DICTIONARY

GLOSSARY OF FLY TYING AND FLY FISHING TERMS

ABDOMEN. Rear most of the three body divisions of an insect.

AMADOU. A fungus that looks and feels like a piece of soft leather. It is used like a sponge to dry flies.

ANTENNA. Pair of joined sensory organs or feelers on the head.

ANTRON. Synthetic fiber of nylon with triangular cross section which refracts light giving it a sparkling appearance. Ideal as a dubbing material.

AQUATIC. Living at least part of its life in the water.

ATTRACTOR. Two meanings to the fly fisherman. 1. A fly that has a flashy appearance and its main purpose is to attract the fishes attention.

BACK WATERS. A term used to describe sections of rivers, lakes or impoundment's that are not part of the main watercourse.

BACKING LINE. Fly lines are typically only 27-30 meters in length. Backing line is additional line attached behind the fly line to increase its length. It may be required in order to let bigger fish run or to fill out the reel so that the fly line is stored in as big a loops possible on the spool. You can use monofilament as backing line but if wound onto a spool tightly it may split the spool. Braided nylon or Dacron are better options.

BADGER. A white or cream hackle with a significantly darker centre and sometimes dark edges.
BAETIDAE OR BAETIS. One of the Mayfly families.
BAG LIMIT. The maximum number of fish of a particular species that an angler may keep.

BALANCED OUTFIT. In fly-fishing terms a combination of rod, reel, backing, line, leader, material and fly's that cast comfortably when used together.

BARBULES (BARBS). The fibers from a hackle feather.

BAROMETER. Devise used to measure barometric pressure.

BAROMETRIC PRESSURE. The weight of the atmosphere measured in hectopascals. Important to fly fishermen because as a general rule fish are less active when the barometric pressure is falling and visa versa.

BEAD HEAD. This term generally refers to a nymph that incorporates a brass bead as the head of the fly.

BEAT. From a fly-fishing perspective two meanings. 1. Fish often establish, protect and feed within the boundaries of their habitat this is called their beat. 2. In fishing competitions an angler may be given an area defined by boundaries within which he or she can not fish out side of. This area is known as his or her beat.

BEETLES. Beetles often become part of the trout's food chain and flies can be tied to imitate them. Good examples of dry flies tied to imitate beetles floating on the water are Red Tags and Cock- Y-Bonddu. Keep in mind that in faster or rougher water beetles may quickly sink and it may be necessary therefore to use a beetle pattern that sinks or encourage your dry beetle pattern to sink.

BIOTS. Stout flat feathers on the leading edge of a birds leading wing feathers.

BLIND FISHING. Fly fishing to fish you hope are there rather than you know are there.

BLOW LINE. Light fly line or tippet used when dapping a fly across the surface of the water.

BLUE DUN. Slate grey hackle feathers.

BOB FLY. This term is used in Loch style fishing to describe the fly on the top dropper nearest the angler.

BOOBY. A fly that incorporates polystyrene or bean bag bead eyes so as to make the fly buoyant.

BUCK TAIL. Hair from a bucks tail. Generally available in a range of dyed colours.

BULGING. A visible bulge in the surface of the water caused by a fish.

BUTT. The bottom end of a hackle feather. The end of the hackle that was originally attached to the bird. Opposite of “Tip”.

BUZZER. A European term for a sub imago stage of a Chironomid.

CADDIS. Insect from the order Trichoptera that spends part of its life cycle in the water in much the same way as a Mayfly or Midge. In New Zealand Caddis Fly are generally referred to as "Sedge".
CAENIDAE OR CAENIS. One of the Mayfly families.

CALF TAIL. The tail of a calf. Hair from the tail of a calf is used for wing on many flies including the Royal Wulff and Hair Winged Royal Coachman.

CARAPACE. The hard back shell of a crab or other crustacean.

CARNIVOROUS. Pertains to life forms that eat meat.
CHIRONOMIDS. These are insects from the order Diptera family Chironomidae. They spends part of its life cycle in the water in much the same way as a Mayfly or Caddis Fly. An alternate name for a Chironomid is "Buzzer" or "Midge".

CHURCH WINDOW FEATHERS. See “ring neck feathers”.

CLOSED CELL FOAM. Synthetic rubber or plastic like material with closed spaces or closed air bubbles in its structure making the material buoyant.

COCK HACKLE. A hackle from a rooster. They are generally harder and stiffer than hen hackles and are used in dry flies.

COVERT FEATHER. A small rounded feather from the inside and outside shoulders of a birds wing, usually a hen pheasant.

