Glossary of Terms and Acronyms used in Fly Fishing

• Antron (yarn or dubbing)
  Synthetic semi-reflective fly body material.
• Aquatic Insect
  One that spends some part of its life in the water.
• Attractor Fly
  A fly tied to coax fish into striking impulsively with flashy colors rather than imitation.
• Backing Line
  Usually nylon line attached to between the reel and the fly line to provide a cushion of distance if a fish should run past the length of the fly line (which is about 90 feet).
• Bag Limit
  The maximum number of fish you can take from a body of water. Check online, bait shop or fishing regulations to determine the limit prior to fishing. Sometimes measured by weight.
• BH
  Bead Head
  
• Biots
  Frquently used to imitate early wings and tail of nymphs.
• BWO
  Blue Wing Olive - an aquatic insect.
• CDC
  Cul-de-canard - a type of feather used in tying that is highly water resistant.
• Cheek
  Feathers tied to the side of the hook, just behind the eye.
• Chenille
  A yarn or cord-like material commonly used for streamer bodies.
• Covert
  A small non-flight related bird feather.
• Creel
  An old school device for holding fish that have been caught. Looks sort of like a wicker purse.
• Dead Drift
  A wet or dry fly allowed to drift at the same speed as the current.
• Domestic Hackle
  Hen hackle raised in N. America.
• Double Taper(ed Line)
  This is fly line that is narrower (smaller diameter) at the head and tail of the line than in the middle. The taper usually gets bigger after the first 15 feet, then has 60 ft of the wider diameter and ends with 15 ft of taper again.
• Drift (General term)
  This applies to all types of flies in moving water.  The "drift" is the fly speed relative to the water speed.
  
• Dropper
  This is a creek or river technique where an angler will tie a wet fly somewhere on the tippet or dry fly. The dropper is often tied to the bend of the dry fly hook or directly to the eye. A (usually) short leader is used; about 12-16 inches. Droppers are usually a nymph.
• Dry/Wet Flies
  A dry fly is anything that is fished on the water surface. Wet flies are fished subsurface.
• Dubbing
  The material commonly used to cover the body section of a fly, or the act of utilizing the material to cover the body of a fly. Can be either synthetic or real fur.
• False Casting
  A cast used to judge distance, shoot line or build speed prior to the actual cast.
• Flank Feather
  Under-wing feathers.
• Flashabou
  Reflective mylar tied into attractor flies. (see also Krystal Flash)
• Floatant/Sinkant (SinkFast)
  An oily substance used on flies to help them float or sink.
• Fly Drag
  Refers to the wake made by the fly when being retrieved or when the fly has reached its maximum drift on a stream.
• Grizzly
  Alternating, contrasting color striped feathers used for wings or hackles.
• Guard Hairs
  Longer hairs that protrude past the under fur.
• Hackles
  Usually feathers wrapped around the shank of a hook. They are tied and used with a variety of materials.
• Herl
  Single strands taken from any large feather, commonly Peacock.
• Keeper Ring
  A small loop near the handle or cork of the rod used to hold the fly when not in use.
• Krystal Flash
  Highly reflective material tied to all types of flies.
• Leader
  Connects between the fly line (that expensive colored line) and the tippet (the 3X, 5X or whatever size).
• Loading (the rod)
  Flex in the fly rod created by the backcast (and the associated weight of the line) which bends the tip back away from the caster. The maximum bend in the rod prior to moving forward again (snapping back) is loading. The same principle applies to a sling shot.
  
• Marabou
  Soft, almost furry feathers typically from a turkey and died various colors.
• Meld
  Using two wing segments together to form a single silhouette.
• Mend
  A technique where the fly line is picked off the water and set down again to lengthen the drift of a fly (dry or nymph).  A technique worth practicing.
• Midge
  Technically a specific form of aquatic insect life, but frequently used to describe a particular tying style, usually a small fly with a floss body.
• Mylar
  Reflective tinsel commonly wound around the fly body.
• Mylar Piping
  An interwoven tube of mylar used for attractor fly bodies.
• Nymph
  The developmental stage of aquatic insect life or used to describe a style of fly which has little in the way of wings or tail.
• Parachute
  Material tied in a manner that makes it stand up from the hook.
• Pickup
  Taking a fly back up off the water surface to be cast again. Much like casting, the pick-up is an art form.
  
• PMD
  Pale Morning Dun - an aquatic insect
• Quill
  The individual sections that make up a feather.
• "Ripping the Water"
  A no-no. When an angler attempts to pick his fly off the surface of the water for another cast in such a manner as to cause the water to “rip” the length of the line. This is an above-average way to spook the fish.
  
• Roll Cast
  A cast that doesn't use any sort of backcast or loading. The cast is propelled by the motion of the rod tip traveling from the 1:00 position to about 9:00 in a semi-circular whipping motion.
  
• Saddle Hackle
  A long, usually narrow hen feather taken from the back/rear.
• Searching Fly
  A generic fly tied in a manner that doesn't closely imitate a particular insect, but rather it somewhat resembles several different bugs.
• Shooting Line [verb]
  Feeding line out through the guides during the forward cast, and using the momentum to “shoot” extra line out over the water.
  
• Sinking Tip Line
  Fly line that sinks (surprisingly) at the tip. Fairly useful equipment for nymphing.  Sold as either a complete flyline or as an add-on to floating line.
• Soft Hackle
  Used for wet flies since the softer fibers are not useful for creating buoyancy.
• Soft or Loose Loop
  A thread wrap (or two) that does not anchor the material until pulled tightly. Frequently used when tying deer hair fibers.
• Spider
  A fly with long hackles used to imitate the long spider legs. Wet or dry.
• Spun Deer Hair
  Hollow hair which when tied firmly to the hook stands erect and is buoyant.
• Steeple Cast
  A method of casting where the backcast is shot skyward at a 45 degree angle or greater, to avoid obstacles behind the angler. 
• Stimulator
  Used frequently with a dropper, it is a dry fly that doesn't closely mimic one particular insect, but is "buggy" and attractive to game fish.
• Streamer
  A fly that is fished subsurface and mimics a small fish or fry.
• Strike Indicator
  A term used interchangeably with very small brightly colored floats and floating stickers or a stimulator. Basically strike indicators help the angler know when a strike has occurred.
• Strip(ping)
  The action of retrieving a fly by pulling in the line by hand.
• Surface Film
  Looks like dirty Saran Wrap on the water. It is the upper-most layer of water.
• Tailwater
  A stream that originates from a regulated source, like a dam.
• Take
  When the fish strikes the fly.
• Tandem (Rig)
  The use of 2 or more flies on a single leader.  The most popular being a high-floating dry fly tied in the usual way to the tippet, with a 12" - 18" length of tippet tied to the bend of the dry fly hook with a nymph at the other end.
  
• Throat
  A hackle that is tied in a manner that only extends down below the hook eye.
• Tinsel
  Usually tied in wide wraps around fly body to provide slight flash.
• Tippet
  Tied to the leader, it protects the leader length and condition. This is the line that is cut when flies are switched.
• Wingcase
  The use of materials to simulate the unformed wings of emerging aquatic life.