Trout & Fly Fishing

Fly Fishing Basics

5 guides, starting with Starting Fly Fishing: A Beginner Guide.

Start here

New to fly fishing? Learn what gear you need, how the basic cast works, where and when to start, and how to avoid common beginner mistakes.

4 min read

A plain-English glossary of common fly fishing terms, from backcast and tippet to hatch, drift, and mend, grouped by gear, casting, flies, and water.

4 min read

Understand how fly hook sizes work, which number is bigger, and which sizes suit dry flies, nymphs, streamers, and species like trout and bass.

3 min read

Learn how to tell dry flies, nymphs, streamers, and wet flies apart, work out what a pattern imitates, and use apps and books to name unknown flies.

3 min read

Compare spin and fly fishing on casting, cost, learning curve, bait and lure options, and species, so you can decide which to start with.

2 min read

More in trout & fly fishing

Trout Fishing 8 guides, starting with Best Bait for Trout. Trout Flies 5 guides, starting with Must-Have Trout Flies for Your First Fly Box. Fly Fishing Techniques 4 guides, starting with How to Fly Fish a Streamer: Gear, Retrieves, and Tactics. Fly Fishing Gamefish 6 guides, starting with Saltwater Fly Fishing Techniques: Casting to Retrieving.