Portraits - Ahrex Hooks

Boston Harbor striper on the fly

Fishing for stripers is incredibly popular in the US and we were lucky enough to meet one of the many skilled fishermen who enjoy this species. During the International Fly Tying Symposium in November, we met the talented guide and striper-fisher Joe Cordeiro, whom we persuaded to write a little about his fishing for what can be called the USA’s national fish – the striped bass og just stripers.

Dahlberg Diver – by Andreas Andersson

Did you catch our recently published video with Andreas Andersson? It’s a very detailed instruction on how to tie the famous fly, the Dahlberg Diver. You can tie the fly however detailed you want, but I think it’s safe to say that Andreas’ instruction is among the best and most detailed you can find on YouTube. There’s no need to go into as much detail as Andreas does. Andreas is also among the best with deer hair, so I think it’s also safe to say that no matter how detailed you want to tie your fly, there’s a lot to learn.

Internation Fly Tying Symposium 2022 – II

We’re back from a hectic weekend in Somerset, NJ. The short story is that we were happy and privileged to be a part of it, we have a great time and it was a pleasure to participate in this legendary and international event.

International Fly Tying Symposium 2022

IFTS is an abbreviation for the International Fly Tying Symposium – an annual show that has been running for 31 years. The show is an institution on the international fly-show-scene and one that has attracted some of the biggest names in the fly tying world. We, Ahrex, are going this year for the first time and we’re excited and proud. Please come and say hello, we’re hanging out at the Regal & Keough stand.

Rounding off Hökensås

As you know from last week’s blog, a handful of us were at Hökensås Sportsfiske last weekend. Søren, Martin and myself together with some friends, Kirsten, John and Klaus and we had a great time. We enjoyed the fantastic nature reserve that houses the some 25 lakes that Hökensås Sportsfiske manages. And of course the high quality fishery and fish. Stocked lakes, yes, but far from easy. We ended on Sunday with dead calm conditions, which made the fishing quite difficult for everyone (except Håkan and Marcus, of course). I spent the better part of the day, wasting time I’ll never get back trying to catch a trout on a dry fly.

Rounding off

… the Swedish sea trout season. Unlike in Denmark, where fishing for sea trout along the coastlines is open all year, Sweden has a season opening January 1st and closing September 15th, of course to protect the trout migrating to the rivers to spawn. We received a little report from Mr. Trout, Peter Alexandersson, who’s had a good season. Here are his words on the 2022-season and a series of pictures.

Tied flies…

I assume that if not everyone, then the vast majority of the readers of this blog tie flies. For most fly fishers it’s a naturally, integrated part of the hobby. Most like to put their own touches on known patterns, many have personal favourites of their own design. And some of course have completely secret flies that nobody ever gets to see. But there’s a fair number of fly fishers out there, who don’t tie their flies themselves. Maybe they can’t find the time, maybe it simply doesn’t appeal to them, maybe they can’t find the time to learn.

Wicked Documentary

Last week we released a new portait of our good friend, Stefan Larsson. Stefan Larsson doesn’t look like the typical fly fisher – nor is he the typical fly fisher. Long beard, lots of fingerrings and necklaces, smoking cigars and sometimes heard calling for Simms in the woods. That’s not because he’s lost his waders, but because his dog is called Simms.

A talk with Bob Clouser

*The Clouser Minnow – tied by Bob Clouser*

As many of you will have noticed, we launched a new hook in the middle of March, the SA 210 Bob Clouser Signature. An excellent all round hook for saltwater flies, but designed around the specific wishes for the perfect Clouser Minnow-hook that Bob himself had. It was a great honour and pleasure for us to work directly with The Man himself and an even greater pleasure that Bob and his spouse, Jackie, were very, very pleased with the result.

Introducing…

The Salt SA 210 Bob Clouser Signature hook. We are quite excited to present the newest hook in the Salt Series. It’s been developed in collaboration with the legendary Bob Clouser himself and is specified to his specifications and proportions – just as he wants a Clouser hook to be.