“Fly Anglers OnLine has a nice “Terms and Tips” section, but it
seemed far too formal for the average beginner. So I have put fly fishing
terms into common speak.” Al Campbell
Sometimes flyfishers use a lot of terms in their official fly
fishing lingo that aren’t easy to understand. They don’t mean to
be confusing, it’s just that a lot of the expressions used by
flyfishers are unique to the sport. For that reason, these
expressions don’t get used anywhere else. I hate to see people
running around confused all of the time (a mind is a terrible
thing to waste) so I decided to attempt to define some of the
more common fly fishing terms that might have you confused.
After studying these definitions, you should be able to speak
fly fishing with ease, and have a better understanding of the
strange things we fly fishers constantly talk about. Give it a try,
I think you’ll come away from this lesson with a new
understanding of fly fishing.
Baetis: Something a catfisherman puts on his hookus.
Here’s a Latin lesson for you. Add an ‘is’ or ‘us’ to the end of a
word and you’ve got the Latin equivalent.
Callibaetis: A concoction I dreamed up by adding calamine
lotion to my catfish baetis. It didn’t catch any fish, but it did a
dandy job on poison ivy.
Hackle: Something that gets raised on my wife every time
I tell her I need a new fly rod. This term is usually associated
with “dog house” and “alimony.”
Free Drift: The mode my mind is in when my wife is
discussing my need for that new fly rod. It’s also a common
mental mode for any other unpleasant subject she wants to
discuss with me.
Drag: A term I use to describe life without a new fly rod.
Dry Fly: That new fly you purchased before it hits the water.
Wet Fly: That same fly moments after it hits the water.
Fly Line: A story you’re going to hear about your buddy’s
fishing trip to Montana. For more information on this subject,
see “falsehood” and “bald faced lie.”
Fly Line Conditioner: The words you use to lead up to
the story about your fishing trip to Montana. This is a very
important phase of telling a fly line. If you omit it, no one will
believe a word you say. They probably won’t believe you
anyway, but we all have to try, don’t we?
Leader: The best liar in your group. This guy has great
potential as a writer for fishing and hunting magazines.
Tippet: Something your buddy always does when you take
him fishing in your canoe. Why do you think they invented river
boats?
Backing: Something you hope your fishing buddies will give
you when you’re telling one of your bigger fly lines.
Nail Knot: One of the many creative knots you can
accomplish by allowing your back cast to get too low on a windy
day. Some other knots in this category are ‘twig knots’, ‘bush
knots’ and the very dangerous ‘rattlesnake noose knot.’
Blood knot: What you get on the back of your head when
you execute a forward cast with a nail knot in your line.
Surgeon’s Knot: Otherwise known as stitches. A common
treatment for a severe blood knot.
Strike Indicator: That annoying guy you took fishing that
was always yelling, “You got a hit, set the hook.”
Waders: A piece of clothing you slip onto the lower half of
your body that’s always two inches shorter that the water
you’re going to wade. Other items in this category are sea
anchors and concrete boots.
Wading Staff: The large group of people needed to haul
you out of the water after you venture in over your waders.
Some of the more affluent fly fishers keep a paid wading staff
on hand at all times.
Royal Wulff: Something I’ve been known to do to a
hamburger after a long day of fishing.
Stomach Pump: Some medical attention I had to get
after eating at Taco Tim’s the last time I went fishing on the Big
River.
Snake Guide: That shifty eyed guy you hired to show you
where the fish are. They call him snake for a reason. Good thing
your wallet had a chain on it.
Stripper Guide: Hey, we all have to make a living during
the off season. Some people are better adapted to this line of
work than others.
Reel Seat: The one item of comfort you’re looking for after
a long day wading the river. Generally a lot more comfortable
than the ant hill you sat on when you emptied the water out of
your waders.
Float tube: That container of suntan lotion you just
dropped in the river. It’s the only thing you can drop that won’t
sink out of sight in an instant. Instead, it drifts away to be
picked up by the game warden who’ll ticket you for littering.
This usually results in the loss of your fishing privileges for a
year or two. Now you know why fly fishermen usually allow
themselves to get cooked redder than a lobster rather than risk
float tubing.
Fly Vise: A common mis-spelling of a term used to describe
our addiction to fly fishing. Related habits might include
smoking, drinking and telling fly lines.
Spinner: Another name for the teller of fly lines. If I had
gone any further, you could say I was a spinner of lines. Some
of you are probably saying that anyway.
Dun: Something you are when you finish all you planned to
accomplish. That’s exactly what I am at this moment, dun.
~ AC
About Al Campbell
Al Campbell has been on all of the sides of fly fishing. He was a guide for
ten years, and fly fishes for a variety of fish. He has been a commercial
tier and rod builder. He is an excellent photographer, and contributed
the Beginning and Intermediate Fly Tying and Graphite Rod Building
sections, plus the Fly of the Week series. You will also find him as a
Host in the Chat Room. Since 1994 he has worked in the retail side
of fly fishing, for Scheels All Sports. In addition to his duties as
part of the sales staff in Rapid City, he teaches the rest of the sales staff
in the 18 other stores the finer points of fly fishing. He also does most of
the product research of new fly fishing items and gets to decide which of
the new products on the market to stock. For more of Al’s excellent
writing, as well as information on fishing the Black Hills, Click
Here! ~ DB
Originally published c. 2003 on Fly Anglers Online by Al Campbell.