Fly Fishing Canada

Fly Fishing in Canada - Gone Fishing!

Modern fly fishing originated on the fast, rocky rivers of Scotland and Northern England. The first detailed writing about the sport comes in two chapters of Izzac Walton's Compleat Angler which were actually written by his friend Charles Cotton and described the fishing in the Derbyshire Wye.

British fly fishing was further developed in the 19th Century, with the development of dry-fly techniques for use on the slower, clearer rivers of the south such as the River Test and the other streams. The weed in these rich rivers tends to grow very close to the surface, so that traditional wet fly fishing is impossible: the fly would snag in weed long before it reached a trout. So it was necessary to develop new techniques that would keep the fly and the line floating on the surface. These became the foundation of all later developments.

Lines made of silk, instead of horse-hair, were heavy enough to be cast in the modern style. Cotton and his predecessors fished their flies with long rods, and light lines allowing the wind to do most of the work of getting the fly out to the fish. But the use of new woods in fly rods, first Greenheart, then bamboo, made it possible to cast flies into the wind on silk lines.

In recent years, interest in fly fishing has surged as baby boomers discover the tranquil nature of the sport. Movies such as A River Runs Through It starring Brad Pitt, cable fishing shows, and the emergence of a competitive fly casting circuit have also added to the sport's recent resurgence.

The fly angler uses a rod longer and lighter than those used for cast and spin fishing. Fly fishing rods can be as short as 2m (6 ft) long in freshwater fishing and up to 4 m (14 ft) long for saltwater or spey rod fishing. The average freshwater rod is around 8 to 9 feet in length and weighs between 2 and 5 ounces, though a recent trend has popularized lighter, shorter rods.

Fly fishing rods made from man-made materials generally offer greater versatility, durability and performance than bamboo, and they require less maintenance. Fiberglass rods became popular in the years following World War II, but by the late 1980s, graphite rods had emerged as the material of choice for that mass market. Some makers are currently experimenting with new technologies and high-performance materials such as boron, but graphite rods still cover the broadest range of fly fishing rods for all purposes, from 'ultralight' to two-handed spey rods to serious saltwater rods built to cast exceptionally long distances and deal with strong winds.