Confused by the strange language that
flyfishers and fisheries scientists use? Most of it is very simple to understand...
Jargon Buster will help you to see through the clouds of jargon.
| Jargon |
What it means |
More info... |
| A |
| Action of a flyfishing rod |
A rod may flex mainly towards its tip, from the tip through to the middle, or all the
way through from tip to butt. Tip-action rods are also called
'fast-action', because they very quickly regain straightness once pressure is released. At
the other extreme, 'through-action' or 'slow-action' rods tend to bounce back and forth
for much longer before settling. With a tip-action rod you will cast further and more
accurately; however, fish are more likely to break your leader than if you use a rod with
a slower action. A good all-round compromise is a rod with 'middle-action', flexing mainly
in the tip and middle regions: it is fairly easy to cast and good at absorbing the shocks
of a leaping fish. |
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| AFTMA |
A code, established by the American Fishing Tackle Manufacturers' Association,
defining the weights of various flyfishing lines. Lines in common use range from AFTMA#4,
used with lightweight trout rods and very fine leader tippets, through to AFTMA#12 used
with powerful double-handed salmon rods. |
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| B |
| Backcast |
When the fly line is cast behind you prior to launching it forwards across the water. |
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| Backing |
At least 50 yards of braided Dacron, strong monofilament nylon or other material tied
on to a flyfishing reel before the fly line itself to pack out the centre of the spool and
to act as a reserve in case a powerful fish makes a long run away from you. Braided
backing or nylon with an oval cross-section are less likely to tangle than ordinary nylon
of circular cross-section; they do cost more, however. |
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| Belly |
The thicker, constant diameter section of a flyfishing line. |
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| Blood knot |
A 'tucked half blood knot' is commonly used to ties the fly on to the end of the
leader. A double blood knot can be used to join two lengths of nylon of dissimilar
diameters when making up a tapered leader; however, a water knot is a lot easier to tie -
especially if your hands are cold and wet. |
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| Butt |
- The end of a flyfishing rod that you hold when casting; the handle is on the butt
section.
- The thick end of a tapering leader.
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| Buzzer |
The adult stage of a family of small diptera flies known as the chironomids. The
larval and, in particular, the pupal stages of the life cycle are of great importance to
stillwater trout fishers. Swarms of these non-biting midges make quite a buzzing sound in
flight - hence their common name. |
Buzzer midge
life-cycle... |
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| C |
| Caddis fly |
Also know as sedge flies, the scientific name for insects in this order is
Trichoptera. All caddis flies have four wings, which when at rest they park in
'ridge-tent' fashion along their bodies, and two antennae - often longer than the body.
Caddis flies develop via a complete metamorphosis: egg, larva, pupa and finally
adult. |
Sedge flies of
rivers
and lakes... |
| Cape |
The skin and feathers from the neck of a game bird. The best quality capes are from
birds specially bred for the quality of the hackle feathers from
their capes. |
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| Carbon rods |
Plain amorphous carbon would be useless as a fishing rod material. Rod makers use
graphite fibres to reinforce epoxy resins and other hard-setting, flexible
materials. The rod material is wrapped onto a former, called a mandrel, heat treated and
ground to a smooth finish; this is then called a carbon blank. The handle, rings and reel
fittings are fitted to the carbon blank. |
|
| Casting |
The process of using the rod and line to project a fly across the water. There are
many methods of casting, some ideally suited to particular difficult situations, such as
when there is very little or no room for using a conventional backcast. |
Overhead cast demo...
