Fly-fishing 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.

Suitable for All Audiences

One of the many anecdotes told at the Valdés region refers to what happened to one of the first whale watching tour guides. The story goes that a boat set sail to watch whales and that many of its passengers were disabled. There were even some blind people on board. After the jumps, the tails and noise of these giants falling into the water, an impressive silence was suddenly present.

All of a sudden, a huge right whale showed its tail outside the surface and slowly, very slowly slided it softly along the boat rail with such delicacy that the passengers were able to touch it, even the blind people who, in addition to hearing the noise from the jumps could feel them with their own hands. This is a very unusual event, but it helped operators to find a new alternative: the disabled, even the blind, may watch the whales. Undoubtedly, these magnificent mammals are for all those who wish to approach and see them.