CREE. A cross Rhode Island Red / Plymouth Rock hen or rooster, producing a honey coloured hackle with alternate bars.

DABBLING. Dabbling involves moving the fly or flies across the surface of the water with the retrieve.
DAPPING. The process of allowing the breeze to blow a belly into the fly line which in turn drags the fly across the top of the water.

DEAD DRIFT. Allowing either a wet fly or dry fly to drift without any movement imparted by the fly fisher, the line or drag.

DEER HAIR. Hair from deer. The most desirable form is hollow and is used is used for making buoyant flies. Not all deer have hair with hollow hair. Ruses Deer of the type found in Australia do not have hollow hair.

DETACHED BODY. Generally relates to a fly that has a body detached from the main hook.

DETRITUS. Decomposing plant material.

DIAPAUSE. An interval in the developmental cycle of an insect caused by unsuitable conditions.

DIBBLING. The process of lifting and then rotating the rod in an arch so as to cause the top fly to rise to the surface and then move across the surface causing a wake.

DORSAL. Pertaining to the topside of an insect's body. Opposite of Ventral.

DRAG. Two meanings from a fly fishing point of view. 1. The mechanism in a fly fishing reel that imposes pressure within the reel to restrict line being taken off the reel. 2. Unnatural movement of a fly caused by pulling of the fly line caused by water movement or wind movement.

DRESSING. Two meanings to the fly tier / fly fisher. 1. Materials that make up a fly other than the hook. For example: the thread, fur; feathers and wool. 2. The process of cleaning the fly line and generally adding silicon based coating or polish to make its passage through the runners of the rod easier and less abrasive.

DROGUE. A devise dragged by a boat to slow down its drift or to adjust the direction of a drift. In competition fishing drogues are always fixed to the starboard side of the boat.

DROP OFF. An underwater topological feature occurring between an area of relatively shallow water and an area of relatively deeper water.

DROPPER. A short piece of tippet material attached to the main line to which is tied and additional fly. In some states of Australia you can use up to three flies.

DROWNED TERRESTRIALS. Air born insects that have fallen in or been washed into the water and have sunk.

DRY FLY. A fly tied to float. Examples are caddis or sedges (aquatic type of moth), mayflies or spinners and many types of beetles, hoppers, mosquitoes, moths and other floating insects. Float and either resemble a natural food source or stimulate a territorial or anger response. N.B. you may need to use floatant to maintain its floating ability.

DUBBING. From a fly tying point of view two meanings. 1. The technique attaching material such as seals fur to a thread before winding it onto a fly. Involves winding in, spinning in or rubbing in the seals fur or other dubbing material onto the thread or threads so that the dubbing and thread can be wound onto the hook as one to create a body, thorax etc. 2. The material applied in definition one.

DUMBBELL EYES. Metal eyes that are shaped like dumbbells made for use in tying of flies.

DUN. From a fly-fishing perspective two meanings. 1. Colour of light grey to dark grey hackle feathers. 2. The sub imago of the Mayfly, Caddis fly or Midge. That stage when it first emerges and sits on the surface of the water drying its wings.

ECLOSION. The act of emerging from an egg sac or nymphal case.

ELYTRA. The hard outer wing of a beetle.

EMERGENCE. The transition period between Nymph and Dun of a Mayfly, Caddisfly or Midge. That stage when the Nymph breaks through the surface of the water and sheds its Nymphal or pupal skin or shuck.

EMERGER. A fly tied to imitate the adult aquatic insect on the surface of the water breaking free of its nymphal or pupal shuck.

ENDEMIC. Native to the area being referred to.

EPILIMNION. Generally warmer top layer of well oxygenated water in larger bodies of water directly above the cooler and well oxygenated Thermocline layer that is in turn above the generally much colder and poorly oxygenated "Hypolimnion" layer.
EPOXY. From a fly tying perspective a clear two part composite resin that can be used in fly tying to cover or stick various materials.

FALSE CAST. The repeated back and forth casting motion by which the fly fisher generates the required speed in the fly line to deliver the fly to the required position or to dry a fly out. The least number of false casts the better.

FEEDING LINE. An area in a stream where food is concentrated by the current. It is often indicated by a bubble line on the surface.

FIGURE 8 RETRIEVE. A method of retrieving the fly line with one hand by rotating the hand and wrapping the fly line alternatively over the thumb and little finger to create a pulsating retrieve of relatively constant speed.
FILOPLUME. Filoplume are sometimes called "aftershaft" and are the fluffy feather barbules that look like marabou and are found at the base of many feathers

FLANK FEATHERS. The longer feathers from the flank or side of a bird.

