Last week we released a new portait of our good friend, Stefan Larsson. Stefan Larsson doesn’t look like the typical fly fisher – nor is he the typical fly fisher. Long beard, lots of fingerrings and necklaces, smoking cigars and sometimes heard calling for Simms in the woods. That’s not because he’s lost his waders, but because his dog is called Simms.
That says a little about Stefan’s relationship to fly fishing. Not only does he simply live and breathe fly fishing, he also runs a small fly shop in the middle of his own trout heaven, Älvdalen in Sweden. Stefan does have other interests in life, but somehow, fly fishing seem to manage their way into most of them. Even his rock band, where he plays bass and sings, is called ZZ Trout (which might give a hint to why he’s sporting a long beard). We wrote about Stefan on the blog before – here:
Apart from running his fly shop, playing rock ’n’ roll and smoking the odd cigar, Stefan also guides visiting fly fishers in the summer, and if you’re visiting Älvdalen in the season, a day or two with Stefan is the perfect way to get started. If you ask, he’ll probably hand out some free advice in his shop, too.
Living in Älvdalen, Stefan has also been heavily involved in river restoration projects as well. In the portrait, he explains how and when the local river and its tributaries were dammed for hydro-electric exploitation and how he and his friends have now managed to force the hydro-electric companies begin restoring the rivers to at least some of their former glory.
What does a fly shop owner, fly fishing guide and musician do in the winter? Well, apart from running his shop and playing in his band, he also works part time butchering elk, which is d….d hard work. And for at least a month a year he migrates to Montana to fish the hallowed water of the Big Sky state.
Apart from the newly released portrait, we have a few videos on Stefan’s fly tying on the channel. Take a look at Five Shades Of Grey here and Olive Molly here. In these two videos you might get a sense of the flies Stefan is most well known for – really small dries. And then of course one of his signature flies, The Wicked here:
We hope you enjoy the portrait – it’s taken a few years to get all the footage we wanted, and it may not exactly be Francis Ford Coppola-material, but we’re quite proud of it and certainly enjoyed making it.
