Søren Flarup - Ahrex Hooks

Late summer dries

In late summer when it’s hot and dry, trout fishing possibilities are limited. Trout are rarely active when the sun and the heat is high. It’s not impossible to catch them, though, especially if you restrict your activity to the evenings.

Weighted softhackles

Soft hackles, also commonly called spiders, are traditionally unweighted flies fished on, in or just under the surface film. Simple flies most often consisting of only a body and a hackle, every now and then a rib. They can be as deadly as they are simple.

Caddisflies

The sight of a beautiful trout or grayling rising majestically to the surface inhaling an insect is the highlight of many flyfishers dream – the sight that drives us off to the water again and again.

Ants

Once you mention the phrase, “10 Must-Have-Flies”, that list is obviously going to be different depending on what you’re fishing for, when you’re fishing, where you’re fishing, weather conditions, water level, water clarity – and of course, who you ask. I think you understand – there are no “10 Must-Have_Flies” for anything. But there are of course flies you really should have and if you’re fishing trout and grayling, particularly in or around (but not restricted to) woods and wooded areas, an ant imitation is one of them.

Midsummer Murders?

Not quite, but if Barnaby was as good as catching sea trout as he is catching murderers, he’d be an excellent fly fisherman. In Denmark tradition has always been that the big upstream migration of sea trout to our larger and smaller rivers being at midsummer. They do arrive earlier, the first ones, but it’s true that by midsummer, it pays off to intensify efforts.

Green drakes and brown trout

The two largest mayflies that hatch in Scandinavia are the E. Danica and it’s still water relative, E. Vulgata. Most commonly they are simply referred to as “may flies”. In this article, Andreas Larsson tells you more or less everything you need to know about the E. Vulgata, the imitations and the few tips on how to succeed in a hatch.

Phryganea Grandis

Many flyfishers are looking for the time when the big mayflies, E. Danica and E. vulgata, start to hatch in late spring and early summer. The image of a big newly hatched mayfly dun swirling down the stream or standing on the surface of a small lake, is for many of us the true picture of what flyfishing is all about. And it is great fun to see, when also the biggest fish lower their guard and start chasing those big flies. But in Stillwater, there as time that are even more fun to experience and that’s when the big Caddis flies begin to show, running the surface to safer ground.

June 1st

All season openings are exciting. The longer the closed season is, the more excited we are just to get back to, in this case, the big, Norwegian rivers. As the clock nears midnight on May 31st, the first fly fishers are at the ready, river side, the long rods strung up with heavy sinking lines, short, stout leaders and big flies. Hoping for one of the big, silvery unicorns many of us have been dreaming about since last season – or maybe since the last trip to Norway, maybe years ago. But always just happy to cast a line, feel the force of the river on both the line and the legs as you wade.

Pike

I think I said it last week, or maybe the week before, May is a difficult month for fly fishers. Everything is on, everything is happening and there’s everything to choose from and a new mini-season is opening every two weeks. Soon it’s night fishing for sea trout in the rivers, but for now, let’s just focus on something that is very close to our hearts, here at Ahrex: Fly fishing for pike.

The Mayfly

Not mayflies as such – but the mayfly, the E. Danica and it’s stillwater relative, E. Vulgata are hatching now – or will be in a matter of days. Writing a blog can be many things and repetitive to a degree is one of them. There are seasonal highlights that deserve a spot on the blog every year and I believe we’ve covered the big mayfly hatch every year since the blog began.