FLOATANT. A spray, paste or cream used to treat dry flies, leaders and tippets in order to make them float.

FLUE. The fluffy fibers at the base of a hackle or the small individual fibers on the Peacock herl or Ostrich herl.

FLY TIERS PINCH. A technique of passing the thread being used to tie a fly between the thumb and forefinger so as to ensure that the thread locks the dressing being tied in where it is being held.

FOUL HOOKED. A fish is said to be foul hooked if the hook penetrates any place other than the mouth.

FRY. Juvenile fish.

FURNACE HACKLE. A hackle that is generally ginger or brown in colour but black in the centre.

GAPE. The distance between the point of a hook and the shank of a hook.

GENERIC FLY. A fly tied as a general representation of a trout food source or numbers of trout food sources rather than a fly tied as a realistic representation of a particular food source.

GHILLIE. A Scottish term for a fishing guide or expert companion.

GLIDE. A length of river or stream with a constant flow unimpeded flow which renders the surface almost glassy.
GREENWELL HACKLE. A hackle that is ginger in colour but is black in the centre.

GRIZZLY. Hackles with alternate light and dark barbules.

GUARD HAIRS. Long hairs that protrude beyond the general level of the fur.

HABITAT. The place where a plant or animal is naturally found.

HACKLE PLIERS. A spring loaded tool used for holding the tip of a hackle to facilitate winding the hackle onto a fly.

HACKLE TIP. The tip of a hackle.

HACKLE. A long feather from generally from the neck of a bird. See also neck hackle, Saddle Hackle, Spade hackle. Hackle feathers are wound around a hook generally to represent legs or feelers of an insect or to provide buoyancy to the fly.

HANG. A term normally associated with loch style fishing with a sinking line. It involves allowing the fly to sit static in the water during or at the end of a retrieve.

HATCH. Two meanings. 1. When nymphs of insects such as Mayflies, Caddis flies, Damselflies, Dragonflies and Midges that spend part of their life in the water leave the water and emerge to be come duns and or spinners. 2. A term used to describe a mass emergence of insects.

HELLGRAMMITE. The nymph of a Dobson or alder fly.

HEN HACKLE. A hackle from a hen as opposed to a rooster (also known as a “cock”). Hen hackle s are softer and rounder than cock hackles and are used predominantly in wet flies.

HERL. A long thin feather that is attached to the quill of a peacock's tail, ostrich tail and sometimes a goose or pheasant tail. Generally have very short and soft barbules known as ‘flue’.

HIVIS. A synthetic fly tying fibre mostly often used for tying wings on flies.

HONEY DUN HACKLE. A hackle that has ginger points but is grey to pale brown in the centre.

HOPPERS. A fly tied to resemble a grasshopper. When Grasshoppers are being blown into the water and are being taken Hopper patterns fish very well. Float or sink and resemble a grasshopper. N.B. you may need to use floatant to maintain its floating ability.

HYPOLIMNION. Colder bottom layer of poorly oxygenated water in larger bodies of water directly below the cool and well oxygenated Thermocline layer that is in turn below the generally warmer top or "Epilimnion" layer.
IMAGO. The final adult stage of an insect.

IMITATOR FLY. A fly that is tied to closely resemble a particular food source.

INDICATOR. Something used by the fly fisher as a visual reference above a fly that can't be seen by the fly fisher to indicate what is happening to the main fly. The indicator may be a visible floating fly or just a piece of bright wool tied onto the leader or tippet.

. The periods between molts of a nymphs skin. Mayflies go through up to fifteen instars.

IRON BLUE DUN . A mayfly dun that that is dark slate grey in colour.

IRON BLUE DUN HACKLE. A hackle that is dark slate grey in colour.

JIGGING. A technique whereby a fly is repeatedly lifted and allowed to sink so as to induce a strike by a fish.

KILLER STYLE FLIES. A style of fly that originated in new Zealand and is typified by flies such as the Mrs. Simpson and Hammils Killer where a numbers of feathers are tied flat along each side of the hook.

LARVAE. The sub imago or nymphal stage of an insect.

LATERAL LINE. The sensory line that runs down the side of fish.
LEADER. That part of a fly-fishing system between the fly line and the tippet. Generally tapered monofilament or knotted monofilament or fluorocarbon of reducing size. Assists in turning over the fly and presenting it on the water.

LEVEL LINE. A fly line that is of constant diameter and weight along its full length or a straight piece of monofilament line.

LIE. From a fly-fishing perspective a place where a trout generally waits for passing food. For example may be within a snag, behind a rock, in a wind lane or in the well oxygenated water at the end of a riffle.

