What is fly fishing?
By Brandon Ho, FFI CCI
Fly fishing is a sport rather than a commercial activity where one would catch a huge number of fish and sell the fish for a profit while depleting the natural resources and destroying nature in the process. As a fly angler, the aim of this activity is to pit one’s skills against the intelligence of the finned creatures in the beauty of nature. The joy comes not from bringing home the carcass of a dead fish but releasing the beautiful fish back to its home, knowing that you have enjoyed nature in a responsible and sustainable way.
So, how do we go about fly fishing? To start, we will need to get the gear ready. Contrary to popular believe, fly fishing is not a hobby for the super-rich, but an affordable pastime anyone can participate regardless of background and age. Let’s get started.
__________________________________
The Gear
All you need to get started are:
1) A fly rod
2) A fly reel
3) A fly line and backing
4) A fly leader
5) Flies
__________________________________
The Fly Rod
A fly rod can range from 6 feet to 15 feet with the 9 feet rod being the most popular for its practicability and easy of casting. The rod comes in different weights from 0 weight to 14 weight used for tackling big tunas, marlins are other strong fighting pelagic. A 5 or 6 weight would be a good place to start.
__________________________________
The Reel
A fly reel’s basic function is to hold line as most of the time are fish fighting is limited to handlining the fish in. However, it you are hooked up onto a fast running fish with lasting stamina, a smooth drag is essential to prevent being broken by the run. Fly reels also come in different sizes. Choose a reel that matches the rod.
__________________________________
The Fly Line and Backing
The fly line is the main things that allows the fly to be cast out to the fish. This is usually a braided line or a mono line covered with a layer of polymer. It is this layer of polymer that determines the characteristic of the fly line; floating, intermediate or sinking lines. Also not forgetting the sink tip where the tip of the fly line sinks while the rest of the line floats. The fly line comes in different weights with different characteristics. Choose the line that matches the type of fish you are targeting.
__________________________________
The Leader
The leader is a length of nylon that connects the fly to the fly line. The length of the leader is usually the same length of the fly rod but then again it depends on the type of fishing you are doing. The leader can either be monofilament or fluorocarbon, where both has its own pros and cons.
__________________________________
Flies
This is the component that attracts the fish. A fly is usually an imitation of the prey that the target fish usually feed on or it can be attractive fly that plays on the fish predatory instinct. The fish will strike the fly because it just happens to swim across its path. Flies are usually made from either natural materials such a fur or feather bound together with thread. Now there are more and more synthetic material that can be used to make flies. The fly is where the term fly fishing comes from.
Are you now ready to start your fly fishing adventure? Contact us to begin a new fishing adventure.
__________________________________
Looking for more fly tying materials? Click the link below for our online store.
Chasing the Belum Sebarau on fly
Blog / By flytiecast
Chasing the Belum Sebarau on fly
Hampala macrolepidota or better know locally as sebarau, is a much sought after fresh water gamefish in Malaysia. These freshwater wolves can be found in clear rivers and streams, which flow through pristine rainforest hunting small fish and freshwater prawns. They can also be found in large water reservoirs.
The focus of this article here is on the sebarau in Royal Belum, in the state of Perak. Being a predatory fish, you can imagine the speed and strength of these fish. They are good fighters if you are able to hook them. Hooking them is another big challenge. They like to hide among deep sunken trees and snags. You must be prepared to lose some flies when targeting them.
These fish are mostly active during the morning and evening hours. During these time, popper flies are effective. You will be able to see them rise neat the trees and also vegetation. Cast your popper in the direction of the rise and let the ripple smoothen out then move your popper with short moderate retrieve, creating loud splashes. The sebarau take on the surface popper is heart stopping. Out of a sudden you see a splash and the popper disappears into the water and at almost the same time, you fly line tightens and you are on to a challenging fight. At this moment, the fight is in the fish’s advantage. It will head down to the nearest snags while trying to shake off the annoying hook. Going barbless increases the odds of the fish winning.
When the sun is high up in the sky and the temperature increases, these fish will hide deep in the snags, avoiding the heat. This is the time to break out your sinking line. Casting accuracy is key to winning this game. Look out for sunken trees and cast out as close as you can to the branches underwater. Allow the fly to sink almost to the bottom before starting a quick retrieve. The fish are attracted to fast moving flies as their natural prey are fast swimming baitfish. Small sebarau will take light taps at your fly but a huge one will engulf your fly and head to the snags. Quick reflexes are essential to successfully landing these fresh water wolves.
The sebarau in Royal Belum can be found in near the “tanjung” or cape during the flooding seasons and also near the small stream runoff and waterfalls.
Some of the successful fly patterns are foam poppers in orange and black, split tail in orange and red. The split tails are to imitate the giant snake head fry which are red or orange.
A sebarau is a beautiful fish that is worthy of a good fight. A dream opponent for fly fishers. We practice catch and release for this fish as we believe a fish that live to fight another day is worth many in the cooking pot. Use barbless hook and practice proper catch and release so that the fish you release will live to fight another day.