Spey
cast demo... |
| Cast |
An old-fashioned term for a leader. Casts were often made from
natural materials (called 'cat gut'), but better synthetic alternatives have now become
universally more popular. |
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| Co-polymer |
Modern leader and tippet materials that are stronger than conventional nylon and less
affected by exposure to ultra-violet light. For the same tippet diameter, and co-polymer
leader is very much stronger than a traditional nylon one. Some makes are also less
visible when submerged. |
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| D |
| Damselfly |
Damselflies are relatives of the dragonflies; their slow-crawling nymphs are an
important source of food for trout in shallow lakes and slow-flowing rivers. |
Damselflies... |
| Drag |
The river fisher's enemy when using dry flies that ought to drift naturally on the
current. Conflicting surface currents, caused by natural river turbulence, pull different
parts of the line and leader in different directions, but since the line and leader are
not very stretchy, the fly is also dragged back and forth unnaturally. A dragging dry fly
rarely tempts wise old trout, although when fishing with sedge imitations drag can
sometimes help you imitate the skittering behaviour of the natural insect. |
|
| Drag adjustment |
On a fly reel this is a mechanism that adjusts the amount of force necessary to take
line from the reel. Adjusting the drag setting correctly ensures that the reel does not
overrun (spin too quickly and so allow the line to become a tangled 'birds nest'). The
drag setting can also help when playing a fish, although most anglers prefer to use finger
friction on the rim of the reel to control the strain on the line. |
|
| Dry fly |
An artificial fly intended to float on the surface an imitate either an insect that
has just emerged from its larval or nymphal form, an insect falling on to the surface, or
one touching down to lay eggs. |
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| DT
or
Double-taper |
A flyfishing line in which the last ten or twelve yards of line at each end taper away
from a level middle section (the 'belly'). DT lines are ideal for short range
fishing and for making roll and Spey casts; weight forward (WF) lines are better suited to
shooting line a long way. At close range, both lines give very similar results. When one
end of a DT begins to wear out, the line can be turned round on the reel and its life
extended - something you cannot do with a WF line. DTF means a floating line with a double
taper profile, while DTS indicates a sinking line with the same profile. |
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| Dun |
The first winged form of an upwinged fly of the order Ephemeroptera. |
Life-cycle of upwinged
flies... |
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| E |
| Emerger |
An insect in the process of leaving its larval or pupal stage (commonly, but
incorrectly, referred to as 'hatching'). The term emerger is applied particularly to those
insects that transpose to a winged form at the water surface, as well as to artificial
flies intended to imitate insects that are going through such a transposition. |
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| F |
| False cast |
Casting the fly backwards and forwards without allowing it to alight on the water.
False casting may be used to lengthen (and less frequently to shorten) line, to change
direction, or to dry off a fly that has become waterlogged. |
|
| Floatant |
A chemical that applied to a dry fly to make it more waterproof. Floatants are also
available to help prevent parts of the leader Those well away from the fly) from sinking
in turbulent water. Oily liquid floatants are most popular, but aerosol and powder
floatants are also used. |
|
| Floater |
A flyfishing line the whole of which is designed to float on the surface of the water. |
|
| Forward cast |
The part of a casting action where the line is projected in front of the angler and
alights on the water. An efficient, smooth backcast is crucial to good presentation on the
forward cast. |
Overhead cast demonstration |
| Forward taper |
A flyfishing line well suited to long range casting but still able to present a fly
delicately at short range. The profile of a forward taper line, more commonly known as a
Weight Forward (and coded WF), typically comprises a ten yard section tapering away from
the fly, a constant-diameter belly of between eight and twelve yards, and another ten yard
taper back down to a fine 'shooting' line some ten to fifteen yards long. Manufacturers
vary these lengths to provide lines best suited to either long distance casting or gentler
presentation of the fly. |
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| G |
| Graphite rods |
A more strictly accurate way of referring to carbon fishing
rods. Most modern rods are of graphite construction. |
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| Grilse |
Small salmon that have spent just one winter out at sea before returning to the river
of their birth. Most grilse weigh between 4 lb and 6 lb. |
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| H |
| Hackle |
A feather, usually from the neck area of a cockerel, tied as part of the dressing of a
dry fly and representing the legs of an insect, or in the dressing of a wet fly, either as
a 'throat hackle' or to represent the legs of a drowning insect. Dry flies are best tied
with good quality hackles, and game birds are bred especially to supply dry fly 'capes'. |
|
| Hatch |
Although the change from egg to larva or nymph is, strictly speaking, the only hatch
in the life-cycle of an insect, anglers use this term to describe the process whereby a
winged adult fly emerges from a nymph or pupa and leaves the water. |
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| I |
| Intermediate |
A flyfishing line that sinks very slowly. |
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| J |
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| K |
| Keel hook |
A hook designed so that when a wet fly is tied on it and retrieved slowly it swims
with the hook point uppermost and so is much less likely to catch on weed or stones. |
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| L |
| Larva |
The immature, aquatic stage of diptera (such as the buzzer), caddis, water beetles and
several other kinds of insects. It is as larvae that such insects grow from a tiny egg to
their full size; they then turn into pupae and finally winged adults. |
Buzzers...
Sedge flies... |
| Leader |
Nylon or other flexible plastic line connected between the end of the flyfishing line
and the artificial fly. To cast well, a leader should taper in diameter, being thickest at
the fly line and much thinner (and hence less visible to the fish) where the fly is
attached. |
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| M |
| Mayflies |
In the UK this name is generally reserved for insects of the genus Ephermera, and
Ephemera danica and Ephemera vulgata are the two species anglers come across. They are
members of the upwinged or Ephemeroptera order - a name derived from their very short
lifetimes as winged insects. In the USA, the term mayflies is applied to all
Ephemeroptera. The eggs hatch into nymphs, which develop gradually over usually twelve
months before emerging from the water as duns. The duns shed a skin and
become spinners, which are the final mature adult flies. |
Mayfly (Ephemera
danica)...
