Dry or Wet fly- Which came first?

Which Came First: Wet or Dry Fly?

This kind of topic usually stirs some good discussions.

I happened to be looking through the book, Favorite Flies and Their Histories, by M.O. Marbury and this piqued my interest. Between pages 29 and 31, she talks about and quotes a translation from Aelian?s, De Animalium Natura. In part it reads,

?These fish feed on a fly which is peculiar to the country and which hovers over the river?The natives call it Hippourus. As these flies seek their food over the river, they do not escape the observation of the fish swimming below. When, then, a fish observes a fly hovering above, it swims quietly up, fearing to agitate the water lest it should scare away its prey; then, coming up by its own shadow, it opens its jaws and gulps down the fly ?; having done this ,it withdraws under the rippling water.? ?? but they(the fishermen) have planned a snare for the fish, and get the better of them by their fishermen?s craft. They fasten red wool round a hook, and fit on to the wool two feathers which grew under a cock?s wattles, and which in color are like wax. Their rod is six feet long, and the line is of the same length. Then they throw their snare, and the fish, attracted and maddened by the color, comes up, thinking to get a dainty mouthful; when, however, it opens its jaws, it is caught by the hook and enjoys a bitter repast, a captive.?

Now, to me, this sounds like these fish were taking the Hippourus fly off of the surface. In all probability, the antique imitations would sink fairly quickly because of the hook weight and material. Regardless, it sounds like it was the intent of the ancient Macedonian fishermen to fish their flies on the surface, dap them, or even hover them above the surface of the water. So, I conclude that the first flies used, in recorded history, were Dry Flies.

Your thoughts?

Allan

[GrayGhost]

I believe that the first lure/fly was a wet type fished with a hand line and later came the rod. With the use of the rod a dapping method the dry or surface fishing.
Ghost

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time is like a river running though the world, if you dont take a moment to sit and watch it go by we loose so much. GrayGhost

JC,

Vince who? (-;

Allan

[billknepp]

Yes are'nt those Penciltucky guys quite ingenious !

[Taxon]

Allan-

My thought is that what the "natives" called Hipporous may have been Odonata (damselflies and dragonfiies). I say that because of their being described as hovering, and because of the imitation being red in color.


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Taxon
[url=http://FlyfishingEntomology.com:e7f0d]FlyfishingEntomology.com[/url:e7f0d]

[Jim Hatch]

Hi Allan,

Just tickles my funny bone to see that
the first fly rods were about 6' in length.
Not at all unlike what I fish today.*G*
Warm regards, Jim

[RonMT]

Didn't the NYMPH come first? Then hatch into the Wetfly and then into the Dryfly? I thought that is how old mother nature worked???? Ron out here were it is 50 degree's YES!

[nighthawk]

This kind of sounds like "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?". I am thinking that it was wet fly first. Perhaps I am wrong here but I always thought of the nymph as a type of wet fly. Just my wacky 2 cents worth.

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Eric "nighthawk"

American veteran and proud of it!

[RonMT]

From the Chicken that crossed the road of course. Ron

Taxon...
Probably not. The literature also claims that the flies are too delicate to use as bait, disintigrating into nothingness upon touching.

The question I'd like to see answered is, were the feathers wound as hackles or fastened as a wing. If fastened as a wing the fly would very soon become a streamer. I have fished with a stick of about 6 ft and a line and leader combination of about 6 to 8 ft. The most effective way of fishing this combination IMHO was by dapping while staying well hidden.

For those who havn't checked the geography, the Macadonia Aelian is writing about is part of Greece and the river lies entirely within it's border.

Ol' Bill