LIST. An English fly tying term to describe the dark centre of a hackle.

LOCK STYLE FISHING. Fly-fishing over the lee side of a boat with the wind at your back from a boat that is side onto the wind, using a system incorporating one or a number of flies. There are both wet and dry lock style fishing techniques.

LURE. From a fly-fishing perspective a fly used as an attractor.

LUREX. See Mylar.

MANDIBLES. First set of jaws in insects, upper chewing pair of mouth parts.

MARABOU. Soft fluffy feathers from the base of a stork or turkey feather. Available in a range of colours.

MATUKA. These are New Zealand flies or some would call them lures. The difference between a Matuka and a streamer is that a streamer has its tail feather tied in at the head, while a Matuka has its tail feather bound down along the shank of the hook with the body or ribbing material. The body is usually wool, seals fur, chenille or velvety yarn. The feathers are usually hen, either black dyed or badger.

MEMORY. A fly fishing term used to describe the tendency of a fly line, leader or tippet to return to the coil shape of the reel that it was taken off.

MENDING. Using the fly rod to manipulate or flip the fly line generally upstream to correct drag caused by current drag on the fly line.

METAMORPHOSIS. Pronounced change as organisms change from one stage in their life cycle to the next such as a nymph emerging to become a dun.

MIDGE. When entomologists speak of midges, they are referring to members of a family in the Diptera orders of small two winged flies. Mosquitoes and gnats also belong to a family in the Diptera classification and, like true midges are aquatic in their immature forms. Midges are also known as "buzzers" and are correctly referred to as Chironomids. To fly fishers the term midge has come to mean any very small artificial fly. Generally tied on hook sizes 16 upwards.

MOOSE MAIN. Long strands of hair from the main of a moose.

MOLT. The process of shedding skin or hair between seasons or stages in an organisms life cycle.

MUD EYE. The nymph of a dragonfly.

MYLAR. A flat glossy material used generally for ribbing on flies. Generally comes in various widths and in shades of gold and silver. Similar to Lurex.

NECK HACKLE. A long feather from generally from the neck of a bird. See also neck hackle, Saddle Hackle, Spade hackle. Hackle feathers are wound around a hook generally to represent legs or feelers of an insect or to provide buoyancy to the fly.

NIGHT FLIES. Any fly that you have the confidence in using at night time. Except when there is a "hatch" wet flies, streamer flies and larger nymphs are more popular at night. Craig's Night Time is an example of a wet fly tied specifically for use at night. When there is a hatch on it is important to match the hatch as closely as possible.

NORTHAMPTON STYLE FISHING. Fishing from a boat with a drogue attached to the bow with the fly fishers casting out either side.

NYMPHS. Two meanings. 1. Juvenile, sexually immature stage of certain insects, usually similar to the adult in form, and which require an intermediate stage before becoming an adult. Mayflies, Caddis flies, Dragonflies, Damselflies, Stone flies and Midges are all insects that spend part of their life cycle in the water and have a nymph stage. 2. A fly tied to imitate the nymphal stage of an insects life cycle.

OPEN CELL FOAM. Synthetic rubber or plastic material with air spaces in its structure that are relatively open such as synthetic sponge.

PALMERED HACKLE. Refers to the technique of winding in a spiral way a hackle along the body of a fly. Used on both dry and wet flies.

PARACHUTE HACKLE. A hackle tied above the hook generally on a post of hair or feather fibers that not only represents the legs and wings of an insect but also assists a dry fly settling softly on the water.

PARR MARKS. Blotches of darker pigmentation on the sides of juvenile salmonoids.

PELAGIC FISH. Fish that roam the open seas such as Tuna, Australian Salmon, Tailor and Bill Fish.

PHEASANT TIPPETS. Neck hackle or feathers from a Golden pheasant cock. They are distinguished by their orange colour and two black bars. One is along the tip and the second a little lower down the hackle.

POLAROID SUNGLASSES. Sunglasses that reduce the reflective glare off the surface of the water and allow the wearer to see fish and structure more easily. To determine if sunglasses are Polaroid place one lens over the second lens. If both lenses are on the same plane you will be able to see through the two of them on top of each other. If you then rotate one lens 90 degrees and the lenses go black and you cant see through them both lenses are polarized.

POLAROIDING. The process of using Polaroid sunglasses to see through the surface of the water and sight fish.

POPPERS. Flies tied with a head that will induce a popping noise or slurping noise when retrieved in small jerks. Popular with Saltwater and Bass fly fishers.

POSSUM FUR. Fur from the Australian Brushed tail Possum.

