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The monster in the moat

The question is not how to fish, but why you do it. The author and his fishing buddies do it out of necessity. It’s more important than life and death to them to escape the human world, step in to water and wave a stick. Left on the shore is their misery and worries. Standing in the water they find freedom, healing and occasionally a fish.

Battles are lost and won with tongue in cheek and always celebrated with mountains of cake and an endless stream of fresh espresso coffee. To the band of brothers it’s more important who you fish with than how big the fish is; except for the ones lost.

You may not learn a lot about catching more and bigger fish, but reading these stories is like holding a mirror up in front of yourself getting a little wiser. The small why is a big one.

This artickel is written by Danish photojournalist Søren Skarby

Instant classics?

Some flies just become instant classics. Usually of course because they catch a lot of fish. Often also because they are marketed or promoted by some one well known – who catches well on them. In turn they catch even more fish, because lots of fly fishermen begin using them. It happens that it spirals completely out of control to a degree where certain, essentials materials become hard to get.

JUST ONE MORE SNACK

You may not learn a lot about catching more and bigger fish, but reading these stories is like holding a mirror up in front of yourself getting a little wiser. The small why is a big one.

This artickel is written by Danish photojournalist Søren Skarby

Busy bees

We’re busy bees these days. Well, we’re thankful to say that we are most of the time, but the late fall and following winter, we are a little bit extra busy attending fly shows. Fly shows are important for us. We enjoy meeting all of you, the fly fishers who use our hooks. There’s nothing better than hearing from people who use our hooks. And we appreciate input, even criticism from you – it’s how we get better, how we improve and how we sometimes get ideas for new hooks.

Winter on the coast

We’re lucky in Scandinavia that most winters are mild enough that we can fish through them. It happens every now and then the it’s cold enough to put a lid on, even in the salt. The shallower areas, where there isn’t much current (yet often good fishing) can freeze over and the same of course goes for our lakes. But even with very cold water, there’s always a chance. It’s slim, but if you never buy a lottery ticket you never win.

Redfish, an Eastern Perspective

It happens that the staff here at Ahrex HQ goes fishing (regularly, in fact), but sometimes further from home than usual. Last fall Morten accepted and invitation from Gary Dubiel and our US representative, Steve Silverio, to join them both on a trip chasing huge redfish on the Neuse River.

New Year

On Sunday 2023 is over and 2024 is upon us. We’ve had a good and busy year as always, working on all fronts. We enjoyed every second of it and will continue to do so. Let’s take a quick look at what we’ve done on 2023.

Christmas

Christmas is fast approaching – here at Ahrex HQ as well. We’re always a little more busy this time of year. The accounting for the year has to be done and there is always a little more to ship as the dealers stock up for the Christmas shopping. Some lose ends to tie up before we go on holiday and charge up for 2024. There’s also a little planning to be made – hopefully with you, our readers, as well. It’s not unlikely that there might be some new hooks next year as well.

Season is over

For most in the Northern Hemisphere winter is either here or fast approaching. This doesn’t mean that fishing is over, but I believe that most of us fish a little less and some not at all, perhaps depending on how diverse you are in your fishing. Here in Scandinavia, lots of fly fishers fish for several different species. In the salt, early winter is actually a very good time to chase for one of the elusive, chrome sea trout that skip the spawning run. Pike are also in season and are hungry, busy feeding and getting ready for the slow winter months and cold water.

Wooly Bugger

The good, old Wooly Bugger has at some point been in most fly boxes around the world. When asked that “which-fly-on-a-deserted-island-would-you-bring?”-question, a Wooly Bugger will probably end up high on the list. I should add, of course, that the deserted island is littered with lakes and streams and surrounded by sea with all sorts of fish. There are probably hundreds of variations being fished and there’s absolutely no doubt that not’s highly effective.