The Sublime Pleasure Of Fly Fishing

Fly fishing has a history stretching back to the ancient Greeks, whose historians record people fishing for "spotted fishes" with fixed-line wooden poles. They used for bait wound with cloth and animal hair ?primitive fishing flies. More than 2,000 years later, people still fly fish, and they're still catching those "spotted fishes" and many other types besides. Fishing venues have expanded to include lakes, rivers, and even the ocean. With a continual flow of new adherents and constant technological advancement, fly fishing is likely to go strong as long as there are still fishes out there to catch.

Flyfishing gear

These days, our fishing flies either come ready-made or we make them ourselves; we've got all kinds of specialized tools and fishing clothing with which we pursue our art; and our fly rods are made of graphite, with nifty fly fishing reels designed to extend our reach well beyond a few feet. Taken together, these comprise a serious fisherman's basic fly fishing gear. You're also likely to need additional fishing equipment like supplies and tackle, and even fishing apparel like mesh vests and waders. If you're making your own flies, that opens up a whole other can of worms, involving the specialty materials and tools required for making decent flies. Finally, if you're fishing deep water, you'll need to take a look at fishing boats too.

Stalking your fishy prey

Any veteran fly fisherman knows that fishing is less about putting fish on the table and more about being comfortable with Mother Nature. There you are: suited up in vest and waders, creel at your side, tackle safely tucked away. You've selected the perfect flies, and you're fly rod is ready for action. Now you're ready to slip into nature's timeless waters, where the trout (or tarpon or sunfish or bonefish) await. If you don't catch any fish, that's all right ? you've had an opportunity to enjoy alone time with yourself, to ejoy nature, and to practice your casting. And that's what it's all about.