Are these flys, and would you fish them with a fly rod

[FlaFly 0]

I agree that the fishermen Aelian is referring to are either Greek or Macedonian.

 

As I mentioned above, people fished with rods (they called them canes) for a long time before a reel was invented. Unfortunately I can't find my resource for the method of casting that was used. I think it may have been from the Fishing Museum site www.fishingmuseum.org. So yes, fishing without a reel is traditional, in a sense. Since the first reels were only intended for storing the line in between fishing trips, as many of us still do, the divide between fishing with the line coiled on the ground or on a reel is fuzzy. Since in Tenkara the line is fastened to the tip of the rod, then casting distance would seem to be limited to roughly twice the length of the rod. Early casters apparently got more distance by using longer rods.

 

Anyway, I see that Aelian didn't use the word "fly" to describe the early feather lure, or at least not in the segment that was quoted. I don't have Aelian's treatise and couldn't read it anyway if I did. After Aelian, the next best literary reference I could find using the word fly dates from 1277 (I think... from the fishing museum site).

[gwilljan 0]

I think what you plan on doing will work great because you fly/lure will suspend in shallow water since the components do not include a lead cone or lead jighead. I've been planning on using curly tail grubs for black rockfish and ling cod along the shallows near a jetty using a 8wt or 10 weight rod. Some of the areas are really snaggy, so a fly rod delivery with the appropriate sink rate line will keep fly/lure in the target zone longer. A purist won't consider this fly fishing but I'm not overly concerned with that. Besides, I've been wondering what to do with the several hundred curly tail grubs and plastic skirts that I've acquired over the years. Have fun.

[skeet3t 0]

gwilljan, the object is to catch fish and not keep any purist happy. If you are happy, then that is what counts. I have a couple of friends who are dyed-in-the-wool trout anglers who look down on me as I have seriously fished for carp for the last 3-1/2 years.