Lars Chr. Bentsen - Ahrex Hooks

New podcasts

We’ve slowly been making our way into the podcast format and we will continue to do so. We aim for a variety of podcasts. Some will be stories on why we fish, on the total experience of the hobby, even lifestyle for some. Others will be interviews with known fly fisher, even legends, some will be with virtually unknown fly fishers, who has something special on heart. Whether it’s on methods, strategies or flies we hope you’ll enjoy them all, maybe even consider sharing them? It’s been a bit quiet on the podcast channel since we uploaded the first ones, but we’ll fix that today.

New sizes, autumn and shrimps

We’ve added a few new sizes to our SA 250 Shrimp hooks. The SA 250 maybe be called “Shrimp” and it’s designed specifically for that and it is indeed excellent for tying shrimps, more on that below. t’s one of those hooks that has a name that does imply a very specific usage, but is really more versatile than that.

Waste in waders

Waste is a huge problem in the modern World! In many parts of the World a lot of effort is put into minimising waste, be it food, recycling plastic and metals and much, much more. I think most fly fishers, and fisherwomen and -men are environmentally aware and do their bit. Pick up waste on the beach or along the river on the way back and so on – and generally try to act responsibly.

Nymphing for salmon?

Do salmon eat nymphs? Yes, at least as younglings in the river, before they enter the sea, they do. But I think it’s common knowledge that once they enter the rivers, they stop eating. How they manage to survive for several months and not least why they take our flies is a subject for another blog. However, it’s clear that salmon do take flies that imitate large stoneflies nymphs and even ones fished upstream and dead drifted past their lies.

It’s show time!

Two weekends ago we attended the British Fly Fair International, which was, as always, an excellent and very well organised event.

New hook – Anadromous Nymph HR416

*Big sizes salmon calls for a strong hook. Photo: Jesper Lindquist Andersen*

Fishing for migratory fish – anadromous species – such as salmon, sea trout, steelhead or rainbows and trout both from the sea and the great lakes on their way to the spawning banks has been the purpose of this new hook that we have been looking forward to introducing to you.

New Short Nymph Hook & BFFI 2023

*Brassbead Partridge Nymph tied and photographed by John and katie Demuth.*

We often think that now we must have a full range of fly hooks – but again and again we have to accept that there is always room for one more model. This time our range of Freshwater series is expanding with a new nymph nook.

Trout fishing in Dalarna

The great grayling fishing in Älvdalen draws fly fishers from all over Sweden, but many remain unaware that the area also offers excellent trout fishing. Älvdalen is Swedish and literally means ”the valley of rivers”.

When it comes to my home water, Österdaläven, it’s mostly known for its large population of grayling, which, as we all know, is a great fish to chase with the fly rod. Also, they are quite willing to rise to a well-presented dry fly, which most fly fishers appreciate. The excellent grayling fishing has pushed the trout a bit in the background. The trout population has been under pressure by a big dam and timber rafting. They have survived and the population has grown strong and offers high-quality fishing.

New Year

*The Ahrex Hooks salmon fly tied by Håkan Karsnäser*

Well, not quite yet. At the time of writing this, it’s a good 24 hours away, but it’s close enough to send you all a sincere Happy New Year from Ahrex HQ. We deeply appreciate the email, the interactions on social media, the tags, the mentions and so on. In short – thank you!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

*Christmas Tree tied by Markus Hoffman.*

As most of you read this, it will most like be December 24th, Christmas Eve’s Day. Another year is coming to a close, just one more week and we’ll be into 2023. Many have the days between Christmas and New Year off and we at Ahrex hope there will be time for family, fly tying and some fishing for all of you, if weather allows. We’re hoping for a little fishing time our selves.