A Lexicon of Fly Fishing. As Considered by Doug Macnair

About the Ancient Fish Gods
• The Ancient Fish Gods frequently mentioned in my writings refer to the Old Ones who worshipped at Stonehenge during the Summer Solstice in those days of so long ago. It was the time of the Druids and the darkness ... It was the time of a spiritual world modern man cannot fathom.

• In Arthurian legend, it is said that Merlin was first instructed in the gentle art when still a young man learning spells & magic from of the Old Ones who still survived. And this occurred during the celebration of Ritual Sunrise along a creek somewhere in the Salisbury Plain of Southern England.

• Today, the presence of the Ancient Fish Gods can still be felt. You and I have experienced them time after time, and, will again:

1. Every time a trophy fish breaks-off.
2. Every time your wife who never fished before catches a fish twice the size of yours.
3. Every time your son or daughter does the same thing.
4. Every time your final presentation to that big trout hangs-up in a tree branch.
5. Every time your aim is off and the poor fish thinks a fish-eating fly is attacking him.
6. Every time that knot you didn’t bother to test breaks.
7. Every time your final long forward cast is messed up because of your big feet.

• Yes my friends, the Ancient Fish Gods exist … These truths are self-evident. Can you doubt still doubt? Always respect the Ancient Fish Gods …

About the Cast
• Loading the Rod
The weight of the aerialized fly line and the motion of both the back and forward cast cause the rod to load or bend. The bend or load enables the rod to store the energy necessary to make the cast when the rod is abruptly stopped.

• Backcast
The first part of the cast in which the fly fisher aerializes the fly line by casting it to the rear. Not only does the backcast set up the forward cast, I rate it at 75% of the total cast. Simply stated, of the two motions, back and forward, the backcast is the most important.

• Forward Cast
The forward cast is the second part of the cast. The forward cast directs the fly toward the objective setting in motion the variables that comprise the presentation. . Copyright: Douglas G. Macnair, 1997 – 2003.

• Casting Plane
The angle(s) above or below horizontal the rod tip actually follows during the casting sequence. If you ever want to understand wind casting, this is extremely important to success or failure.

• Casting Arc
The distance the rod is passed through from the beginning of the backcast to the end of the forward cast. The longer the cast, the longer the arc should be, since it helps you to make the cast.

• Hauls
Hauling is a technique that increases the line speed of the backcast, forward cast, or both. Increasing the line speed enables the cast to travel over a greater distance. When the caster hauls on either the back or forward cast, the technique is known as a single haul. When the haul is applied to both the back and forward cast, it’s called the doublehaul. While mentioned in the text, especially in context of casting shooting head systems, hauling is an advanced technique that should not be explored until the mechanics of the basic cast have been mastered.

• Line Hand
The hand used to handle and manipulate the fly line during the casting sequence and the retrieve. The line hand works in conjunction with, and in proximity to, the rod hand.

• Loop
A general term used to describe the “U” shape of the fly line as it unrolls during both the back and forward casts. Soft action rod produce open loops and gentle presentations; fast rods produce tighter loops and greater distance. It’s your choice.

• Power
A term generally describing the wrist and arm movement used during the casting sequence to energize the rod.

• Presentation
The placement of the fly on the water as seen by the fish.

• Reach Mend Cast
A technique used on streams and rivers to provide a longer “dragfree” float to the fly. It’s done by making the cast as normal, then laying the rod over in an upstream motion once the rod tip stops on the forward cast. The fly will continue on target but the line near the tip will “reach” or fall upstream.

• Rod Hand
The hand into which the fly fisher entrusts the rod during either the casting sequence or the retrieve. Some fly fishers prefer using one hand to hold the rod during the cast, exchanging it to the other hand when making the retrieve or playing a fish. While it may require conditioning, the preferred method is to use the same hand for rod handling during both functions.

• Roll Cast
A casting technique that is extremely valuable in areas where a presentation cannot be made using the backcast. The roll cast uses the surface tension (drag) resulting from the line’s contact with the water as the means to load the fly rod. The roll cast is useful when a (1) routine backcast cannot be made and (2) to return a sinking line momentarily to the surface thereby enabling the standard backcast.

• Shooting the Line
A term used to describe the act of releasing the fly line during the cast enabling the line to be carried out away from the line hand by the power or momentum of the rod.

• Specialty Casts
The term refers to an array of advanced casting techniques that enable the caster to meet the requirements of specific and unique situations. The listing includes such techniques as the curve cast, underhand cast, steeple cast, soft cast, tug cast, etc. The details of the specialty casts are deliberately omitted from this text. The fly fisher should first achieve mastery of the basic cast before attempting any advanced techniques.

