Interestingly, the first book on fly fishing ever published was written by a woman. Dame Juliana Berners published A Treatyse of Fysshynge wyth an Angle in 1496. Berners is reported to have been a nun and noblewoman. Berners certainly must have tied and fished her own artificial flies. There are equally influential women involved in fly fishing today.

There is a growing market catering to fly fishing for women. Some outfitters are dedicated to teaching women to fly fish while other outfitters report that the number of women participating in fly fishing classes routinely outnumbers men. Fishing clubs for women are also becoming quite popular, particularly around popular fly fishing areas.

Fly fishing does not normally require a lot of physical strength. Fly fishing is far more about speed, finesse and style. Women actually do quite well at fly fishing.

The catch-and-release ethos so prevalent in fly fishing may be appealing to many women as well. While traditional fishing often closely resembled hunting trips with the objective being to bring home food, sport fishing activities like fly fishing often are more about the thrill of the catch. Photos and great memories are frequently the only thing brought home from fly fishing trips. The fish often stay right where they are. Many fly fishers even use barbless hooks now to make catch-and-release fishing even easier.

Fly fishing provides a great opportunity to get out in nature without having to kill anything. There are certainly women who fish to catch supper but many people, both men and women, enjoy fly fishing because of the opportunity it provides to get in touch with nature. Fly fishing is a very relaxing sport but also provides good exercise at the same time. The rhythm of the cast is soothing for many people. Fly fishing also provides opportunities to see a variety of wildlife and birdlife in their natural environment. The scenic backdrops around many fly fishing destinations are also simply incredible.

Fly fishing clubs and groups provide social networking opportunities and camaraderie. Men and women both enjoy these benefits. With the advent of specialty, women-only fishing clubs and groups many women are finding a home with fly fishing.

Manufacturers are also recognizing the significant increase in participation by women. Women can now buy waders that are actually designed for women – rather than relying on the closest mens size they can find. Fly fishing rods are also now being designed with women in mind. Womens fly rods are designed to be somewhat lighter and to have smaller handles. These improvements are good news for all women who enjoy the fly fishing sport.

Fly fishing is a great sport for everyone – men and women, adults and children. Everyone can enjoy a day out fly fishing.

The tools are simple. You could make most of them yourself, however it would be best for beginners to buy at least a fly tying vice. There have been over the years quite a number of different vice types manufacturered. In my opinion, the cam type of vice is the easiest to use. This is a vice that has a cam lever to open and close the jaws. It’s adjustable to various angles and hook sizes. Quick and easy to open and close.

The next thing to get your hands on are some hackle pliers. These are also a cheap spend, but really worthwhile. They are a little difficult to make a pair yourself.

Apart from these items, you’ll need a pair of curved scissors with sharp points and another set with small straight blades. You probably could also do with a needle that is pushed into a stick. This is for fixing hakkles that have been inadvertantly wound under. You can also use it for putting laquer onto the finished head.

What sort of hooks should you use? My advice is to not fall for the trap of using any old hook. Buy proper fly hooks. These have a tapered shank and are usually hollow ground. These are lighter than normal hooks, a real advantage in dry flies.

The tapered shank lets the head, especially the eye of the fly be tied tighter and smaller. When you consider the work involved in tying a fly, why waste effort on the wrong hook. If you make a mistake, all you need to do is cut the fly off the hook and start again.

Something you could consider these days is the opportunity of actually buying a complete fly tying set. These sets cost only around $50 or so. They have vices, scissors, pliers, hooks and all the feathers and fur you need to get started. Some even come with videos or DVD’s.

Whichever way you go, it is a cheap way to spend many an hour, in preparation of catching your next bag of fish. The satisfaction of catching your next trout on a fly you tied yourself is imeasureable.

One of the first things that you need to consider is comfort.  Is the rod that you’re using comfortable for you to hold?  If you’re shorter than about 5’5″ you won’t want to use a rod that is seven feet.  Choose a rod length that is easy for you to hold and cast for a few hours at a time.

Most of the rods on the market today are designed to allow you to feel when a fish bites. The shaft of the rod is called a “blank” and when the rod is first manufactured the blank is made from fiberglass, graphite, or other materials.  Each of these blanks has an action that is either: light, medium, medium/heavy, or heavy.  The upper portion will also have an action that is either: extra light, light, or regular.

Both ends of the blank are assembled and the final result is a fishing rod, complete with a handle and guide.  No matter what type of rod that you’re using, the “action” of the rod will refer to the “blank”.  The action of the rod will have a great deal to do with the type of fishing that you’re doing.

Holding your Fly Fishing Rod Effectively
It’s important that you learn to hold your rod effectively under any fishing conditions.  You want to make sure that you maintain good control at all times without gripping too hard.  You can adjust the power of your hold when you’re in the middle of a cast.  This will allow you to minimize the vibrations of each movement.  With just a bit of practice you’ll be able to increase the tightness at the same as you learn to relax your grip.

Regrettably, little additional was written on ancient fly fishing techniques. In 1496 the first major work was published describing fly fishing.
It’s believed that modern fly fishing in all likelihood was developed in England and Scotland. Fly fishing techniques like modern methods started to  evolved in England in the 19th century. Circa this time fly fishing clubs were as well organised in England to accommodate a rising interest in the fly fishing sport. Some of the involvement in fly fishing in southern England constituted because of the prevalence of shallow, weedy rivers. Fly fishing testified to be well-adapted to this type of water course.

Fly fishing rapidly turned into something of an elitist sport in England. Fly fishing purists insisted on sportfishing with dry flies exclusively and looked down on wet fly fishing as representing lower-ranking sportfishing. Wet fly fishing kept on to be developed around the same time, nevertheless. The US and Scandinavia likewise witnessed fly fishing popularity increase during the 19th century. All the same, anglers in the US and Scandinavia didn’t share the English people opinion concerning the superiority of dry fly fishing. US and Scandinavian anglers fished both dry and wet flies.

Fly fishing materials have kept on to develop across the years. Significant advancements have been produced in fly fishing gear, including rods, lines and flies.

Former fly fishing rods were made of a tropical wood called greenheart. Bamboo substituted greenheart whilst fly fishing popularity spread out. Bamboo rods were further refined as American rod constructors modernised advanced rod constructing formulas that involved cutting the bamboo into strips prior to gluing the bamboo back together around a solid core. Coming after Second World War fiberglass became a popular material for fly rod building. The fiberglass rods were more low-priced than their bamboo predecessors because bamboo rods could acquire as much as 100 hours to construct. Modern fly fishing rods are generally created of a graphite compound. Modern rods are less expensive than earlier rods and perform exceptionally well.

Artificial flies were to begin with constructed from natural materials like feathers and fur. Almost all modern flies are constructed from synthetic materials.

Fly line has likewise been improved quite a bit. Fly fishing line used to be made of horse hair. Horse hair line was substituted by silk line. The silk line was an improvement over horse hair but  the line all the same had to be removed from the reel periodically to let it dry.

US interest in fly fishing peaked in the 1920s with Maine, Vermont and Wisconsin representing the most popular areas for fly fishing. Interest increased once more in the 1950s with the development of low-priced, fiberglass fly fishing rods, synthetic fly line and monofilament leaders. These developments helped to make fly fishing a more affordable sport for numerous people.