v. [A back-formation from FLY-FISHING vbl. sb.] intr. To fish with a fly (natural or artificial) as bait.
1755. Johnson, s.v., To Flyfish. v.n., to angle with a hook baited with a fly.
1869. S. Wilberforce, Diary, Sept., in Life (1882), III. 303. Fly-fished with Bishop of Rochester. He succeeded better than I.
1881. Miss Braddon, One Thing Needful, xviii. Victorian had passed them many a time among the rushes, wandering with his rod, fly-fishing, scorning his brother’s repose, wondering at the spooniness of a man who could spend his days in the companny of a child and a dog or two.
Hence Fly-fishing ppl. a. So Fly-fisher, one who practises fly-fishing. Also Fly-fisherman.
1787. Best (title), The Complete Fly-Fisher.
1834. Medwin, Angler in Wales, I. 39. Amongst the most expert fly-fishers, no one was perfectly satisfied.
1858. The Saturday Review, V. 393/2. A fly-fishing, horse-loving … man.
