fly

1) an insect or artificial rendering of one used as a bait in fly fishing; made of hair, feathers and thread tied to a hook, intricately and beautifully made. Numerous types and individual variants tied by anglers, a selection of them is mentioned in this dictionary but fly sites on the internet give much more detail, methods of tying them and the fishes they catch under specified conditions. Wet flies represent nymphs swimming to the surface to become adults, dry flies represent adult insects after emerging from the nymph and streamers are flies that represent minnows, crayfish, leeches and other aquatic life. A wide variety of hook types exist on which to tie the fly. Wet fly hooks are heavier than dry fly hooks. Each fly consists basically of a body (wrapped around the hook shank) and a wing that sticks out above the shank. Various additions to this basic plan can be used to simulate a fish, for example, in a streamer fly. The tail extends a short distance beyond the bend of the hook and curves upwards. The tip is made of silk for appearance and helps hold up the tail. Ribbing can be added to the body for brightness and flash. The throat is a bunch of fibres underneath or as a collar just behind the head, itself behind the eye of the hook. The throat provides action to the fly. The cheek behind the head simulates an eye. The shoulder behind the cheek imitates a fish\'s head. The underbody below the shank is made usually of hair and provides lighter colouring like a fish\'s belly. The tag is of tinsel or metal thread on the bend of the hook as added flash. Topping above the wing is supposed to resemble a fish\'s back. The butt is at the base of the tail and is for appearance but may be designed in some flies to imitate an egg sac. Horns above the wing are meant to imitate the feelers or antennae of an insect

2) an item of dress often found open in drowned male anglers fishing from a small, unstable boat

3) an inshore water area usually poor in fish (Newfoundland)