The Right Fly Fishing Lures for the Perfect Catch

Artificial flies used for fishing are small, light lures used to fool a fish into believing that the fly is its natural prey. Fly fishing lures mimic the foods that a particular fish will and these flies can be made or bought in different sizes colors and patterns. The skill of tying these flies is considered an art as it is not always easy to fool a fish into thinking they’re the real thing. The artificial flies are created with varying combinations of fur, feathers and fine colored threads.

The choice of the fly depends on a number of factors such as the time of year, what fish you are angling for, and the flies and other insects common to their diet. Learning when to use a dry fly to imitate insects on the surface of the water or when to use a wet fly to behave like the nymph, or swimming stage of an insect is all important when it comes to choosing fly fishing lures. It really becomes important to have more than a basic understanding of entomology.

Types of Fly Fishing Lures

The types of fly fishing lures are also known as patterns and the type of fish as well as fishing conditions determines they type of pattern used. There are many different patterns used in fly fishing lures. They can be a wet fly, dry fly, streamer fly, terrestrial or sometimes a combination of these.

Wet Flies are meant to look like drowning insects or nymphs. A nymph is the larva of an insect such as a dragonfly or mayfly. These lures are made of materials that quickly become waterlogged and sink. Dry flies on the other hand imitate natural insects that swim or float on the top of the water. These can be mayflies, stoneflies or terrestrials.

Streamers aren’t meant to imitate any insects but look like small bait fish. These are used to attract large predator fish such as bass, muskie and larger trout. Streamers are jerked through the water to simulate a small swimming fish.

Terrestrials are simply land dwelling insects that fall into the water and make a tasty meal for a fish. These are things like grasshoppers, crickets and ants. A fly fishing lure that is used as a terrestrial is twitched across to water to mimic a struggling insect.

What a Fish Sees

There are many other kinds of fly fishing lures. Some lures may be a combination of two or more of the basic patterns and some don’t really fit any pattern, often being made to fit a very specific set of fly fishing conditions or a specific area.

When it comes to fly fishing lures, the most important thing to remember is that it’s not important what the lure looks to you but if you expect to catch any fish you’d better know that it does matter to the fish!