A fly fishing rod can be thought of as a tool that is used for casting and repositioning fishing line and playing fish, to reel them into the shore or a boat.
A fisherman could also think of a fly rod as an extension of his or her own anatomy, like a long, skinny finger.
When you cast a line, energy is transferred from a fisherman's forearm and wrist through the fly rod to the line at the end of the rod, thus providing the energy to drive the leader and fly to 90, or even 100 feet away, into the lake, river, stream, or other fishing body of water.
The majority of fly fishing rods are made of bamboo, but they can be also made from graphite, fiberglass, and boron/graphite.
One piece fly rods are scarce and rare, because it would be hard to put an 8' foot one piece fly rod inside the trunk of a car.
The most common types of fly rods are two-piece, but three-piece and even four-piece fly rods are prevalent and are quite practical.
A two-piece fly rod consists of the following:##* The thicker, lower section of the fly rod (including the handle), is called the "butt".
* The skinny top section of a rod used for fly fishing is called the "tip".
* On four-piece rods, the section the reel attaches to is still called the "butt," the next section is called the "middle-butt," followed by the "tip-middle," and finally the "tip".
** The very bottom of a fly rod consists of the following parts: * The metal cap of a fly rod is called the "end plug".
* On a few large saltwater and salmon fishing rods, this plug can be removed and replaced with a detachable "butt extension" or "fighting butt", although most rods for this purpose come with a fixed fighting butt that extends from 1 to 2 inches below the reel seat.
This attachment is used when the fly fisherman (or woman) expects to be playing large fish for a long time.
Bracing this attachment against his or her stomach or belt takes a lot of strain off your arms, which is a most pleasant weariness that goes along with big game fishing.
* The end plug of a fly fishing rod attaches to the "reel seat", available in an almost endless variety of materials.
The reel seat usually is made up of a metal frame (which actually holds the reel) and a filler.
The frame of a fly rod is usually made up of a very strong and lightweight aluminum alloy.
The filler of the fly rod may be made from cork, walnut, maple, zebra wood, synthetic composites, or other exotic plastic-impregnated wood laminates.
* Premium hardware for the fly fishing rod is often made from jewelry-grade nickel-silver (heavier and more expensive, but it looks exquisite in appearance).
* In most saltwater fly rods, the entire reel seat is made from anodized aluminum, which is necessary to hold heavy saltwater reels and to resist the corrosive action of saltwater.
** Here is a list of the reel seats offered by modern fly-rod manufacturers: * "Ring Type" - These are designed for small reels and light fly rods, and consist of two thin metal bands that are forced over the feet of the fly reel.
** Even though they appear more secure than they are, a fisherman or woman should avoid reels that weigh over 3 ounces with this type of reel seat.
* "Screw-locking" - This type consists of a fixed metal hood at the bottom of the seat, combined with a hood at the top of the seat, which can be screwed down over the reel-seat foot.
* "Reversed screw-locking" - This is exactly the same as the screw-locking, except that the fixed hood is at the other end of the seat, and is often buried inside the cork grip.
The screw band screws "up" toward the grip.
This type is often called "up-locking," as opposed to the "down-locking" reel seat above.
This is the most common type of reel seat used today.
** The grip of a fly rod functions as the handle of the rod.
Grips commonly used, in order of increased diameter, are the following: * Superfine Grip * Cigar Grip * Half Wells Grip * Full Wells Grip ** People with small hands generally prefer the smaller-diameter grips in fly rods.
Those with big hands feel more comfortable with something like a full-wells grip.
Further up on this kind of rod, there will be a small ring or hook called the "hook keeper.
" When a fisherman or woman is not fishing, a fly is hooked on the "hook keeper" to keep it from catching in stream side brush or in a fisherman's clothing.
Not all these kinds of rods have this "hook keeper," because, for instance, in saltwater rods, it tends to get in the way when shooting (or casting) long lengths of line.
++ Information for this article was gleaned from "The Orvis Fly-Fishing Guide," by Tom Rosenbauer, The Lyons Press, Guilford, Connecticut, Copyright 1984, 1988, 2007 by the Orvis Company.
To see Pictures of a Fly Rod, how casting line on a fly rod is done, repositioning fishing line on the water, and how a fly rod acts as a flexible lever to play and land fish without breaking the leader, see Pages 10-11 in this book.