• Tailing Loop
The result of an error in the casting technique. Tailing loops usually result when the rod tip following a concave path, such as it will do if the caster “jerks” the rod forward at the end of the backcast. Jerking the rod forward from the backcast applies power improperly and at the wrong time. The rod tip, in turn, dips sharply into a convex path. Since the line goes where the rod tip goes, the line is sure to follow the same concave path forming the tailing loop. The evidence of a tailing loop is a simple unwanted overhand knot somewhere in the forward part of the tippet. Sometimes called a “wind knot,” the knot is anything but the result of the wind. When you begin to notice these little teeny-tiny knots, look for an error in the mechanics of your cast.

• Wind Knot
The telltale result of a tailing loop.

• Presentation
The cast as viewed from the prospective of the fish. The fly fisher’s goal, of course, is to present the fly in an irresistible way through the mechanism of a perfect cast.

Of Flies, Fish & Fish Food
• Catch & Release
Catch & release is an ethic growing in popularity among those who love sport fishing, and especially those who have come to realize fish are not an inexhaustible resource. As an ethic, the term does not imply a fish cannot or should not become a tasty meal; it suggests, instead, taking no more fish than the meal requires, returning the greatest number back to the fishery unharmed. Many folks who profess “catch & release” kill the fish they catch out of stupidity … Sad!

• Fishery
Used to describe a body of water that sustains a healthy fish population. Hopefully it will stay that way as long as you and I exert a little effort to police our waters.

• Fly
The generic term applied to almost anything tied to the end of the tippet and designed to be cast by a fly rod in an attempt to catch a fish.

• Fly Groups
For those not into entomology or the study of insects, the simplest way to understand the nature of the fly fisher’s “flies” is to think in terms of two broad food groups: (1) aquatics and (2) terrestrials.

1. The aquatics, as the name implies, are “things” living within the water column and include the flies historically associated with fly fishing such as mayflies, caddisflies, stoneflies, damselflies, dragonflies, midges, etc. To keep it simple, shrimp, sow bugs and scuds are included in this group. Although the form of the tied fly usually takes a different appearance, don’t forget minnows, sculpins, leeches and other swimming tidbits qualify as aquatics under this definition.

2. The terrestrials are land-bred insects that fly, fall or finally find themselves caught in the water’s surface film. This group includes grasshoppers, crickets, red ants, black ants, leafhoppers, caterpillars, beetles, bees, wasps, etc. Of course, an occasional mouse or snake also ends up in the water as fish bait. While not insects, they do originate at shoreside so we will leave them here with only this comment: you, too, could be a terrestrial if you fall into the path of a hungry Great Whit e.

• Fly Types
The efforts of an expert fly tier usually produce a fly he or she believes to be the perfect pattern or imitation of whatever-it-is the fly is supposed to imitate. The end product, the fly, is usually called one of three things: a dry fly, a wet fly or a streamer fly.1

1. The Dry Fly. The dry fly is an artificial lure that floats on the surface of the water. The term, dry fly, has a long association with aquatic insects such as the mayfly, probably the most imitated of all insects. In the life cycle of the mayfly, the adult stage – the dun – occurs shortly after emergence. After hatching from the nymph, the dun sits on top of the water until its wings dry, enabling it to fly. It’s during the time when the dun’s wings are drying that fish, especially trout, are apt to feed on the floating fly. This is also the time, fly fishers throw their imitation(s) trying to deceive the fish into striking. Dry flies also are tied in a myriad of patterns to resemble any one of a number of terrestrials such as grasshoppers or beetles. It is also true that the entire group of the large deer-hair bass bugs and poppers can be generally classified as dry flies—they, too, float on the water.

2. The Wet Fly. Wet flies are designed to work within the water column, hence the word, wet. Wet flies cover a broad range of depths from patterns designed to sit no deeper than in the surface film (half-wet & half-dry) to the weighted designs quickly sinking into the depths. Thus, you can expect to find wet flies tied to imitate small nymphs or emergers, another stage in the life cycle of the aquatics, as well as the larger shrimps, sow bugs and scuds. Then, too, don’t forget terrestrials also get wet when they happen into the water and become trapped. When considering wet flies, therefore, expect to see a wide array of “wet” insects, any and all lending themselves to any of a number of interpretive wet fly patterns.

3. The Streamer Fly or Streamer. Since small fish represent a large food source of interest to all predator fish, the streamer fly or streamer is the fly best suited to the tier’s skills producing a suitable imitation. While streamers are fished wet, a quick glance will tell you their appearance does not begin to resemble a small wet bug like a nymph. Streamers look like minnows or some other swimming creature and somehow always have really “neat” names. This assortment, which I suggest you carry, will give you an idea: the Muddler Minnow, the Blacknose Dace, the Woolly Bugger, the Marabou Leech, the Zonker and Whitlock’s Sculpin. Hungry yet?

• Fly Tier or Fly Tyer
(Oldsters like me prefer fly tyer.) A fly tier is a person whose brain is geared to thinking small and working with little things—like a little hook, a little thread, a little material and a little glue. Some follow incredibly intricate “patterns” in assembling their flies: I don’t. Some fly tiers purport to be able to see what they are doing: I cannot. Some fly tiers produce beautiful pieces of art, far too beautiful to waste on a fish: mine are ugly, well suited to being lost sooner, if not later.

