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We receive a lot of email - and some is
real, not spam. Some very interesting
questions show up, and quite often it
appears the sender is not a regular reader
of this web site. That might hurt my
feelings, but on the other hand they did
know how to contact us. Not all bad.
Every so often you might notice my husband
JC (also known as Castwell) or me answering
a question on the Bulletin Board with a link
to an article on FAOL. To be honest, with
over 33,000 pages on FAOL we don't expect
everyone has read everything there is. But
it is interesting to note how much for the
site really is read by someone somewhere.
Well, actually a lot of 'someones' in about
120 countries across the world, (we receive
about a half million hits a day.) Google
tells us there are a total of 201 countries
on earth, so we aren't read in EVERY country
- at least not yet.
One of the odd things (to us anyway) is
occasionally someone on the Bulletin Board
will ask a question which makes it obvious
the person doesn't know there is anything
on this web site EXCEPT the Bulletin Board
(BB). Now that person has the BB bookmarked,
or has followed a link to it from somewhere
else and really doesn't know there is anything
else. That happened last week when someone
asked about "what fly of the week?" He was
told how to access the main site, and he was
probably shocked to find he had been missing
some good stuff.
Someone else suggested a while ago we 'database'
all of the flies on FAOL. Classify them by
dry, wet, streamer, lakes, saltwater etc. I
asked if they were willing to go through all
the sections and sort them out. When I explained
there are flies, along with recipes and sometimes
step-by-step instructions in Fly of the Week, Old
Flies, Panfish, Saltwater, From Canada even in Tying Tips,
the idea didn't seem quite so neat. I don't
really know how many flies we have on FAOL.
A recent email asked for help in what a Trude
or Trude style fly is. I gave the answer and
then said, if you have more questions about
the terms used for flies or in tying, check
out the Tying Terms.
When some of the sections have been on FAOL a
long time (and some have been here for many
years) it's pretty easy to see how things can
be overlooked.
For example, if you have someone who you are
trying to help get into fly fishing, you might
send them to our Fly Fishing
101 section. There are more than 90 articles
to help the new person. The Knot Section is also
in the Fly Fishing Basics section (check the
left-hand menu). Often someone will ask about
what hatch occurs when - we have that too
it is listed as
N.Q. Entomology - which is Not Quite Entomology.
We called it that because it has very few of the
Latin terms which tend to confuse beginners
especially. But, the section is listed by
the order in which the insects appear over
the season. Combine that section with the
insects in the Fly Fishing 101, such as
Mayflies
and you can see actual photos (Al Campbell
did this section) of the insect and the fly
used for each stage. Another section of the
Fly Fishing 101 lists the top ten flies for
each fly type - and how to fish it! All with
just a click or two of your mouse; The 10 Best
Nymphs, The 10 Best Streamers, The 10 Best Wet
Flies and The 10 Best Dry Flies.
Did you know we also have a Great Rivers section?
Most of the rivers are in the US, with a few of
the great Canadian Rivers too. If you have an
opportunity to fish any of these waters, the Great
Rivers section is a good place to start your research.
We currently have over 35 rivers in this section, and
another to add soon.
Among the things you may not know are here on
FAOL - there is:
There is much more of course, but these are
just a few things you may have missed.
To quote a recent post on our Guestbook:
"What a great site!!! best basic information
for a beginner i've found anywhere online or in
bookstores or libraries!!! Thanks for making the
challenge seem so attainable. I know there
are some big ones waiting for my presentation!!!!!"
Our sincere thanks to all who contribute to
this web site - and all of you who read it! ~ DLB
If you would like to comment on this or any other article please feel free to
post your views on the FAOL Bulletin Board!
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