A fisherman could also think of a fly rod as an extension of his or her own anatomy, like a long, skinny finger.
When you cast a line, energy is transferred from a fisherman's forearm and wrist through the fly rod to the line at the end of the rod, thus providing the energy to drive the leader and fly to 90, or even 100 feet away, into the lake, river, stream, or other fishing body of water.
The majority of fly fishing rods are made of bamboo, but they can be also made from graphite, fiberglass, and boron/graphite.
One piece fly rods are scarce and rare, because it would be hard to put an 8' foot one piece fly rod inside the trunk of a car.
The most common types of fly rods are two-piece, but three-piece and even four-piece fly rods are prevalent and are quite practical.
A two-piece fly rod consists of the following:##* The thicker, lower section of the fly rod (including the handle), is called the "butt".
* The skinny top section of a rod used for fly fishing is called the "tip".
* On four-piece rods, the section the reel attaches to is still called the "butt," the next section is called the "middle-butt," followed by the "tip-middle," and finally the "tip".
** The very bottom of a fly rod consists of the following parts: * The metal cap of a fly rod is called the "end plug".
* On a few large saltwater and salmon fishing rods, this plug can be removed and replaced with a detachable "butt extension" or "fighting butt", although most rods for this purpose come with a fixed fighting butt that extends from 1 to 2 inches below the reel seat.
This attachment is used when the fly fisherman (or woman) expects to be playing large fish for a long time.
Bracing this attachment against his or her stomach or belt takes a lot of strain off your arms, which is a most pleasant weariness that goes along with big game fishing.
* The end plug of a fly fishing rod attaches to the "reel seat", available in an almost endless variety of materials.
The reel seat usually is made up of a metal frame (which actually holds the reel) and a filler.
The frame of a fly rod is usually made up of a very strong and lightweight aluminum alloy.
The filler of the fly rod may be made from cork, walnut, maple, zebra wood, synthetic composites, or other exotic plastic-impregnated wood laminates.
* Premium hardware for the fly fishing rod is often made from jewelry-grade nickel-silver (heavier and more expensive, but it looks exquisite in appearance).
* In most saltwater fly rods, the entire reel seat is made from anodized aluminum, which is necessary to hold heavy saltwater reels and to resist the corrosive action of saltwater.
** Here is a list of the reel seats offered by modern fly-rod manufacturers: * "Ring Type" - These are designed for small reels and light fly rods, and consist of two thin metal bands that are forced over the feet of the fly reel.
** Even though they appear more secure than they are, a fisherman or woman should avoid reels that weigh over 3 ounces with this type of reel seat.
* "Screw-locking" - This type consists of a fixed metal hood at the bottom of the seat, combined with a hood at the top of the seat, which can be screwed down over the reel-seat foot.
* "Reversed screw-locking" - This is exactly the same as the screw-locking, except that the fixed hood is at the other end of the seat, and is often buried inside the cork grip.
The screw band screws "up" toward the grip.
This type is often called "up-locking," as opposed to the "down-locking" reel seat above.
This is the most common type of reel seat used today.
** The grip of a fly rod functions as the handle of the rod.
Grips commonly used, in order of increased diameter, are the following: * Superfine Grip * Cigar Grip * Half Wells Grip * Full Wells Grip ** People with small hands generally prefer the smaller-diameter grips in fly rods.
Those with big hands feel more comfortable with something like a full-wells grip.
Further up on this kind of rod, there will be a small ring or hook called the "hook keeper.
" When a fisherman or woman is not fishing, a fly is hooked on the "hook keeper" to keep it from catching in stream side brush or in a fisherman's clothing.
Not all these kinds of rods have this "hook keeper," because, for instance, in saltwater rods, it tends to get in the way when shooting (or casting) long lengths of line.
++ Information for this article was gleaned from "The Orvis Fly-Fishing Guide," by Tom Rosenbauer, The Lyons Press, Guilford, Connecticut, Copyright 1984, 1988, 2007 by the Orvis Company.
To see Pictures of a Fly Rod, how casting line on a fly rod is done, repositioning fishing line on the water, and how a fly rod acts as a flexible lever to play and land fish without breaking the leader, see Pages 10-11 in this book.
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