QUILL. The relatively hard centre shaft of a feather.

RIB OR RIBBING. Material such as wire or nylon wound as a spiral along the body of the fly to either reinforce the dressing or divide the fly into segments.

RIFFLE. An area of shallow, fast broken water in a stream or river. A generally well originated location where trout will lie when pools become to warm.

RING NECK FEATHERS. Generally small green distinctly marked feathers from the back of a ringneck pheasant cock. Also often called “church window feathers”

ROLLIE POLY RETRIEVE. A fast retrieve characterized by placing the butt of the rod under the off arm and stripping the line in with both hands as fast as possible. Very useful when fly-fishing for pelagics but may also be used for trout and other species.

RUN OR REACH. Any length of water in a stream or river with a steady flow.
SADDLE HACKLE. A hackle from the back of the bird near the tail as opposed to “Hackle” per say which is generally accepted as being from the neck of a bird.

SALMONOIDS or SALMO. A family of fish that in Australian includes the Brown Trout, Rainbow Trout, Brook trout and Atlantic Salmon.

SALT WATER FLIES. Flies tied specifically for use in salt-water environments. Having said that there is no reason why fresh water flies will not work in some salt-water situations. Examples are some flies used for bass or bream or small pale nymphs used for fishing to mullet. Generally wet flies they are larger than fresh water flies and normally more colourful and glitzy. A lot of artificial materials such as "Flashabou" is used in salt water flies. Saltwater flies are generally tied on stainless steel hooks in order to overcome the problem of rusting.

SEAM OR CREASE. A definite visible line in a body of water where two types of water or current meet.
SHUCK. The skin of a nymph that is left behind when the nymph sheds its final nymphal skin and becomes and adult insect. For Mayflies, Caddis flies and Midges you will often find large numbers of shucks on the surface of the water where they have emerged. For Dragonflies, Damselflies and Stone flies you will often see large numbers of shucks on vegetation and land forms adjacent to water where they have emerged.
SEDGE. Kiwi name for a caddis.

SMELT Small schooling fish.

SPADE HACKLE. A wider shoulder hackle that may be used predominantly for dry flies.

SPECKLED HEN. Poultry or pheasant hens with speckled feathers. The hackles and tippets have applications as wings and tail material.

SPENT. A Mayfly is said to be spent when it dies after the mating and egg laying ritual. Often large numbers of spent mayflies will litter the surface of the water.

SPINNER. Technically that stage after the Dun has moved off the water after drying its wings. The adult or imago of all Mayflies, Caddis flies and Midges can technically be regarded as spinners however the name is generally used only in the context of referring to a small number of Mayflies including Black Spinners and Red Spinners when they are both on the water and in the air.

SPINNING. From a fly tying perspective a term generally used in association with Deer hair. The technique of applying deer hair to a hook by tying a clump in loosely and then applying tension to the thread so as to cause the deer hair to distribute evenly around the hook and then trimming it to represent a head or body of an insect.

STREAMERS. A class of fly characterized by feathers or fibers tied at the head and extending beyond the hook. Many of the salmon and saltwater flies are examples of streamers.

STRIKE. This is the process of lifting the rod or pulling the line to set the hook once a fly has been taken by a fish.

TAG. Material tied at the bend/shoulder of a hook. On a Cock-y-Bonddu the tag is made by winding gold Lurex down beyond the bend and returning it to the shoulder. On a Red Tag a piece of red wool is tied in at the bend/shoulder to form a short tail or tag.

TEAM. From a fly-fishing point of view a group of two or three complementary flies which are attached to the same leader or tippet.

TERRESTRIALS. Generally referring to air born insects.
THERMOCLINE. Middle horizontal layer of cool well oxygenated water in larger bodies of water that separates the generally warmer top or "Epilimnion" layer and the much colder bottom or "Hypolimnion layer. THORAX. The middle of the three segments of an insect.

TIP. The fine end of a hackle feather. Opposite of “Butt”.

VENTRAL. Pertaining to the bottom side of an insect's body. Opposite of Dorsal.

WET FLY. A fly tied to sink. Examples are Matukas’, woolly buggers, Mrs. Simpson, Alexandra and Hammils killer. Sink and either resemble a natural food source or stimulate a territorial or anger response. N.B. you may need to use a sinking agent to maintain its sinking ability.

WHIP FINISHING. A technique of building up a thread head and tying the thread off for a fly.

WONDER WING & TAILS. A technique of pulling the barbules of a hackle feather back and lashing them onto the hook to form a splayed out wing or tail. See Wonder winged spinner as an example.

Last modified:11-Jun-2008.

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