Every trout angler knows the satisfaction of watching a trout repeatedly rise to take the same insect on the surface. As you carefully note the trout’s position, you tie on a close imitation of the mayflies the trout is eating and as the first cast lands, out come is almost given.
The largest mayfly in Scandinavia are the Ephemera danica and it’s stillwater relative, the E. vulgata. The are the same size and the vulgata tend to be a little darker than the danica. They hatch more or less at the same time, and both of course offer excellent fishing. Our “house fly tier”, Håkan Karsnäser lives close to the Hökensås lakes in Sweden and fishes the hatch every year, so I asked Håkan for a few tips and tricks, and a couple of good flies. Over to Håkan…
Dry flies have one thing in common – they all float. Some float because they are tied of buoyant materials (foam hoppers for instance), some depend on chemical help in the form of a silicone floatant and some are designed to partially float (emergers and of course the legendary Klinkhamer Special). And finally, some are tied so they rest on the surface film as a result of their dressing.
