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Fly Fhishing Dictionary
Amherst Pheasant Tippets: Fiber of the Amherst pheasant neck.
Anadromous: Variety of salmonidae that needs to migrate to sea waters in order to complete its vital cycle.
Antron Yarn: Synthetic fiber that reflects light spots.
Aquatic macrophitae: Vascular plants associated to the littoral area of a water body.
Atractor Fly: Fly that attracts and irritates the fish.
Backing: Reserve of braided, multifilament thread. Dacron.
Badger: A cream-colored black-centered feather of chicken, very much used in the making of streamer.
Barb: Clasp of a hook.
Belly Boat: See Float Tubes.
Benthos: Community of organisms, generally invertebrates, which live at the bottom of a water body.
Big Brown: Large brown trout.
Bitch: Bug.
Blue Dun: Color of a feather, passed blue.
Body: Body of the fly.
Boulder : Large-sized rock.
Bucktail: Hair from the deer's tail.
Brook: Fontinalis stream trout.
Butt: Top, start of the leader.
Caddis: Kind of fly. Adult trichopterus insect.
Caleufú: "The other river " (Mapuche).
Catch & Release: Sport fishing.
Cheek: Feathers tied to the side of the fly just behind the hook eye.
Chenille: Plushy string used in the making of the fly body.
Coachman: Name of a fly. Brown feather with reddish highlights.
Coastal Vegetation: Ground vegetation associated to a body of water.
Cohiue: Large tree, predominant in almost every forest of the Andean Patagonian area.
Collón Curá: "Stone mask " (Mapuche).
Compara Dun: Way of tying a fly in order to immitate an ephemeral dun.
Compara Spinner: Way of tying a fly in order to immitate an ephemeral spinner.
Covert: Small wing or bird feather.
Cree: Mix-colored hackle, usually white, black ad brown or grey.
Cress Bug: Water bud, crustacean of the isopod family.
Curruhue: "Dark place" (Mapuche).
Domestic Hackle: Domestic chicken feathers.
Double Taper: Spindly line very much used with dry flies.
Dubbing: Fuzz from beneath the fur. Spinning process of the same to make a body.
Dun: Grey tone. Insect state, subimago.
Eclosion: Moment in which the young aquatic insects (nymphs and pupas) migrate to the surface (see Hatch).
Emerger: The insect on the surface of the water. The change from nymph or pupa into an adult.
Flank Feather: Body feathers, under the wing of a water bird.
Flashabou: Package of colorful Mylar fiber.
Float Tubes: Unipersonal pneumatic craft propelled by fins.
Floss: Filament thread for fly tying.
Floating: Floater. Function of a line.
Flume: Low area of the river where waters run fast.
Fly: Flight. Way of fishing.
Foam: Foamy rubber plate.
Foot: Unit of length equivalent to 33 centrimeters.
Fournace: A reddish-brown-colored black-centered feather of chicken, very much used in the making of streamer.
Fuzzy: Hairy, with fuzz.
Ginger: Champagne-colored chicken feather with pink tinges.
Golden Pheasant Crest: Fiber from the golden pheasant crest.
Grains: English unit of weight equivalent to 0,06 grams .
Grizzly: Grey chicken feather.
Guardhairs: The longest hair outstanding from animal fur.
Guinea : Speckled feather of the Guinea hen.
Hackle: Feather from the chicken's neck. Feather rolled in the body of the fly.
Hatch: Mature. Incubate. Insect eclosion.
Herl: Individual fiber of a long feather.
Honey: Honey-colored feathers.
Jungle Cock: Eyed feathers from the cloak of the jungle chicken.
Land-locked: Variety of salmonidae that experiments its whole life cycle in continental waters.
Larva: Inmature condition of an acuatic or land insect with complete metamorphosis.
Latex: Fine rubber material used in fly bodies.
Leader: End made of monofilaments of different diameter joining the line with the fly.
Level: Even, uniform. Form of a line.
Limay: "Limpid, transparent " (Mapuche).
Loop : Lock. Hole. Wave. Curl. Form described by the line when flying in the air.
Lurex: Plastic material in fine strips with different coverings, similar to tinsel.
Marabou: Soft, fluffy African stork feather.
May Fly: Name of ephemeral insects.
Meander: Bend in a river.
Meld: Bring two wings together so that they show their profile.
Michay: Small thorny bush, very common on a river bank.
Midge: Small insect of the dipterous family, such as the mosquito.
Millaqueo: "Site that has gold " (Mapuche).
Mouth: Source of a river or lake.
Mylar: Golden or silver material, braided to tie flies.
Mylar Piping: Hollow braided Mylar string.
Nahuel Huapi: " Tiger Island " (Mapuche).
Neck: Chicken neck.
Nets: Hand net. Copo.
No Hackle: A way of tying flies without the Hackle.
Nymph: State of an insect.
Ñire: Small tree that prefers to grow on the shores.
Ñireco: "Water ñire" (Mapuche).
Ñorquinco: "Site of the wild celery" (Mapuche).
Ocellus: Spot or speck surrounded by a light halo.
Palmered: Hackle surrounding the entire body of the fly.
Parachute: Kind of fly
Peacock Quill: Stem of a peacock feather thread without fiber.
Peacock Eyes: Feather from the peacock tail with a bright colorful eye. The peacock thread is taken from this feather.
Piscivorous: Organism that feeds on fish.
