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Page(s) last revised March, 2007.
Fly fishing
is the art of fishing with a fly.
my definition of "ecological fly fishing"
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my opinion on "catch & release"
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The "fly" is cast using a fly rod and with the weight or to be precise
the momentum of the line
propelling the bait ie the "fly". A comparision - when fishing with a spinning
rod the weight or to be precise
the momentum of the bait
(spoon, plug or whatever) pulls out the line.
The "fly" was originally an imitation of an insect made out of fur and feathers
tied onto a hook of steel (or actually gold in the very first beginning!).
Today flies imitate insects, crustaceans, small baitfish and other types of
fish food as well as (sometimes) nothing at all but something "food-like" to
start the curiosity of the fish, i.e. to make it take the "fly".
Fly fishing has a long history and the "modern" fly fishing literature started
in 1496, i.e. 500 years ago, with a part in "The Boke of St Albans" called "A
Treatyse of Fysshynge wyth an Angle". That very part was supposedly written by a
prioress, Dame Juliana Berners, at the Sopewell nunnery in southern England.
For almost
all these 500 years fly fishing was a man´s recreation but today a lot of
women join us at the waterside - and they are very welcome.
I am fond of discussing a subject that I call
ecological fly fishing
. I minted the term ecological fly fishing in my first book back in 1984. That
book, "The Fly Fisherman´s Insects" with the subtitle "ecology,
identification, imitation" (in Swedish "Flugfiskarens insekter" med undertiteln
"ekologi, identifiering, imitation") is really the product of being a sport
fisherman and particularly a fly fisherman for many years and a limnologist
("freshwater ecologist") by
education. Given that combination it is perhaps easier than for others to see
that many different pieces in the jigsaw puzzle called fly fishing really fits
together. But instead of keeping the secret to myself, as most fishermen do, I
set out to educate my fellow fly
fishermen in this "new" way of thinking. Or should I say - how to observe and
think when fishing.
In 1991 in my second book "Ecological fly fishing" (in Swedish "Ekologiskt
flugfiske") I took these theories a bit further by making a beginner´s fly
fishing book totally focused on freshwater ecology and ecological fly fishing.
This book
covers subjects such as "the history and development of fly fishing", "water as
an environment", "sport fishing ethics", "the tools and flies of the ecological
fly fisherman" and "fishing techniques in still and running water".
My definition of ecological fly fishing is
as follows:
Ecological fly fishing is fly fishing that in it´s whole practise -
fishing techniques, fishing tactics, fly patterns, ethics, etc - is built on
nature´s prerequisites and respecting ecological fundamentals and the
fellow man.
That definition may sound very academic and stiff-upper-lip but it is rather
the opposite. It is actually about learning how to observe nature and to follow
a few simple fundamental rules of ecology that themselves are very much alike
common sense.
After all that was what the fishermen did in the olden days when all that we
know (or at least should know) today wasn´t known. They were simply keen
observers of nature. I am sure that they saw the difference between different
insects but they had no name for that. I
guess that they simply accepted these differences as God´s variations of
the creation.
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To me reading Charles Cotton´s addendum to Izaak Walton´s "The
Compleat Angler" (in the 6th edition 1676) is like reading poetry - Cotton
really knew what it is all about! Go to the library and borrow a copy of
Walton´s book that contains Charles Cotton´s addendum "Being
Instructions How to Angle for a Trout or Grayling in a Clear Stream"! Very few
men has taken fly fishing forwards with more than a tiny step - Cotton took fly
fishing forward with several mighty strides! To me Charles Cotton
is
the
father of modern fly fishing! With Cotton´s writing we leave Claudius
Aelianus, Dame Juliana Berners, Leonard Mascall, Juan de Bergara, Izaak Walton
and the rest of the olden lot
behind. Charles Cotton not only turned a page in the book of fly fishing - he
started a new chapter.
The next man to take fly fishing forward in strides is Alfred Ronalds. His
"Fly-Fisher´s Entomology" in 1836 tries to rid fly fishing of superstition
and legends dating back to Aelianus (200 AD). Ronalds discusses problems like
how fish sees the insect, how is light reflected in the water, etc.
A few years later (1840) John Younger publishes his "On River Angling for
Salmon and Trout". Younger seems to be the first man to recognize the
importance of the larval stages of insects as food for the trout.
Today most fly fishermen know that approximately 90% of the fish food is caught
under the water surface. In 1840 life under the water surface was as unknown to
fly fishermen as it still seems to be for today´s hydro-electric power
engineers, community planners and politicians!
After 1840 there has been only minor steps forward being taken when it comes to
the theoretical part of fly fishing but instead almost all of the technical
development of the tackle has come after 1840!
To me it is really interesting to note that so much of the fly fishing today is
focused on having "the right rod" made of "the right fiber" (woe me who
sometimes fish with a graphite I rod and even worse bamboo rods!) and tying
flies from "the right super dubbing" (woe me who still use rabbit´s fur
and hare´s ears from time to time!) and so very little is focused on "how
to fish" and "how does the insects move". Is it really a good way of advocating
fly fishing by telling fly fishermen that if you don´t have the right
four-letter-word rod you DO have a four-letter-word rod? Could it perhaps be
harmful to tell the fly fishermen that you don´t need super-fiber rods and
super-plastic lines that allows you to cast 30 meter plus (about twice the
maximum distance at which you can still see the fly...) to catch fish?
