Fly Fishing Merit Badge

1. Hazards, five safety practices, the health list, and the hook in the arm Requirement

Three parts. The first carries two obligations rather than one: the hazards and five safety practices you always follow.

3 parts

• 1(a). The hazards of fly-fishing, plus five safety practices of your own Often forgotten
• 1(b). The health list, prevention and treatment
• 1(c). Removing a hook lodged in somebody's arm Often forgotten

2. Balance a rod, line and leader, and know your fly lines Often forgotten Requirement

Matching the three into a balanced system, discussing several types of fly line and when each is used, and reviewing how to look after the equipment. This is where the outfit that requirement 3 rigs and requirement 5 casts is decided.

3. Five knots that assemble one working outfit, reel outwards Often forgotten Requirement

Not a knot exam. Read in order the five parts build a rigged rod: backing to spool, backing to line, leader to line, tippet to leader, fly to leader.

5 parts

• 3(a). Backing to the spool, with an arbor knot
• 3(b). Backing to the fly line, with a nail (tube) knot
• 3(c). Leader to fly line: nail knot or loop to loop
• 3(d). Tippet to leader: surgeon's knot or loop to loop
• 3(e). Fly to the end of the leader, with an improved clinch knot

4. Seven kinds of fly, what each imitates, and tie two of them Often forgotten Requirement

Mostly discussion: dry flies, wet flies, nymphs, streamers, bass bugs, poppers and saltwater flies, how and when each is used and what it imitates. Then the last sentence asks you to tie at least two, which needs a vice, materials and probably a lesson.

The last sentence of this requirement is the lead time on the whole badge: tie at least two of the fly types you have just discussed. That needs a vice, hooks, thread and materials, and realistically somebody to show you the first time. Raise it with your counselor when you start the badge, not when you reach requirement 4.

5. Cast 30 feet, consistently and accurately, overhead and roll Often forgotten Requirement

Both techniques, and both standards: consistent and accurate, not one good cast. This is the outfit from requirements 2 and 3 put to work.

6. Watch what the fish are eating, above and below, and match the hatch Often forgotten Requirement

Done at a suitable fishing location rather than from a book. Observation of what is being taken on the surface and beneath it, then explaining why matching the hatch matters.

7. Leave No Trace, the Outdoor Code, and catch and release Requirement

Two parts, both about the resource rather than the fishing.

2 parts

• 7(a). Why the principles and the Code matter, and what they do for fly-fishing water
• 7(b). Catch and release: meaning, importance, and safe technique

8. Get the fishing regulations for where you live or will fish, and understand why Often forgotten Requirement

Obtained and reviewed, then explained. Note the wording: where you live OR where you plan to fish, which matters if you are travelling to water.

9. Sportsmanlike behaviour, and the Code applied to littering and trespass Requirement

What good outdoor sportsmanship is for an angler, and how Leave No Trace and the Outdoor Code bear on littering, trespassing, courtesy and obeying the regulations.

10. Catch one fish on a fly and identify it. Start this first Often forgotten Requirement

On a fly, which is tighter than the Fishing merit badge's equivalent. The only requirement here you cannot finish by deciding to, so begin it early rather than tenth.

Start this one first, whatever the numbering says. It is the only requirement here you cannot finish by deciding to finish it. Note also that it is tighter than the Fishing merit badge's equivalent: the fish has to be caught on a fly.

11. Clean and cook a fish, and the badge provides for not catching one Often forgotten Requirement

A fish you caught if you can; a fish you acquired if you cannot, cleaned and cooked the same way. Conditional on regulations and health concerns permitting. You are not required to eat it.

This requirement does NOT wait on requirement 10. If you cannot catch a fish to eat, the requirement itself tells you to acquire one and clean and cook that instead. A Scout who has not caught anything is not blocked here. That is the badge's own provision.

Counselor signs it off Milestone

The completion date is the date you met the requirements, not the date of the signature.

Usually comes after 11. Clean and cook a fish, and the badge provides for not catching one.

Merit badge requirements are republished annually. A Scout beginning work uses the requirements as they stand then; a Scout already working may finish under the ones they started with. Guide to Advancement 7.0.4.3 governs which applies. This page records the date its copy was read. Check it against the official page before relying on it.