By Joe Solmo

To a conventional fisherman, fly fishing can look daunting. There are special terms and techniques that can make it seem like an alien language. Below, I put together some of the basic terms for fly fishing hoping to make it easier for someone wanting to learn more about the sport.

                I am going to assume that most people can figure out what a rod and a reel is. The flyline should be fairly obvious as well so we won’t go into those here.

1.       Backing – Backing might be confusing to a conventional angler, or someone who hasn’t fished a day in their lives. Backing attaches to the reel and then connects to the large fly line. Its purpose is to give the fish line to run with. This isn’t that important on little brook trout, but matters a lot when you go steelhead or salmon fishing on the fly. It usually runs from 20 to 50lb test strengths.

2.       Arbor – When a reel is called a large arbor, what the heck does that mean? Well it is the diameter of the center of the reel. To put it in simple terms, it determines how much line, one crank around brings in. The larger the arbor the more line for your crank. Most fly reels have moved to this way recently, making it easier to bring the fish to you.

3.       Loading the Rod – Loading the rod sounds funny, but makes sense once it’s explained. When you fly fish, you cast the rod behind you, a backcast, as the large line reaches its backward arc it puts a bend in the rod, thus loading it with potential energy to be released as you bring it forward. The springing action of the rod, combined with the weight of the line, shoot the line forward as you cast.

4.        Line Weight – What is a 5wt rod, what does that mean? It’s all determined by the weight of the first 30ft of a flyline. Knowing the line weight helps determine which rod to match it with. For instance, the first 30ft of a 6wt line weighs 160 grains.

5.       Lines – What is WF5F compared to a DT5F and a WF5I? Well the WF stands for weight forward. It is the most versatile type of flyline. The weight in the front and quick taper make it easy for the line to shoot out of the rod. The I in WF5I means it is an intermediate fly line. An intermediate flyline is set up to sink at a low rate, usually specified in inches per second. A type 3, for instance, would sink at 3 inches per second.  A DT5F is a double taper fly line. Both ends of this line are tapered, it’s great for short casts, and roll casts, but you won’t get much distance out of this type of line.

6.       Presentation – All this term means is how to present the fly to the fish. Getting a smooth landing on the water, like an insect would, is the ideal way. If your fly, or line, hits with a plop it could spook the fish. Watch the stream for a bit and watch as a mayfly gently dips and hits the water, or as a grasshopper lands roughly, when using flies that imitate those insects, try to match how they do it naturally.

7.       Spey rod or Spey cast – Spey rods are cast with a technique using 2 hands, instead of the normal one-handed fly cast. It is similar to a roll cast. The rods are usually between 12 and 14 feet and can carry a heavier weight line.

8.       X – When buying leaders or tippets we see they are specified by a number followed by x. Well what does X mean? Well it’s the diameter of the tippet or leader. A 7x for example is going to be a very small diameter tipper, where a 0x is going to be a thicker material. It’s a complicated system, but not unlike wire gauges. To get the diameter of the tippet (in a thousandth of an inch), subtract the number before the x from 11. For example, a 4x tippet has a diameter of .0007. That is 11-4=7 or .0007. Most companies put a lb test rating on their products now that eliminates that math and makes the selection easier.

Hope this helped answer some of your term questions. Look for part 2 coming soon!

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