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Glossary of Fly Fishing Terms F to J

Term	Description
False Cast	Standard fly fishing cast; used to lengthen and shorten line, to change direction, and to dry off the fly; frequently overused. In false casting, the line is kept moving backwards and forwards without being allowed to touch the surface of the water or the ground (see casting arc, back cast, and forward cast).
Federation of Fly Fishers	A non-profit organization dedicated to teaching the sport of fly fishing and the improvement of fisheries.
Ferrule	A collar that is found at the point where sections of a fly rod are joined. The end of one section fits inside the end of another, in an overlapping fashion at the ferrule.
Fighting Chair	A swivel chair bolted to the deck of a boat from which a big-game angler can fight marlin and other large, powerful fish that can take a long time to subdue. The angler is strapped in by a harness, and either the harness or the chair is equipped with a butt pad or rod socket
Figure-of-eight	A type of line retrieve where the fly line is bunched in the palm of the hand after being wrapped around the fingures in a figure of eight retrieve.
Filter Feeder	A fish that feeds by filtering plankton from the water.
Fingerling	A small, immature fish, such as a juvenile trout.
Fish Hair	Synthetic hair used in tying streamers and salt water flies.
Fish Ladder	A series of interconnected pools created up the side of a river obstruction, such as a weir, to allow salmon and other fish to pass upstream.
Flashabou	A colorful synthetic filament material used in fly tying for adding flash to streamers as well as other patterns.
Flat	An expansive area of water with a relatively unchanging (flat ) depth, often over a sand or grass bottom. A common water topography for certain species of fish, like bonefish. Common areas in tropical saltwater fishing for targeting tarpon, bonefish, and the like.
Float Tube	A 1-person, U- or O-shaped watercraft in which the angler sits in a canvas or nylon seat, partly submerged in the water. Originally using a tractor or truck inner tube with a seat across the bottom on which the fly fisher sits. Feet are in the water and scuba fins are used to move the tube around. This type of fishing boat is very popular with warm water fly fishers and with individuals who fish high mountain lakes.
Floatant	Generally describes a water-proofing agent that is used to help flies, leaders and fly lines float. There are oily, cream like agents, and powder or spray agents for flies. Scotch-Guard is a cheap and effective way to prepare dry flies the day before they are to be fished.
Floating Fly Line	A fly line where the entire line floats, best all round fly line for beginners and essential for dry fly fishing.
Floss	Multi-strand silk or synthetic substitute Material for tying flies.
Flourescent	Material that emits light of a visible color when ultra violet light falls upon it in the water.
Fluorocarbon	Material made of PVDF-polyvinylidenfluoride used for tippet or leader material.
Fly	An artificial lure usually designed to imitate a fish food item, using different natural and synthetic materials hand tied onto hooks.
Fly Casting	The process of casting a flyline out onto the water. An essential element in the art of fly fishing.
Fly Fishing	A technique for fishing where the weight of the line is used to cast a very light weight fly that would not be heavy enough to be cast with a conventional spinning or casting rod.
Fly Line	The line used for fly fishing; originally of silk but currently made of a tapered plastic coating over a braided dacron or nylon core. The plastic coating gives the line weight and is commonly distributed unevenly to make the line easier to cast. Available in several tapers and in floating, sinking, and sink-tip styles, W/F weight forward, DT double taper, Shooting head, Sinking, Intermediate and Floating. Fly lines are rated in different weights, from 1 to 11, referring to the weight of the first 30 feet of the fly line.
Fly Pattern	The recipe used for tying a specific fly.
Fly Reel	Fishing reel used in fly fishing to hold the fly line with fairly simple mechanics (compared to spinning or bait casting reels). There are three basic types: single action, multiplier, and automatic. 1.)Single action is the most common and the most popular. Single action means that one turn of the handle equals one turn of the spool. 2.) Multiplying reels use a gear system to increase this ratio (usually, 2-to-1). With a 2-to-1 ratio, each turn of the handle equals 2 revolutions of the spool. 3.) Automatic fly reels are the least practical for most people; they operate by a manually wound spring which is activated by a lever; automatic reels are heavy and tend to malfunction
Fly Rod	A fishing rod especially designed to cast a fly line. Historically built with bamboo canes and fiberglass, but now almost exclusively with carbon graphite. Fly rods differ from other types of rods in that the reel attaches at the butt of the rod with the rod handle always above the reel; fly rods usually have more line guides than other types of rods of the same length. Fly rods are generally longer and thinner than spinning or casting rods with common lengths being between 7 and 9 feet.
