A fishing fly is an artificial lure designed to be cast using a fly rod and fly line. Despite the name, it does not necessarily imitate a flying insect.
Fishing flies can represent almost anything a fish might eat, including aquatic insects, small fish, shrimps, crustaceans and terrestrial insects. Other flies do not closely imitate any particular food at all, but instead use colour, movement, shape or disturbance to encourage a fish to investigate or attack.
This means the term **"fly"** covers an enormous range of artificial patterns, from a tiny dry fly for a river trout to a large baitfish imitation for pike or saltwater species.
## What Is a Fishing Fly Made From?
At its simplest, a fishing fly consists of a **hook with materials attached to it** to create the desired shape, colour, profile and movement.
Traditional materials include:
- Feathers.
- Fur.
- Hair.
- Wool.
- Tinsel.
- Thread.
Modern flies may also incorporate synthetic fibres, foam, rubber legs, beads, wire, flash materials and many other components.
Flies are traditionally described as being **tied** or **dressed**, because thread is used to secure the materials to the hook. Modern fly construction increasingly uses glues and other materials as well, but we still generally call the finished artificial a fishing fly.
## Do Fishing Flies Have to Imitate Something?
No.
Some flies are deliberately designed to imitate a particular food source.
A dry fly might imitate an adult upwinged fly or caddis. A nymph might represent an immature aquatic insect. A streamer might imitate a small fish.
But many successful fishing flies are much less specific.
They may simply suggest something edible through their:
- Size.
- Shape.
- Colour.
- Movement.
- Flash.
- Silhouette.
Others are designed primarily to provoke curiosity, aggression or another response rather than accurately imitate natural food.
This distinction is particularly obvious in salmon fishing, where many traditional salmon flies do not closely represent anything the fish would naturally encounter in the river.
Fishing flies therefore include both **imitative patterns and attractor patterns**.
## The Main Types of Fishing Fly
Fishing flies can broadly be divided into several groups.
### Dry Flies
Dry flies are designed to fish on or in the water's surface.
They can imitate adult insects, emerging insects or terrestrial insects that have fallen onto the water.
### Emergers
Emergers represent aquatic insects during the transition from their underwater stage to the adult insect.
Many emerger patterns sit partly beneath the surface and partly within or above the surface film.
### Nymphs
Nymphs are subsurface flies primarily designed to represent immature aquatic insects and other small aquatic food.
They can be lightly dressed and almost weightless or heavily weighted to reach the riverbed quickly.
### Wet Flies and Spiders
Wet flies are normally fished beneath the surface.
Traditional North Country spiders are an important British style of wet fly, typically using sparse bodies and soft hackles to create movement in the current.
### Streamers and Lures
Streamers and lures are generally larger subsurface flies.
Some imitate small fish and other prey, while others rely more heavily on movement, colour and attraction.
### Salmon and Sea Trout Flies
Salmon and sea trout fishing has developed its own enormous range of flies, from traditional feather-wing patterns to modern hairwings, tubes, shrimps and highly mobile modern designs.
### Predator and Saltwater Flies
Large flies can imitate baitfish, crabs, shrimps and other prey for species such as pike, bass, bonefish and tarpon.
The term fishing fly therefore covers a much broader range of artificials than the name initially suggests.
## Does the Exact Fly Pattern Matter?
Yes - but perhaps not as much as beginners sometimes imagine.
There are thousands upon thousands of named fishing flies, with new variations appearing constantly. Many differ only slightly from patterns that already exist.
The important question is not simply:
**"What is this fly called?"**
It is often more useful to consider:
- What does it represent?
- Where will it fish in the water?
- How large is it?
- How will it move?
- Is it visible enough for the conditions?
- Can you present it effectively?
A relatively small selection of well-chosen flies can cover an enormous range of fishing situations.
Understanding **what a fly does and why you might choose it** is generally more useful than trying to memorise hundreds of different fly names.
## Key Takeaways
- A fishing fly is an artificial lure designed to be cast using fly fishing tackle.
- It does not have to imitate an actual flying insect.
- Flies can imitate insects, fish, crustaceans and many other food sources.
- Some flies imitate natural food while others attract fish through colour, movement or other triggers.
- Fishing flies range from tiny dry flies to very large predator and saltwater patterns.
- There are thousands of named patterns, but anglers do not need to own all of them.
- Understanding what a fly **does** is usually more useful than simply knowing its name.
In the next article, we'll look more closely at the **main types of fishing flies** and explain the differences between dry flies, emergers, nymphs, wet flies, spiders, streamers and lures.
