Artificial fly

An artificial fly or fly lure is a type of fishing lure typically used in the sport of fly fishing, although they may also be used in other forms of angling. In general, artificial flies are an imitation of flying and aquatic insects that are natural food of the fish species the fly fishers try to target. Artificial flies are constructed by fly tying, in which filamentous materials such as fur/hairs, feathers, synthetic fibers and yarns are wound and tied directly onto a fish hook, creating loose tufts/bundles of bristles that aesthetically resemble the setae, venation, spines and other invertebrateappendages.

Artificial flies may be made to imitate all manner of natural preys to freshwater and saltwater fish, including insects (both aquatic and terrestrial) and nymphs, small crustaceans (e.g, shrimps and scuds), worms (microdriles and leeches), and even small aquatic vertebrates (baitfish, fry and tadpoles). There are thousands of artificial fly patterns, many of them with descriptive and often idiosyncratic names, and the most effective artificial fly patterns are said to be killing flies because of their ability to put fish in the creel for the fly fishermen.