• The Hatch
The hatch is the fly fisher’s miniver. It is the time when the vassals of the fly fishers’ fief gather and, therefore, a time of great celebration, joy and happiness. Truly, it is the time of the great happening. It’s that moment when, the “little bugs” in the water stop swimming, emerge, become adults, and, when their wings dry, fly away. 1 I sometimes call my flies any one of a number of other names; however, the editors decided it was best that I not share these terms with you. Please accept my regrets for not being able to provide you further enlightenment. Provided the fly fisher is (1) quick enough, (2) can figure out the specific bug hatching, and (3) has a dry fly of that size and color, he or she might be able to catch a fish.

• Matching the Hatch
Matching the hatch is a game played by fly fishers in which they attempt to find a fly in their collection that matches the dead bug they just caught ... After playing the game, it’s fairly easy to tell who won and who lost: The fly fisher with a fish on is a winner; the fly fisher sitting on the bank looking dejected - especially one who is reading On Walden’s Pond – is a loser.

• Put and Take
A fishery management policy involving the artificial stocking of cacheable fish and encouraging the keeping of the fish when caught.

Of Rods, Lines, Leaders and Reels
• AFTMA. The American Fishing Tackle Manufacturing Association, the folks who standardized the weights of fly lines—the only thing in fly fishing under a standard.

• Drag
Usually used referring to the mechanism tightening or releasing pressure applied against the spool as line is pulled off by the fish or fly fisher. Drag is also used to refer to points of drag on the fly rod, such as the guides, inhibiting the line’s free flow.

• Leader
The transparent line, usually of nylon monofilament or braided nylon monofilament that connects the fly line to the fly.

• Palming
A term referring to the use of the palm of the hand against the spool edge of a rimless fly reel as a means of applying drag against the release of line in fighting a fish.

• Rod Blank
A fly rod before being fitted out with guides, grip, reel seat and other accouterments.

• Reel Spool
That part of the fly reel onto which the line is wound.

• Reel Seat
The part of the fly rod behind the handle or grip where the fly reel is attached.

• Rod Guides
The closed wire loops attached to the rod by wrappings that hold the fly line in proximity to the rod along its length.

• Stripper Guide
The first guide encountered to the front of the reel seat on a fly rod. Since its function is to decrease line friction, thereby enhancing the cast, the larger the stripper guide, the better.

• Tippet
The smallest end of the leader, usually the last two to three feet.

Of Catching Fish
• Breakoff
A term referring to either the accidental or deliberate breaking of the leader tippet and, correspondingly, the connection to a hooked fish, freeing it. Breakoff is most usually the result of a stupid error on the part of the fly fisher, and of course, the influence of the Old Ones.

• Cruising Fish
A term used to refer to a fish moving about in free waters in order to find food. In saltwater, it sometimes refers to sharks looking for you …

• Pressure
A term used to describe the force applied by a fly fisher against a hooked fish during the fight to bring it to the net.

• Pumping the Fish
A way of using the butt of the fly rod in a lifting motion to force the fish into submission to the fly fisher’s will. Immediately after the lift, the rod is lowered and the slack line quickly recovered and placed back on the reel.

• Put Down
The result of a fly fisher’s error in presence or presentation. Once alarmed, fish will scurry away and sulk. “Putting fish down” is a great way to assure yourself that you will not catch fish.

• Rising Fish
A term referring to a fish visibly feeding at the surface or in the water’s surface film. It can also refer to a shark fin that rises within close range of where you are standing.

• School
A term used to describe a gathering of a group of the same species of fish— why they have gathered for remains to be seen. Most often, the school is searching for baitfish to eat and fill their bellies; they’re other times, of course, when the school is involved in a feeding frenzy. These schools are called sharks … need I say more?

• Swimming the Fly
The way a sinking wet fly or streamer is moved through the water as it is being fished. There are two things that govern the way a fly swims: the knot that ties the fly to the tippet and the motion imparted by the fly fisher with the line hand during the retrieve.

• Stripping
The act of pulling (stripping) line off the reel during the cast or pulling (stripping) the line in during the retrieve. Stripping line can be either fast or slow and involve either large or small amounts of line. • Strike or Striking the Fish. A fish hitting or taking the lure and/or the action taken by the fly fisher to set the hook in the fish’s mouth.

• Tailing Fish
A term used to describe a fish feeding along the bottom in water sufficiently shallow so that its tail is sometimes visible. If the water is 32 ft. deep, beware—it likely to be Jaws, the Great White!

To oppose the influence of the Ancient Ones, now it is time for me to cast my spell upon those of you who become the faithful to my thoughts and concepts:

“May the wind always be a gentle breeze to your back, may the sky always be an azure blue, may the fish always be bold, and may the works of God never stop being something to behold.”

God Bless … DOUG MACNAIR

©Copyright: Douglas G. Macnair, 1997-2003.