for adding extra slack in the line, or when fishing downstream, in order to provide a more natural float.

Pool
a segment of a river or stream with greater depth and slower current, making it safer from predators bird and animal and where swimming against the current is reduced.

Presentation
the act of putting the fly on the water and offering it to the fish; the variety of presentations is infinite, and changes with each fishing situation. The object is to present the fly in a manner similar to the natural insect or food form that you are imitating.

Pupa
in insects, the transition stage between the larva and the adult; to fly-fishers, caddis pupa are the most important of these insects.

Pick-up & Lay Down
a fly fishing cast using only a single back cast. The line is lifted from the water and a back cast made, followed by a forward cast which is allowed to straighten and fall to the water, completing the cast.

Polarized sun glasses
sunglasses with iodized lenses that block incident light (glare) and thus allow anglers to better see beneath the surface glare of water.

Poly Yarn
a synthetic yarn made from polypropylene. Used in fly tying, often for parachute posts and wings on dry flies.

Pelvic fins
the pair of fins on the lower body of a fish; also called ventral fins.

Perfection loop
this is a knot often used to create a loop in a piece of monofilament, frequently at the butt end of a leader for the loop to loop connection.

Pectoral fins
the pair of fins just behind the head of a fish.

Pattern
the fixed design of material and position of parts which make up an artificial fly sometimes called its recipe.

Parachute
type of dry fly where the hackle is wound horizontally around the base of the wing like a parachute instead of vertically around the hook of the fly. This drops the body of the fly down into the surface film of the water. It is usually most effective in medium to slow moving waters.

Palming
a term referring to the use of the palm of the hand against the spool edge of a rimless fly reel as a means of applying drag against the release of line in fighting a fish.

Palmer
a method for wrapping a hackle feather over a section of the fly's body. When it is retrieved through the water it 'pushes' the water and this causes attractive movement shock waves that help fish locate the fly.

Open Loop
term used to describe what the fly line looks like as it travels through the air during a poor cast; caused by a very wide casting arc.

Nymphing
word describing fish feeding on nymphs; nymphing right at the surface can be difficult to tell from fish feeding on adults, careful observation should tell.

Nymph
immature form of insects; as fly fishers, we are concerned only with the nymphs of aquatic insects.

Monofilament
a clear, supple nylon filament used in all types of fishing that is available in many breaking strengths (see breaking strength) and diameters.

Muddler
normally a deer hair headed fly.

Mylar
metallic plastic available in sheet or plaited tube form. The tubing can be used to simulate scales on the flanks or fry imitating lures/streamer flies.

Nail Knot
method used to attach a leader or butt section of monofilament to the fly line, and of attaching the backing to the fly line; most commonly tied using a small diameter tube rather than a nail.

Mayfly
world wide, the most commonly imitated aquatic insect. Most dry fly and nymph patterns imitate this insect. Nymph stage of the mayfly lasts approximately one year; adult stages last one to three days. The adult has one pair of upright wings, making it look like a small sailboat. Mayflies are commonly found in cold or cool freshwater environments.

Mending Line
method used after the line is on the water to achieve a drag free float. It constitutes a flip, or series of flips with the rod tip, which puts a horseshoe shaped bow in the line. This slows down the speed with which the line travels if mended upstream, and speeds up the line if mended downstream. For example: if a cast is across the flow of the stream and the fastest part of the current is on your side, the mends would typically be made upstream to slow the line down so it keeps pace with the fly traveling in the slower current across from you.

Marabou
fluffy and soft down or underfeathers from most birds, but particularly for fly tying, marabou comes from chickens, turkeys or other domestic fowl.

Matching the hatch
an attempt by a fly angler to select an artificial fly that imitates the color, size, shape and behavior of natural insects that fish are feeding on at a particular time. Often when a hatch is happening, fish become very selective and refuse insects that are not the most abundant.

Maxillary
the rear bone of the upper jaw of a fish.

Loading the Rod
phrase used to describe the bend put in the rod by the weight of the line as it travels through the air during the cast.

Loop to loop
a way to connect a fly line and a leader by making a loop at the end of the leader (perfection loop knot) and a loop attached to the end of the fly line. Loop to loop connections are sometimes made from a leader to a tippet.

Lie
areas in a river or lake where fish hang out, commonly well-located because they are out of the main current, present cover from predators or provide a good source of insects and other food.

Line dressing
an old term carried over from the days of silk fly lines referring to the oily substances applied to clean and increase buoyancy. Modern fly lines generally only need to be cleaned with warm water and soap generally once per season for fresh water fishing.

Line weight
the weight of the first 30 feet of a fly line, used as a way to standardize fly lines in matching them to fly rods of differing stiffness. Line weighting is not a linear numbering system; the first 30 feet of a #6 weight line 160 grains while the first 30 feet of a #3 weight line is 100 grains.

Level Line
an untapered fly line, usually floating. It is difficult to cast, a poor line for delicacy or distance, and a poor choice for an all round line.

Leader
the section of monofilament line between the fly line and the fly. It is usually tapered, so that it will deliver the fly softly and away from the fly line (see knotted leader, knotless tapered leader, turn over, and monofilament).

Knotted Leader
fly fishing leader constructed by knotting sections of different diameter leader material to each other to make a tapered leader. Most commonly used knots to construct such a leader are blood (or barrel) knot and surgeon's knot (see blood knot, surgeon's knot, leader, tapered leader, leader material).

Kype
a male spawning trout or salmon develops a hook like protrusion on the mandible. The kype is particularly striking in salmon.

Larva
the immature, aquatic, growing stage of the caddis and some other insects. Many species of caddis larva build a protective covering of fine gravel or debris to protect them in this stage. The larva is a bottom dwelling non-swimming stage of the insect.

Knotless Tapered Leader
a fly fishing leader entirely constructed from a single piece of monofilament. Extrusion, or acid immersion are most commonly used to taper the leader.