| When you start fly fishing for trout there can | | | | identifying the natural fly life in the water, |
| appear to be a bewildering range of fishing flies to | | | | matching it up with an imitative fly and then |
| choose from with weird and wonderful names | | | | persuading a fish to eat it can be very satisfying |
| such as bloody butchers, blobs and klinkhammers. | | | | and the ultimate challenge. |
| In this article I'll cover some of the basics of trout | | | | For the beginner, the important thing is to find a |
| fishing flies, how to fish them and recommend | | | | way of catching trout without making life too |
| some flies for a beginner to start out with. | | | | complicated and for this reason I'll often |
| Trout fishing flies can be thought of as two | | | | recommend Lures as a good starting point. A |
| distinctly different types, Imitative Flies and | | | | carded selection of Lures will typically have 6-8 |
| Attractor Flies. Imitative flies are designed to look | | | | proven trout catchers and that's enough to get |
| like a natural element of a trout's usual diet such | | | | you started and provide an enjoyable first days |
| as a bloodworm, minnow or daddy longlegs fly. | | | | fishing. They also don't have to be cast quite so |
| Attractor flies, on the other hand, don't really | | | | carefully which is a big advantage while you're still |
| resemble anything natural, but are designed so | | | | perfecting that long, elegant cast. |
| that their shape, colour or movement makes the | | | | The best way to fish lures is with a sinking fly line. |
| trout think they might be worth eating (or even | | | | Cast your line out and let it sink. You want the |
| just snap at aggressively). | | | | lure to be down at around the same depth as the |
| Imitative flies can be fished floating on top the | | | | trout are, so let the line sink for a while before |
| water, in which case they are called 'dry' flies or in | | | | pulling the line back in with a fairly fast retrieve. |
| the water, when they are called 'wet' flies. The | | | | The actual depth you want will often vary, so |
| larval stage of flies are probably the most | | | | count to yourself while the line is sinking. Try |
| common element of a trout's diet and flies tied to | | | | different depths and adjust your count as |
| resemble these are called 'nymphs'. When fishing | | | | necessary. Once you start getting bites you'll |
| imitative flies the angler is trying to imitate their | | | | know you're at the right depth. If your fly keeps |
| natural movement so they are usually fished very | | | | getting stuck on the bottom then you're letting it |
| slowly to give them a lifelike appearance. | | | | sink too far. Try counting to 10 or 20 as a good |
| The most common type of attractor flies are | | | | starting point. |
| large, bushy flies called Lures and these are often | | | | So there we have it. An overview of trout flies |
| tied in bright colours with sparkly materials. | | | | with a good starting point for a beginner. For the |
| They're fished with a fast retrieve and often the | | | | record, a Bloody Butcher is a small attractor |
| fly is stimulating an aggressive snap from the | | | | fished as a wet fly. A Blob is a popular sparkly |
| trout rather than persuading it that here's a nice | | | | lure and a Klinkhammer is an imitative pattern for |
| juicy morsel for eating. | | | | emerging nymphs. |
| For the experienced angler, the challenge of | | | | |