The History of Fly Fishing

Author: Bob Bastian
No one really knows when fly fishing first began. It is believed that it existed long ago in ancient times. One of the earliest written references to fly fishing was made by Claudius Aelianus. In 200 AD he wrote of people that were fishing in a river with a hand made fly. He described how they attached red wool and feathers to a hook. The rods they used and the sting attached were each about six feet long. These people were the ancient Macedonians. Throughout history from Aelianus to the present people have been writing about fly fishing, and many thousands of others have been enjoying the sport.

The Princess of Soapwell, English, was an avid fly fisherman. Her name was Dame Juliana Berners and she was a master at her sport. At the time Columbus was searching for the New World, Dame Juliana was publishing an extensive treatise on the art of fly fishing. In her treatise she described the twelve styles of fly and included extensive instructions on how to tie them. She patterns were put into categories by the month that they were used most often.

She also described the rod that was used for fly fishing during that time. It measured about 18 feet long and was very flexible, The rods were made of several different types of wood which added to their flexibility. Their lines were short, by today's standards, and were made of hand braided horse hair. The general rule of the time was that the line should not be longer then the fishing rod. The line was tied to the tip of the pole.

Many fly fishermen of today have used her patterns for the fly. They say they are just as effective today as they were more than five hundred years ago. Several of the more popular patterns include the Black Gnat, the Wooly Worm, the Stonefly and the Whirling Dun.

In the mid 1600's Isaak Walton published his book "Compleat Angler." Throughout history from then on, Izaak Walton has been considered the patron saint on angling, and of fly fishing in particular. In truth, it was actually his friend, Charles Cotton, that had contributed the portion of the book that pertained to fly fishing. The flies and rods described in this book were very similar to those described by Dame Juliana. However, the lines described were slightly different. They were still made of horsehair but were about six feet longer then those of the 1400's. The main difference was that some of the lines were tapered. It is believed that this was the first time tapered lines were described in writing.

In the early 1800's, fishing line makers began mixing silk in with the horsehair. By the time of the Civil War the first all silk lines were made. They were coated with an oily coating which made them water resistant. Horsehair lines were almost never used after that. Occasionally they were found in England up to World War II.

The first nylon line was made in 1948 and from that point forward synthetic materials have been used by most people for fly fishing. In 1952, a technology was created that made an automatically tapered line withe extreme precision.About the Author:
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Good writing man just one thing, you forgot about cat gut leaders, which had to be kept moist to avoid being brittle, i still have an old cat gut leader wallet , it was my grandpaps , had a wet side and a dry side , the dry side was for silk line i guess, istill use it for my maxima mastrepeices.

 

Good writing man just one thing, you forgot about cat gut leaders, which had to be kept moist to avoid being brittle, i still have an old cat gut leader wallet , it was my grandpaps , had a wet side and a dry side , the dry side was for silk line i guess, istill use it for my maxima mastrepeices.

 

Good writing man just one thing, you forgot about cat gut leaders, which had to be kept moist to avoid being brittle, i still have an old cat gut leader wallet , it was my grandpaps , had a wet side and a dry side , the dry side was for silk line i guess, istill use it for my maxima mastrepeices.

 

David and Bruno, thanks for a great review.

I think it is a little disingenuous of the makers of bioline to cheat on the X-rating of the tippet. Historically and thoughout the flyfishing literature, the X-rating of a tippet refers to its diameter, not its strength. Bioline seems to have fudged the X-rating so that the strength of its tippet will equal other manufacturers for similar X-rating. 5X tippet from any other manufacturer would be 0.006 inches in diameter, not 0.008 (Bioline). This appears to be an even bigger problem in the heavier tippets, Bioline's 4X is the same diameter as a standard 1X tippet.

 

That's a valid point Albie. I don't know if there is any sort of regulation on the X standards or it they base it on a different feature. I will contact the company and seek their input on the matter.

 

Albie,
It occurred to me last night, and researching it this afternoon varifies it...they most likely based the X on lb test rather than diameter. There is still slight variation from manufacturer to manufacturer, but all relatively close. I'll still try to find out from Green Tackle.

 

According to Bioline Fishing ...

When a fly fisherman grabs a tippet they immediately look at X for their fishing application. We found after extensive research that it is more important to match the strength to the X than it is to match the ‘standard’ diameter to the X. Our 4LB test would be a 3X or a 2X by diameter...that would really make the fly fisher mad, grabbing a “2X” fishing for some large salmon and later realizing it is 4LBs. Bioline is not a replacement for nylon. Which by the way all manufactures lie about their line, whether it is diameter (rounding down a .0069” to a labeled .006”, mm are the most accurate) or strength (pulls at 10lbs rather than 6.5 as labeled). We keep it honest. In summary, X rating was made to rate nylon & fluorocarbon (make up of all tippets out there). We made our own X rating as we are our own, one of a kind, material.

 

I was thinking about using this product, but when I read a quote - "all manufacturers lie about their line" I get a really bad feeling. Extole the virtues of your product, don't tear down others. Based on that quote alone I will not buy the product.