Ephemeroptera of Wales...
Life-cycle of upwinged flies... |
| Magnificent Seven |
Seven artificial flies you can buy at all good tackle shops and that will enable you
to match the hatch reasonably well in most situations on river, streams and lakes. They
are: Greenwells Glory; Tups Indispensable; Gold-ribbed hare's Ear Nymph; Red Sedge;
Coch-y-Bonddu (a beetle imitation); Olive Suspender Buzzer; and Damselnymph. The first six
you will need in hook sizes 12, 14 and 16; the Damselnymph will need to be tied on size 8
or 10 long-shank hooks. |
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| Matching the hatch |
Selecting an artificial fly of such a size, shape, colour and surface footprint (the
pattern of disturbance it makes to the water surface) that a fish is likely to mistake it
for the real insect on which it is feeding. Also referred to as 'imitative flyfishing'. |
Matching the Hatch, by Pat O'Reilly |
| Memory |
When nylon or a flyfishing line have been on a spool for some time, they may take up
the shape of the spool and fall into curly coils that do not cast easily and refuse to lie
straight on the water. If this curliness remains even after stretching the line, it will
serious affect your ability to cast and to catch fish. Line memory is a bad thing; the
ideal amount of line memory is zero, and some modern flyfishing lines come very close to
this ideal... but not all. |
|
| Mending |
A technique of ensuring that a flyfishing line lies on the water in such a way that a
faster current over one part of the surface does not result in the fly being swept rapidly
across the surface. This is therefore a method of minimising drag. It
can be achieved by working the rod so as to flick a section of the line upstream;
alternatively (and generally preferable because it avoids disturbing the water surface) it
is possible to cast a ready-mended line - something best learned from a qualified
flyfishing instructor. |
|
| Midge |
The adult stage of a family of small diptera flies known as the chironomids. The
larval and, in particular, the pupal stages of the life cycle are of great importance to
stillwater trout fishers. Swarms of these non-biting midges make quite a buzzing sound in
flight - hence their other common name of buzzers. |
Buzzer midge
life-cycle... |
| Multiplier |
When applied to a flyfishing reel, this term means that the reel contains a gear train
so that when the handle is turned once the drum rotates more than one turn. Most
multiplier reels have a ratio of around 2:1. |
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| N |
| Needle knot |
A superb knot for attaching the butt of a leader to a fly line.
Using a needle, the leader butt is pushed up through the center of the
fly line and out through the side. A whip knot is then tied above the exit point. The
needle knot can also be used to join monofilament nylon backing and
fly line. |
|
| Nymph |
The immature, underwater stage in the life-cycle of several kinds of upwinged flies,
stoneflies and damselflies. Some nymphs can swim agilely, but most species are slow
moving. |
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| Nymphing |
A trout is said to be nymphing when it is feeding mainly on immature insects near or
on the bed of a river.
The term is also used to describe an angler fishing with an
artificial fly shaped like a nymph and weighted so that it sinks below the surface, where
the angler hopes the trout will mistake it for the real thing. It sounds easy, but
nymphing requires good eyesight and very rapid reactions; it is often a way of catching
large trout that would not bother to rise for a floating fly. |
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| O |
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| P |
| Presentation |
The accuracy and delicacy with which a fly is cast to the required spot. Bad
presentation either makes a splash or causes the fly to behave in an unnatural way - for
example because of drag. |
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| Pupa |
An almost inert, non-feeding stage in the life-cycle of buzzers, sedge flies and
several other kinds of insects. The larval stage occurs between the larva and winged adult
stages. |
Sedge fly life-cycle...
