Saltwater Fly Fishing
The oldest known mention of fly fishing comes from the second century A.D. It was also written about in the fifteenth century and by the nineteenth century the British had started publishing a great many books and articles about the sport. Fly fishing grew by leaps and bounds in terms of its popularity in both Britain and America though the two countries treated the sport in vastly different ways. The British treated the sport as an activity for the higher class. In fact well-to-do members of society were fans of forming elite fly fishing clubs. In America, however, anybody could go fly fishing. It wasn’t an exclusive sport by any means. In fact, while the British liked to soak in the traditional aspects of fly fishing, the Americans were constantly developing new methods and equipment.
While the most popular fly fishing takes place in fresh water rivers and fresh water streams, the sport of saltwater fly fishing also has a very interesting past. It is known that salt water fly fishing happened at least as long ago as two thousand years. After that first mention, the next mention of saltwater fly fishing doesn’t occur until the year 1840, with an entry that was published in the Encyclopedia of Rural Sports.
Saltwater fly fishing never really became popular in Britain, which is well known for its elite fly fishing clubs. It was, however popular among Americans. A.W. Dimmock, the author of “The Book of the Tarpon” wrote about saltwater fly fishing in 1911. Dimmock advocated saltwater fly fishing. His work was so influential that he is given the credit for inspiring an entire generation of saltwater fly fishermen.
Popular saltwater fly fishing fish include the tarpon, striped bass, bonefish, and snapper. Of these, the bonefish is the most elusive of the fish that were landed and several people claimed to have been the first to have caught one. The most famous person to land the bonefish is Captain Bill Smith who apparently, in 1939, tied a chunk of Islamadora chicken onto a hook and used it as bait for the bonefish.
The 1970s and the 1980s showed an amazing amount of growth in the saltwater fly fishing industry. Because of the harsh environment of saltwater fly fishing, the patterns have had to be innovative and have a great deal of endurance. Ever since the development of the Crazy Charlie baitfish pattern (which was designed near the end of the 1970s) the development of saltwater fly fishing techniques has increased at an unprecedented pace.
More and more fish are being caught by saltwater fly fishing including the pacific sailfish which was caught using a home made popper constructed from Styrofoam and it was used to take in a seventy four pound fish. Saltwater fly fishermen have declared that there any fish can be caught by fly fishing and it is only a matter of time before there are a variety of lines and published techniques teaching people how to make a go at the sport.