Beginners Questions

I've been away so long I feel like a beginner.  Here are a few basic questions I have that might help me understand fly fishing a little better.   I get a little confused with alot of the sub-classifications of Wet and Dry Flies.    I pretty much understand what Dry Flies are.   It's the Wet Flies that I have a problem with.

Can Nymphs, Streamers, Muddlers all be considered Wet Flies?    If they are all Wet Flies is there any difference in the preferred fly line that I would use for fishing Nymphs vs Streamers vs Muddlers vs standard Wet Flies?    If I have a WF 7 F/S fly line available would it work for Nymphs, Streamers, Muddlers or standard Wet Flies?    I also have a WF 7 S fly line.  In terms of Nymphs, Streamers,  Muddlers and standard Wet Flies are there instances when I would want to use the WF 7 S line vs the WF 7 F/S?

Can Emergers and Spinners be safely classified as Dry Flies?  

i'll try to help the best i can.
 
wet flies are generaly considered a mayflies imitation that is fished just below the surface. thier wings may be down wings or a soft hen hackle tied just behind the hook eye. thus they'll have mayfly names such as quill gordon, blue duns, hendricksons etc. some even consider insects fished below the surface as wet flies.
 
a soft-hackle is an attractor pattern. usually tied with long soft hackle just behind the hook eye. partridge/grouse. some consider these as wet flies also since they are mostly fished just sub-surface. they usually go by names of yellow & partridge etc.
 
a nymph is one of the first stages of a mayfly that is fished on the bottom or close enough. usually consisting of wing pads on the thorax. these are generally both exact mayfly imitations or attractors such as a pheasant tail nymph.
 
larva is one of the first stages of a caddis fly. again some will consider these as nymphs.
 
woolly buggers, bucktail streamers as well as muddlers sort of fit in the same catagory as streamers. they imitate bait fish.
 
terrestrials are insects that fall into the water such as ants, spiders, hoppers.
 
emergers are flies ready to surface to take flight. thus fishing these just subsurface and lifting the rod up at the end of a drift to "emerge"
 
parachutes are a type of tie that lets the body of the fly rest on the water instead of slightly above the water as a regular dry fly with hackling whch are generaly called catskill ties.
 
hope this helps. ~dt
 
 

One more question.....Terrestrials....ants, spiders, hoppers......should I be fishing them on the surface just like a dry fly?

Ned, a  double taper floating line. That matches your rod is all you need for now.

Strandman, that's what I have for a dry or floating line.

Ned, a floating line isnt only for dry flys. Its the line I go to 99% of the time. Nymphing. Streamers. Wets. and drys.
The only times I feel a sinking line is a plus. Are stillwater fishing. And sometimes streamer fishing.
I feel when streamer fishing a sink tip or a full sinker will keep your fly down when the streamer starts to swing across the current at the end of the drift.

There are times when nothing can beat a submerged ant just under the surface.

sz. 8 and 12 hoppers, and ants are pretty ubiquitous.

Has anybody had any luck fishing with Muddlers either Muddler Minnows or Muddler Maribous?

Non-tapered leader material is for tying your own leaders.  If you dont want to tie your own, get the tapered ones.  To increase the life of your tapered leaders, use spools of tippet, and tie 18-24" of tippet to the end of your leader, replacing when worn, or shorter than 6-12".

The leader is usually somewhere between 7 and 15 feet, depending on your tactics, presentations, targetted species, and casting ability (both based on your ability to cast as well as anyone's ability to cast in the given conditions, as in: you dont want a 15' leader for a stream that is 10' wide).  As far as knots, the two materials should NOT be of vastly different diameters, thats where the taper comes in.  You start with a heavy butt section, and tie your leader, at your chosen length, by using shorter sections of various materials, until you taper down to a diameter similar to your tippet.  I think most guys use either the blood or uni knot, maybe some use the surgeon knot (the one I use for attaching leader to tippet).  I dont tie my own leaders, however, so dont take my opinions on this as gospel truth by any means.

Cold & Strandman thanks for your advice.   I've basically decided on trying a 4-section leader starting with 3 feet of 10 lb-test monofilament, 3 feet of 8 lb test monofilament, 2 feet of 6 lb monofilament, and 2 feet of 4-lb test Cortland fluorocarbon tippet.    The first section is .012 in dia.  The last section is supposed to be .006" in diameter though you can hardly feel it.   I'm using an Albright knot for all 3 joints.  It's a pretty easy knot to tie that I saw somewhere.  It works well for tying slightly dissimilar diameter lines and the knot size is minimal and if trimmed properly should produce a minimum of snags.  I've seen other knots in other publications that looked identical to the Albright but with different names.  I know it's different than a blood knot but some nail knot diagrams I've seen look very similar to the Albright to me.  I looked at the tapered leader that Sheridan Anderson constructs in Curtis Creek Manifesto and decided it was just too many knots to tie.

I know what you mean about store bought tapered leaders.  I spent $7 on a Cortland tapered fluorocarbon leader that I intend to use on my other reel.  It tapers down to 6lb test.  To it i will attach one of those little N0-KNOT clips so that I can change flies in a hurry without having to restring an entire tapered leader or re-tie a fly.  Trouble is that these little clips work fine on hook sizes 14 and larger because of their larger eyelets but 16 and smaller forget it, the eyelet is just too small.   So basically I'm using a 4 lb tippet to which I am attaching my smaller flies (#16 and smaller) and a no-knot store-bought tapered leader with a 6 lb tippet to which I will attach my larger flies.   Now let's hope the large trout will cooperate and only strike the 6 lb tippet.

I guess another question I have for you is this......Are fluorocarbon tippets all they are cracked up to be in terms of being invisible on/in the water?      I have some Rio 3.4 lb-test tippet material (not fluorocarbon) that seems even finer than the fluorocarbon material and was wondering what you thought about that?

Anadromous, read the last sentence in the 1st paragraph of my last message before this one.

I was just wondering the same thing. Why so many leaders?

great thread.  man, cold, you have come a long way.  you were an excellent student and now you are helping others to get addicted.  nice going
 
btw, i am picking up the c.c. manifesto this weekend.  now i am really interested.  thanks.