My opinion on C & R !
Catch & release is a trend in fly fishing, almost a sub-religion, that gets
more and more followers every year. A lot of those people think that I am by
definition one of them or they even claim that I am one of those who started
the mission for C & R in Sweden.
This is only partially true - and - what is more important... it means that
some people read only parts of my books (or they grasp only what they want and
leave out what they do not want).
If people doesn´t want to read what I write that´s OK with me - but I DO want
to make my point more clear if I can because I think this question is far too
important to leave without a thorough discussion.
If you read my two books - or at least one of them all the way through you will
find that I do say something else than mission for C & R!
To me it is clearly not ethical to fish totally catch-and-release!
I also happen to think that total devotion to C & R is a dangerous statement
for fly fishing to make because it implies that we "play with innocent animals
for our own pleasure and to the detriment of those animals!" This means that
"bragging" about C & R will put us all in the position that the anti-fishing
mob will get "a good grip" on our fishing activities!
The term "play with innocent animals for our own pleasure and to the detriment
of those animals" threatens to open us up for being closed down with the help
of different laws for the protection of the well being of animals that already
exist in different places in Europe!
When on a European conference on sportfishing in the summer of 1996 the German
delegate from Baden-Wurttemberg explained the new laws on sportfishing (amongst
other things the banning of C & R) that had been decided for B-W he was almost
ridiculed by the British and Norwegian delegates. That type of silly laws would
never to appear in their countries!
The British sport fishermen are now wondering how they got their new strict
laws on salmon fishing that all but bans sportfishing for salmon!
The Norwegians seems to be blissfully unaware of the fact that the Norwegian
"board of ethical treatment of animals" have banned C & R in Norway before it
even started! The Norwegian fisheries authorities wanted to be able to save a
number of threatened strains of atlantic salmon in northern Norway while still
allowing fishing for them by use of C & R. They claimed that fishing with C & R
would give those strains protection due to the fact that the sport fishermen
would look after the salmon while fishing and would through their fees pay for
the bailiffs looking after the salmon during the rest of the season. They got a
clear NO from the ethical board! If those strains were threatened because of
low numbers they shouldn´t be fished for because "you shouldn´t play with
innocent animals for your own pleasure and to the detriment of those animals!"
(read that line before...?)
If you read my books thoroughly you will find that I fish to eat my catch and I
enjoy doing so! However I claim that this does NOT mean that you shall
slaughter all fish that come in your way! Catch-and-freeze is the term I use
for that type of hideous behaviour!
I claim - from my ecological, and ethical, standpoint - that you shall fish
with intension to eat your catch but you shall make your choice of what fish to
eat very carefully and on ecological grounds!
Put back the "fish babies" to live and grow! Put back the perfect breeders to
live and breed! Put back the "extras" when you have gotten your skillet
occupied by fish already caught (or by other food)!
I call this variety of fishing "responsible fishing".
The americans have a saying that means essentially the same thing - "limit your
kill ... don´t kill your limit".
Responsible fishing is in short that you shall fish with intension to eat your
catch but you shall make your choice of what fish to eat very carefully and on
ecological (and ethical) grounds!
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Fly fishing in Dalarna is interesting - we have lots of rivers and lakes to begin with and now the fishing right owners are getting more and more interested in fisheries management. Liming of acidified waters and acidification threatened waters is a great help and on top of this now the process of restoring the rivers after the lumber floating era is revving up!
Fly fishing only waters are "popping up" and that goes for river stretches too! Together with stricter rules and more supervision the fish are growing at a healthy pace.
In my job as Fisheries Director of Dalarna I am getting hints of waters now producing grayling in the 50 - 55 centimetres size where before a grayling of 40 cm was a super fish - a wild born grayling or brown trout of 40 cm is really a super fish by any standard !
The "catch-and-freeze-gang" are losing ground and more and more the people are turning to more responsible ways of fishing!
Read more about fly fishing in Dalarna!
Do you want to check out some fly fishing links? Try these!
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This is a link to the Swedish Fly Fishermen´s Association "Flugfiskarna". http://www.flugfiskarna.org.se
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This is a link to the Federation of Fly Fishers Denmark. http://www.fffd.dk/
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This is a link to the Norvegian Fly Fishermen´s Association, Det Norske
Fluefiskerforbund. http://www.dnff.no/
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This is a link to a Swedish guy who probably has one of the highest number of
fly fishing links in the world on his homepage! http://www.acc.umu.se/~widmark/lwfishxl.html
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Nordens Kvinnliga Flugfiskare (= The Nordic Flyfishing Women) is a Nordic organization for women flyfishers (and for men who want to support women interested in fly fishing...).
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Trout Unlimited is an American organization for sport fishers interested in fisheries management. |
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Federation of Fly Fishers is an American organization for fly fishers interested in fisheries management. |
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