Buzzers... |
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| Q |
| Quite likely |
...we will need a 'Q' word eventually! |
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| R |
| Retrieve |
Pulling the fly back through the water to represent the swimming motion of a nymph,
larva or small fish. the motion you impart by either retrieving jerkily or smoothly,
quickly or slowly, should be appropriate to the kind of living creature your fly is meant
to represent. |
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| Roll cast |
A way of making a forward cast when there is no room for a backcast. It is important
to aim high, rather than driving the rod tip down towards the surface of the water;
otherwise the roll cast can result in very poor presentation. The Spey
cast is a more elegant and less energy-sapping alternative. |
Spey cast demonstration... |
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| S |
| Single action |
Refers to a flyfishing reel in which the handle is attached directly to the spool, so
that one turn of the handle causes the spool to rotate once. Most flyfishers use reels of
this type, which have very little in them to go wrong. |
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| Spey cast |
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| Sinker |
A fly line all of which is designed to sink beneath the surface of the water. Various
rates of sinking are available, from almost neutral density intermediate lines (with a
very slow sink rate) to lead-cored lines that go down rapidly and allow you to fish near
the bed of a fast flowing river or a very deep lake. |
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| Spinner |
The mature adult stage in the life-cycle of an upwinged fly, such as a mayfly. Once
spinners have mated, the males die and the females return to the water to lay their eggs,
either on the surface or by crawling down emergent vegetation and attaching their eggs to
stems or sticks below the surface. |
Life-cycle of upwinged
flies... |
| Spare spool |
A replacement drum section of a flyfishing reel. If you intend fishing with floating
and sinking lines, keeping one of the lines on a spare spool makes it is possible simply
to swap lines quickly without going to the expense of buying two complete reels. |
|
| Stoneflies |
Aquatic insects that go through a life-cycle of egg, larva and adult - there is no dun
stage. Most stonefly nymphs transpose ('hatch') to adults by crawling to the shallows and
emerging from its nymphal case on rocks or emergent vegetation. The edge of a stream is
therefore usually the best place to fish with an artificial stonefly nymph. |
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| Streamer flies |
Large artificial patterns tied not as copies of insects but rather to represent small
fishes. The 'wing' representing the small fish's back and flanks is usually tied either of
long feathers extending behind the bend of the hook. |
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| T |
| Taper |
The section of a fly line or a leader comprising a stepped or gradual transition from
a large diameter to a much smaller diameter. Such a taper is essential for good presentation of a fly. |
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| Tapered leader |
Leaders have to taper from a large diameter where the butt joins the fly line to a
much finer diameter at the tippet to which the fly will be attached. The taper can be
factory manufactured, with the diameter decreasing progressively from butt to tippet;
alternatively, but with some small loss in presentation, you can construct your own
step-tapered leaders using short lengths of nylon of breaking strains from (for example if
you are making a trout-fishing leader for a lightweight outfit) 20 lb to 3 lb. |
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| Tippet |
The fine part of a leader to which the fly is attached. As you change flies, so the
tippet gets gradually shorter until eventually you need to tie on a new length of tippet. |
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| Turn-over |
The turn-over that you achieve is a key part of presentation. If the fly line goes
exactly where you want but the leader and fly fall to one side, behind the end of the fly
line, or in a crumpled heap, you are not getting a good turn-over. A tapered leader is
essential to good turn-over if you are casting small, lightweight flies. There can be
several reasons for poor turn-over, but a qualified flyfishing instructor should be able
to see immediately what is causing your particular problem. |
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| U |
|
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| U-V
or
Ultra-violet |
Light rays of very short wavelength that are present in sunlight. U-V waves cause
plastics to deteriorate, and so it is essential to store flyfishing lines (even those on
reels and spare spools) away from sunlight. Leader material and backing nylon is also
susceptible to such damage. |
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| V |
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| W |
| Wet fly |
A fly designed to sink below the surface. Traditional wet fly patterns have swept-back
wings that make them look like small fish or spidery, soft hackles that wriggle in
turbulent water and are thought to give the illusion of an insect that is drowning. The
term wet fly fishing (as opposed to dry fly fishing) is applied to nymph fishing,
traditional wet fly fishing and to lure fishing - a technique of luring reservoir trout
using flashy flies that may bear little or no resemblance to any of the creatures on which
trout feed but which stimulate their aggressive instincts. |
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| WF
or
Weight forward |
A fly line designed for easy casting at long range. Most of the weight of the line is
in its forward section (nearest to the leader and the fly). The profile of a Weight
Forward line (coded WF) typically comprises a ten-yard section tapering away from the fly,
a constant-diameter belly of between eight and twelve yards, and another ten-yard taper
back down to a fine 'shooting' line some ten to fifteen yards long. Manufacturers vary
these lengths to provide lines best suited to either long distance casting or gentler
presentation of the fly. |
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| Wind knots |
Tangles and knots in the leader caused by bad casting. A single overhand knot will at
least halve the strength of nylon. The best cure for this problem is usually to put less
effort into the casting and concentrate on the presentation. A
qualified casting instructor will be able to diagnose the true cause of any such problems
you may have. |
Casting instruction... |
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| X |
| X rating of leaders |
An old and rather obscure method of rating leader tippets by their diameter. It has
now been superseded in the UK (although it remains popular in the USA) and most manufacturers publish the actual diameter plus a minimum
breaking strain. |
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| Y |
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| Z |
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| Zulu |
A wet fly pattern that allows me to put an entry under 'Z'. |
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