Pichi Leufú: "Small river" (Mapuche).
Poliphagy: Organism that goes on a very broad diet both in quality and quantity.
Pound: Unit of weight equivalent to 454 grams .
Presentation: Way or manner of offering our artificial to fish.
Primary Feather: Long rowing feathers in a bird's wing.
Pupa: State of an insect.
Quill: Section of a primary or secondary feather.
Quillén: "Raspberry" (Mapuche).
Rainbow: Rainbow trout.
Roll: Way of casting.
Saddle Hackle: Long feather of the chicken fringe.
Scud: Crustacean of the Amphipoda family.
Sculpin: Small fodder catfish.
Searching Fly: A fly specially designed to resemble several kinds of food, without looking for any kind in particular.
Shellback: Material pulled forwards by the back of the fly.
Shooting: Kind of heavy line for long distance casting.
Shoulder: Feathers or other material tied between the wings and cheeks of a fly.
Sinking: Function of a line.
Soft Loop : Method used to tie materials on the hook.
Soft Hackle: Soft hackle feather of a land bird. Wet flies are tied with it.
Spey Hackle: Very fine and long hackle that is tied in palmer over the body.
Spent: Last state in the life of an ephemeral insect.
Spider: Kind of fly.
Spinner: State of an insect. Imago.
Sproat: Hook model.
Spun Deer Hair: Deer body hair turned over the head or body of a fly.
Steelhead: Variety of migratory trout.
Stone Fly: Plecopterus insect. Stonefly.
Streamer: Kind of fly.
Swamp: Low and easily flooded area.
Tag: Short tail made of wool or similar material outstanding from the body of some imitations.
Taper: Spindly form. Refine.
Teeny Line: Special fishing line similar to fast sinking shooting but with a floating part joint to it by only one line.
Terrestrial: Insect that lives on solid ground.
Throat: Hackle tied only under the fly, behind the hook eye.
Tinsel: Metallic thread generally golden or silver colored, round, plain or oval.
Tippet: Tip. End. Last part of the leader joining the fly to it.
Topping: Fiber or material threads that are tied over the streamers' wings.
Traful: "Confluence" (Mapuche).
Trail: Small path.
Tying: Assembling a fly.
Variant: Multicolor hackle feather. Also, a style of dry fly.
Waders: Waterproof pants for fishing.
Wanundaze: Synthetic material similar to monofilament but softer.
Waterboatman: Aquatic insect of the corixidae family.
Whip Finnish: Knot at the end of the imitation.
Wing Case: Part of the insect where the wings start.
Woolly Bugger: Hairy insect. A kind of fly.
Yorkshire Caddis: Hook model with a bended shank, used to assemble trichopterus nymphs.
Fishing in the Rivers
In order to fish in the Patagonian rivers, it is necessary to learn how to read these waters. And this is managed by understanding each of the geographical features shown by the water courses as we walk or wade.
There is a piece of advice the most experienced fly-fishermen or anglers usually give: we should not forget that the surface of a river is an immediate result of what happens at the bottom. In consequence, when we look at what happens on top of the water, we can interpret what is happening underneath.
This is the essential secret to “read the waters” rightly.
Areas of the River
Flume
It is the shallowest part of the river, where the water runs faster and, therefore, is more oxygenated. There are slow and fast flumes, with or without white waters, lying on against one bank or in the middle of the river, short, deep, lower, as the anteroom or exit of a large pool. All of them grant possibilities for the fly-fisherman, but the best opportunities of catching large brown trout are present in the deepest ones.
Countless insects shelter from predators and the strength of the current among the rocks that form the riverbed. Therefore, the trout travel all along and across the flume environments.
Run
It is much deeper than the flume and its waters run a little bit more slowly.
Headwaters
It is a site where the flume empties its waters into a natural canal that gives shape to the river. Here the trout have a large flow of food and the headwaters offer very good shelter, as well as oxygen.
Water Joint
It is the separation line between two water streams that flow parallel along the river at different speeds. The fastest current is the one bringing better food, more oxygen and commonly known as the “dirty line of the river”, as it drags insects as well as everything that falls into the water.
Obstacles
They could be represented by large rocks, a log lying across the river or a tree that has fallen down. They are elements that interrupt the stream and create natural privileged sites for trout to stay and wait for the passing of insects.
Bends
In the points where the river presents its typical bends, the strength of the stream added to the centrifugal force of the water dig up a deep gutter near the coast. Due to the action of the water, the external part of the bend will turn out to be the deepest part, with the fastest stream and, therefore, the one transporting the largest amount of oxygen and food. As a result, it will contain more and better trout.
Pool exit
It is also known as “the flat”. It is the stretch of the river following the pool, in its final end. It is called the pool tail. The height of its bed decreases rapidly and its speed goes up until it reaches that of the flume. It is as deep as a flume but its surface is flat, reflection of an even bed without great depressions, formed by small rocks, sand or mud.
The pool
When in the summer season (January and February) the rivers have scarce volume of water or are low, the trout look for protection in safer and deeper sites. Thus, they leave the famous flumes and flats and shelter in the pools located along the river.
There they meet the larger trout that live permanently in those sites, as they would be easily seen in shallow waters. They only leave their home in search for food when the light makes them harder to detect, that is to say, at sunset or dawn. There is a reason for the best specimens, both brown and rainbow, to be caught very early or very late in the day.
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