Rods are the items that deliver the line attached to the fly to the fish. Old fashioned rods were made of readily available woods like ash and pine. Then, bamboo was used to make rods. Tonkin cane (a bamboo) would be split into pieces then glued together to make a rod. In the last fifty years, fiberglass and carbon have been used to make fly rods.

A fly reel is simply a winch that holds line and reels in fish. Reels originally were used for little more than a place to hold line and had to be controlled by hand. Now reels can be automatic, or manual. Automatic reels use a trigger and a spring to reel in line and sometimes fish. Manual reels are controlled by hand. Manual rods are the most common in use today.

Lines are the items that deliver the fly to the water. Tippets are used to present the fly. Tippets are clear so the fish can't see them while lines are sometimes (not always) brightly colored and flexible so they can be whipped into the water. Backing is another type of line that isn't cast. Backing is used during the fight of a large fish if you run out of line.

Flies are the lures that hook the fish. Flies are meant to either to attract an actual food that the fish may eat or to attract the fish to bite into an unknown item. Thus, the two main types of flies are imitators and attractors. The first flies were simple but effective. Yet, imitation and invention has since brought the fly fisherman some elaborate patterns.

Wet flies were the first flies tied. Originally meant to represent dead insect that had sunk below the waters surface, the modern wet fly is usually an attractor. Traditional patterns however are still very effective. Modern patterns are usually very colorful and attention getting. Wet flies are an easy and simple way to catch fish.

Nymphs in the basic sense are wet flies. Even though they are below the surface, they instead represent the larval or pupa stage of an aquatic insect. Patterns most commonly are attractive. However, some fly designs are meant to represent natural fly larvae. Nymphs are an effective and fun way to catch fish.

Dry flies are usually the most common flies. Dry flies float on the surface tension of the water, not the water itself. Dry flies usually imitate stoneflies, mayflies, caddis flies, and midges, in adult form. These flies are most effective when fish are eating the mating or hatching aquatic adult insects. The dry fly is a popular selection and good choice at that.

Streamers are usually the most elaborate flies of all. Most commonly attractors, they can imitate minnows and other bait fish. These are the flies that catch the biggest, and some times the most fish. Though because of their weight, they can sometimes be hard to cast. However, the fly fisherman's efforts of casting most usually pay off.