Fly fishing is a great outdoor adventure activity. Assuming one is after trout, the fly fishing environs tend to be in higher elevation mountain streams or lakes.
Conditions pretty much determine which fly fishing technique deployed but at the end of the day, there are only four broadly populated types of flies for fly fishing.
The Dry Fly is an adult insect replica. The name comes from the fact that the fly is a bait floating in the very thin film at the surface which hold the pattern upright as if it has just dropped from the sky. They are fished upstream and the fly line is mended toward you as you retrieve the cast.
The Wet Fly consists of patterns intended to be fished below the surface and represent insects both live and dead caught in the current and moving downstream.
Nymphs are similar to wet flies in that they are sub-surface bait. Nymphs are insect larvae or other juvenile insect forms. Depending upon what you read, nymphs make up as much as 95% of a trout’s diet.
Streamers are fished below the surface as well and consist of much larger flies tied to represent small bait fish for "bigger" trout.
Regardless of which fly or method you choose, the finesse in which you manipulate the fly will in fact determine your success. Fly fishing is the methodology which stipulates that the line be cast instead of the terminal bait. If you give this some thought it becomes evident that the more effective you are in presenting your fly in the most realistic way possible, no splash, ripple, or outside noise. The more natural your bait appears to the trout.
Fly fishing is akin to putting a golf ball. Success is dependent on reading the water and bringing your fly over the trout as you would read a break on a green a get the ball to drop in the hole.
