First off, there are NO dumb questions.
There is alot more to it than the question entails. There is;
-Dry Fly Fishing (Where the fly floats on top of the water)
-Wet or sinking line (Where the fly sinks under the water)
-Bobber or Strike indicator (Where the fly sinks, but you control the depth with the indicator and can detect strikes with it)
Dry fly fishing is using a fly that is made from material that will allow the fly to float to imitate the natural fly that is sitting on the top of the water. This can be a natural like a Mayfly or stonefly which spend most of their lives living under the water. Then there is Terrestrials, these are insects that do not live in the water, but happen to fall into the water. This includes insects like Grasshoppers, Ants, Beatles.
Sinking line techniques are used for insects that live in the water. These include Damselflies, Dragonflies, Caddisflies, Water Boatmen, Chironomids, Leeches, Scuds, Mayflies plus more. Most of these live in the water for many years before becoming the Adult (The Dry Fly Stage) Usually fishing with these flies are done with a sinking line, but not on all occasions.
Strike indicators are used in conjunction with Wet flies or Nymphs. All the indicator is used for is to allow you to detect the strike as well as being able to set the depth you want to fish in. Indicators were first used to fish Chironomids, but in the last 10 years or so, people (Including myself) have been using Damsels, Leeches and a few other insects under them as well.
I hope this helps you a bit.
If you want to learn more, go to my website and order my books. One covers all the Basics on flyfishing, the other goes into detail about the insects and how, when, why the fish feed on each one during each stage of the insects life.
Rick Passek (
www.rp3flyfishing.com)