Fly Tying	Building fishing flies using thread and various materials tied around a hook.
Forceps	A pliers-like tool from the medical industry that locks closed with a ratchet-locking action. It is often used for crimping barbs on hooks and for removing flies from the mouths of fish; also called "hemostats."
Forward Cast	The front portion of the false cast or pick-up and lay-down, and a mirror image of the back cast.
Forward Taper	A weight forward fly line designed for fast casting into wind.
Foul Hook	hooking a fish anywhere but in the mouth.
Freestone	Type of river or stream with a significant gradient, mostly found in mountain regions, resulting in medium to fast-moving water. Although the upper reaches of a freestone stream may be spring-fed, the vast majority of its flow comes from run-off, tributaries or snow/glacier melt. The fast moving water inhibits the growth of weeds or other rooted vegetation resulting in a "Free Stone" bottom. Freestone streams are less fertile than spring creeks resulting in a smaller and less diverse aquatic insect population. Fewer bugs in faster water usually results in fewer but more opportunistic trout.
Fresh-Run	A migratory fish, such as a salmon, that has just left the sea and is travelling up a river to spawn.
Freshwater	The water of rivers and most stillwaters, containing little or no dissolved salt
Fry	The first stage of a fish after hatching from an egg.
Furnace	A feather colour from a specially-bred chicken that dark brown-to-black along the center changing to light browns on edge.
Gaiters	A neoprene anklet or legging put over the top of wading shoes and to keep gravel from getting into the shoe and abrading the stocking foot of the wader. These are also called gravel guards.
Gamefish	Any fish valued for its sporting qualities
Gape	The space between the point of the hook and the shank
Gel-spun Polyethylene	A synthetic fiber that is extremely thin, supple, slippery, very abrasion resistant, and strong. It is stronger than steel for its size. It is often used as a braided fly line backing where large amounts of backing are needed and space on the reel is limited
Ghillie	A Celtic name for a salmon fishing guide in Britain, especially in Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
Gold Head	A Bead Head fly uses a metal bead to simulate the thorax on a nymph or wet fly and to add weight to the fly
Golden Pheasant	A popular game bird whose crest, neck and wing feathers are used extensively in fly patterns.
Graphite	A popular rod-building material in use today; offers the best weight, strength, and flex ratio of any rod building material currently available.
Grayling	Thymallus Arcticus / Thymallus thymallus: Arcticus is the North American Grayling and the Thymallus is the European strain.This is a olive-grey fish with silvery belly and large dorsal fin. A popular fly target in the areas they populate.
Grilse	Young, not-sexually mature, Atlantic salmon
Grip	The cork handle of a fly rod, generally made of cork rings shaped in several different ways, including a cigar grip, full-wells grip, half-wells grip, superfine grip.
Grizzly	The coloration pattern from a specially bred chicken with barred black and white "V" pattern. Very popular for many flies because it may create the illusion of motion.
Guide	Metal rings, usually bent pieces of wire along the length of the fly rod to ease the release of line during casting and to distribute the stress of a fish along the entire length of the rod.
Guide (2)	Guide - someone who 'guides' an angler, usually for a fee, to various places to fish and instucts the angler in technique for the local area.
Hackle	A feather, usually from the neck area of a chicken; can be any color (dyed or natural); hackle quality, such as the stiffness of the individual fibers and amount of web, determines the type of fly tied with the hackle; many hackles are grown specifically for fly tying.
Hackle Guage	A ruler-like device to make sure the length of hackle used is appropriate for the size of hook. Particularly, hackle feather fibers (barbules) on a classic dry fly should be the same length as the hook gap.
