Mayflies - Ahrex Hooks

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).

It’s that time of year again

It’s the middle of may and the most important hatch of the year is on. At least in Northern Europe. There are plenty of hatches in the World, where huge insects hatch that can bring the big ones to the surface. In Europe, it’s the Ephemera danica and it’s slightly smaller still water cousin, Ephemera vulgata.

The Riverbank

Today we’re pleased to let you know about a movie that our friend, Markus Hoffman, made about his summer fishing in Northern Sweden. It’s a beautiful movie capturing the essence of what it’s like being in the wild of Northern Sweden. Not only fishing there – also just being there.

I’ll let Markus tell you a bit about the movie and recommend you watch it. I really enjoyed it.

Shane Nymph

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Photo: Matt Guymon / Freestone River Photography.

When you’re fishing deep the risk of losing a fly is always greater than when fishing closer to the surface or dry. If you’re fishing really deep you must expect to lose a handful or two of flies on a long fishing day. With that in mind – keep the flies simple and maybe even tied from cheap easily available materials.

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.

The small stuff

Small is always a matter of context. A small pike fly is infinitely larger than a small trout fly, but no matter the context, small flies are often important to have, often even the deciding factor between and take and a refusal.

Mr. Wicked Trout

You remember mr. Wicked Trout? Our good friend, Stefan Larsson. Dry fly fisher par excellence, rock ’n’ roll bass player and singer, whisky connoisseur and in the trenches in the fight against dams on his home rivers in Älvdalen in Sweden.

The Partridge

It may seem convenient to buy loose feathers in a bag, instead to buy a whole hide. But if you go through what’s in the bag and sort the feathers, you discover that the percentage of usable feathers is often quite low and not infrequently you end up without the feather you needed. Of course there is a higher price for a whole skin compared to a bag of feathers, but a whole skin has so many benefits that outweigh the investment.

This artickel is written by Håkan Karsnäser.

Seasons

In a fly fisher’s year there are always seasonal highlights that usually occur either when fishing for a particular species open, when seasons turn and not least when certain hatches occur. Some hatches are more important than others and they are of course not the same all over. Streams and still waters have different hatches that happen on different times. Most of them of course begin when spring begins to heat up the water.

Oliver Edwards

Oliver Edwards photographed in 2016 by Magnus Angus.

Saturday, April 22nd 2023, I received the sad news that Oliver Edwards has passed away. The fly fishing community has lost one of the greats.