Flies are lightweight fishing lures built around a hook. Feathers, colored threads, beads, hair and other materials are used to create a lure that approximates a living animal. Flies can be divided into five primary categories: dry flies, wet flies, streamer flies, nymphs and terrestrials. Each is used in a specific type of fishing and fly designs are often matched to the prey animals available to game fish within their environment.
Dry Fly
Dry flies are perhaps the most familiar to those new to fly fishing. These flies are usually small and lightweight. Dry flies are specifically designed to float and often have stiff bristles, known as hackles, that hold the fly on the surface of the water. Dry flies are often designed to mimic insects that also float on the surface, such as mayflies or caddis flies. They are easily moved by wind and water currents, the same as the insects they are imitating. Dry flies names include Brown Bivisible, Dark Cahill, Hendrickson, Green Drake, and Hopper, Brown and Gray Midges.
Wet Fly
Wet flies are somewhat similar in appearance to dry flies, although they are specifically designed to sink when entering the water. These flies are often designed to imitate aquatic insects that occur naturally in the area being fished. Wings made of feathers light backward away from the head of the lure. The body of the fly is often dense to help it sink in is frequently made of tinsel or chenille. Hackles may still appear around the head of the fly, although they are usually soft rather than stiff as in dry flies. Famous wet fly designs include Blue Dun, March Brown, Royal Coachman, Black Gnat, Hare's Ear, and both Dark and Light Cahill.
Streamer Fly
Streamers are specifically designed to mimic fish, leeches, worms and other swimming bait. They usually possess long, flowing feathers, hairs or other streaming materials that face backward from the head of the fly, providing significant action in moving water and when retrieved. Streamers are often used in large rivers, lakes and ponds and are very popular in saltwater fishing. Weber designs include The Black Ghost, Clouser Minnow, Nine-Three, Marabou in various colors, Mickey Finn, and Woolly Worms.
Nymphs
Nymphs are another type of sinking fly. They are often very small and are intended to resemble mayfly, caddis fly, stonefly and other aquatic insects in their juvenile stage of growth. Nymphs flies often have short, leg-like hackles tied around the head or neck and the bodies may be made of fur. Often, nymphs are tied with weighted wire wound around the shank of the hook to improve its sinking ability. Matching the size and type of nymph fly to naturally occurring insects may be critical to successful fishing. Common names for nymph flies include caddis nymphs, Dark Olive, Leadwing Coachman, Light Cahill, mayfly nymph, Quill Gordon, and stonefly nymph.
Terrestrials
Terrestrial flies look like larger insects that have fallen into the water and are drowning or have already drowned. Most frequently, terrestrial flies resemble ants, crickets and grasshoppers. These are excellent flies for when fish are feeding opportunistically. Popular designs include Flying Black Ant, Hanson' s Munch Beetle, Rainey's Grand Hopper, Taylor's Fat Albert, and Stream Bank Hopper.
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