Hackle Pliers	Pliers used to hold the end of feathers while they are being wound around a hook. Generally hackle pliers are spring loaded and often have a rubber disk to hold the slippery feathers.
Hair Stacker	A cylinder with one end blocked that is used to get tips of animal hair lined up for wings, tails and other parts of a fly. Often made of Brass or wood.
Hairbug	Also known as Bass Bugs. A fly constructed through a special technique called hair spinning whereby bouyant deer hair (or similar) is made to flare and form a solid shape. This hair can be further trimmed to shapes like frog bodies. Hairbugs are commonly used for warmwater fish, but a mouse imitation hairbug is excellent for big brown trout and large freshwater cod.
Hare's Ear	A nymph in sizes 12-16 can be used as both a mayfly and a caddis fly imitation and in larger sizes as a stonefly imitation.
Hare's Mask	The facial area of the hare used for fly tying.
Hatch	A large number of flies of the same species 'hatching' from nymph to adult and bringing about a feeding frenzy among fish like trout.
Haul	A pull on the fly line with the non-casting hand to increase the line speed and get greater distance. This is done effectively during line pickup.
Headwater	The upstream section of the river before the main tributaries join it. This section is typically much smaller in width and flow than the main section of the river
Hen Hackle	Hackle feathers from a hen chicken characterized by soft, wide feathers
Herl	Feathers, Usually from peacock and ostrich, used for tying with long individual barbules each having short dense fibers. Used as tails and to make fly bodies.
Hollow Hair	Hair from animals like antelope, deer, and elk that is mostly hollow, thus holding air and making these hairs float. Ideal for tying dry flies and bass bugs.
Hook	The object upon which the fly is tied; can be any size from tiny to huge; made from steel wire, and either bronzed, cadmium coated, or stainless. Hook designs are variable; style used depends upon the type of fly being tied
Hook Size	Hook sizes are standardized based upon the gap (or gape) which is defined as the distance between the hook shank and the hook point. Further measurements define the hook such as length of shank, bend of the shank, and shape of the hook bend.
Horns	The last element to be tied onto an Atlantic Salmon fly before the head. Traditionally there were of Macaw tail feathers and are set above the wing and topping.
Horror Fly	A popular inverted hook Bonefish pattern.
IGFA	The International Game Fish Association, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It maintains lists of record fish and also sets technical standards for fishing tackle.
Imitative Flies	Flies tied to more closely match specific insects Imitative flies are most effective in slow-moving, clear water, with finicky trout in streams with large populations of aquatic insects. Some tiers have taken imitative tying to a very high level and produce very realistic, and even super realistic patterns that are more art than lure.
Impressionistic Flies	Flies tied to loosely suggest a variety of insects or insect families. The Woolly Bugger is a very popular impressionistic fly that could suggest any number of fish food items.
Improved Clinch Knot	A knot to tie a monofilament tippet to the eye of a hook. If the tippet is run through the loop twice it is even stronger.
Indicator	A highly visible floating object placed on the leader or end of the fly line to "indicate" the take of the fly by a fish or to indicate the path of the drift of the fly; used when nymph fishing with a slack line
Intermediate Line	A fly line with a slow controlled sink rate.
Invertebrate	A creature with no backbone, example, an insect or a worm
Inverted Hook Flies	This type of fly was designed so that the hook rode above the shank in the water so that the hook would not get caught on the bottom. Hooks are dressed to create inversion by bending the hook, by adding weighted eyes on the hook shank opposite the point and/ or by using relatively buoyant materials to cover the hook point. Any of these three techniques can cause the fly to ride inverted. If tied with sparse materials these flies can be made to sink very fast. Our Clouser Minnows, Horror and Crazy Charlies are all examples of this type of fly.
Jig	A small artificial lure with a metal (cone) head, often dressed with feathers or sythetic materials.
Jigging	Fishing by jerking a jig or other bait up and down in the water; an ice-fishing technique
Jungle Cock	Jungle Cock A type of hackle with prominent singular white dot patterns often used to suggest eyes. Now illegal to use in the UK and other countries to protect this endangered bird.