Flytying material - Ahrex Hooks

Snow and pink

Outside the office windows the inevitable sign of winter has dressed the landscape in white. It’s been snowing the last few days, which of course means that temperatures are dropping. It takes a while for the water temperature begin cooling down significantly, but with frost both day and night, it’s certainly under way. Dropping temperatures are not the best conditions, but cold water is not a problem as such. For the fish of course. It might be for the two legged creatures chasing them.

New hook – PR376 90 Degree Aberdeen Jig

We’re usually not slow to let you know abut new hooks, but it seems that other blog subject have been more important, because we actually snuck in a new hook in the Predator series. It’s getting cold and once in a while, especially as it gets even colder, you sometimes need to pick up the fish on the bottom. On the bottom there’s usually a lot of debris, so fishing an upside-down hook can be a very good idea.

Three Flies

We have decided that we’ll start running a series of blogs with the same theme – Three Flies. These won’t be the usual “if you could only have three flies…”, but more as an inspiration to those starting fly fishing or venturing in to new species and locations. We’ll try and mobilise some of our Ahrex ambassadors and ask them about three essential flies for their fishing and local conditions. Since we’ll depend on the good will of our ambassadors and others as well, they won’t be regular entries, but ones that we’ll run every now and then. They’ll be seasonally relevant as well.

Gartside’s Gurgler

I’m generally very reluctant to use the word, “iconic”, but in the case of Jack Gartside’s Gurgler I think it fits. Gartside died in 2009, but has left a legacy of so many flies, for so many different applications. Many of them all-purpose flies that are at home on a bass lake as they are in the salt.

I’m not in love

It can sound a little strange but you’ll never hear me say that I love fishing, trout or something like that. To me the phrase love is reserved for human beings, my loved ones. That said, there’s a few things around fishing especially fly fishing and fly tying that are so close to my heart that it resembles love. Sitting in the evening sun with my fishing buddies, they are among my loved ones, catching a strong trout or spending a whole cold winters day in front of my vice, brings me a joy I can’t live without. The latter got a twist. I’m, if not in love, then pretty intrigued by a feather.

This artickel is written by Danish photojournalist Søren Skarby

Essentials

Photo: Matt Guymon / Freestone Rivers Photography.

If you’re fly fishing for trout and grayling, you won’t get far without a good imitation of both mayflies and caddis. In the books and online there are literally hundreds of specific patterns and styles to choose from. Some of them we’ve featured here on the blog and some on our YouTube-channel, but I don’t think we’ve ever touched on the X-Caddis and the Sparkle Dun.

Daddy Long Legs

“Wake me up when September ends” is a song by Green Day, but if you happen to sleep through September, you’re missing out. Septembervej is a great month for a lot of reasons. But one of them is the Daddy Long Legs. They are busy right now, because it’s getting late for them to mate and lay their eggs. Much like mayflies, they don’t live for long after they emerge from the pupa, although a mayfly would think they live forever. Some mayflies live for just hours, Daddy Long Legs for up to two weeks.

Sea bass

Fishing sea bass along the west coast of Denmark is becoming increasingly popular. It’s not new – it was in the mid to late 1990s that I first heard of a couple of pioneers targeting this unusual species. They can be found along the entire west coast, but the fishing seems to be best along the northern shores.

Sonic Tube Muddler

Spinning deer hair around a hook or a tube can have different purposes. Depending on other choices muddler heads can make a fly float, wake or push water or fished on a sinking line or weighted. We’ve had a lot of rain in Denmark the past few weeks and I decided that I wanted a fairly small fly, fast sinking and one that sinks fast, so I don’t lose too much swing while waiting for the to drag the fly down.

Burned Wings

It’s the middle of August and some of us (myself at least) are looking forward to cooler weather and autumn fishing. Autumn is by far my favourite time of year and has plenty to offer in terms of fishing. One thing that some tend to overlook is the fact that hatches of both may flies and caddis can pick up a little and offer some surface action. At this exact time, I’d concentrate my effort in the evenings and early night. Just as sea trout, big browns like big flies fished just under the surface (just letting you know).