When is a fly not a fly ?

[Santiago]

Nothing to do with morals OMO. If you're using a fly rod and line and the hook is dressed with materials, whether artificial or natural, then it's a fly. All other definitions and add ons just built on this basic precept, and merely present clarity for classification purposes. In the same light, all flies are lures! But not all lures are flies! They're just branches of a dichotomous scheme of the classification of lures. That's my objective view, others may look at this with more subjective eyes!

[Duckett]

When I’m lure fishing for Bass (plus the odd Gar and Mackerel) at Selsey, I sometimes meet a nice chap who uses those small plastic sand eels or shrimps on a fly rod. He tells me he uses anything between 1 and 3 of them. I tend to use one of those as a teaser above my shallow divers on hard days.

I’ve tried and failed to learn to cast a fly but he seems to use what looks like a conventional technique to me. Is that fly fishing or casting a lure with a fly rod?

Phil

[Nigel Rainton]

I impose rules on myself. No beads. No marabou or CDC. Single barbless hooks, size 10-14. One fly. Floating line. One rod and reel.

[Santiago]

When I’m lure fishing for Bass (plus the odd Gar and Mackerel) at Selsey, I sometimes meet a nice chap who uses those small plastic sand eels or shrimps on a fly rod. He tells me he uses anything between 1 and 3 of them. I tend to use one of those as a teaser above my shallow divers on hard days.

I’ve tried and failed to learn to cast a fly but he seems to use what looks like a conventional technique to me. Is that fly fishing or casting a lure with a fly rod?

Phil

Yer, they're flies. I have similar flies that came with a fly box from ebay. One is a soft plastic grasshopper perfectly formed to represent the real thing. All flies are lures!

[Liphook]

Except when they're dries, emergers, nymphs etc etc.......

[Olly]

Some of the very old pre-war 'imitations' by Allcock of grasshoppers, etc are worth a bit of money! Imitations may not be flies!

Is the 'imitation floating carp pellet fly' a copy of a natural fly - no!