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.
Continue reading “Sonic Tube Muddler”
Summer fishing along the rivers is something special. The low land flora and fauna is humming and swaying. The swallows fly low to catch insects, the high pitch sounds a birds of prey patrolling the tree lines, the subdued rustle of a hedgehog, cows lazily grazing in the field, no wind, a setting sun and a bi-zillion mosquitos. It can be so idyllic and in a flash you can forget it all as a sea trout launches from the opposite bank to attack the fly in the middle of the river, just under the surface.
We’ve covered the seemingly dire situation unfolding in Norway this season. Very, very few salmon running on some of the big and famous rivers. So few in fact that Norwegian authorities chose to close 33 of them entirely. It seems that the situation has changed for some rivers as 16 of them have been opened for fishing again, which is very good news. Mainly for the salmon as it means that there’s a viable run, but of course also for the fishermen and -women. The locals can enjoy the fishing in their rivers and those travelling can do the same, as well as bring in the lift to the local economies. Of course potentially avoiding losing a week of prepaid fishing.
Photo: Undefined fly fishing project.
As the salmon season is developing at the moment, there is reason for serious concern. We publish this blog on Fridays and it’s always nice to be able to give the readers something good to start the weekend on. I don’t like it, but this one’s not good – it is, in fact, quite grim.
Continue reading “Train wreck”
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.
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.
Continue reading “Instant classics?”
Not the missile – at all, but a hook. A stinger hook is defined by it’s shape (as most hooks), it’s placement in the fly and the way it’s attached to the hook. Stinger hooks are short, have a fairly deep bend and are up-eyed. The up-eye is important and I’ll get back to that. Stinger hooks can be used a different ways. They can be the one hook and a fly or they can be used as a two-hook-setup, most commonly on long flies.
Perhaps the most famous of the classic salmon flies? Perhaps the one with the most variants and modern interpretations? If one ever were to answer that one question that no fly fisher ever wants to answer, the answer could be Thunder and Lightning. Let’s take a closer look at this beautiful combination of black, orange, blue and dark brown, colours.
A century ago it wasn’t uncommon, in fact it was the norm, to fish for salmon with huge hooks. Size 2/0 was a small one and when hauling from boats, size 6/0 up to 8/0 were used. Although the rods were long and made of green heart and the lines heavy, I doubt they could cast an 8/0 salmon iron from the bank. On the other hand, a certain Alexander Grant made a witnessed 65 yard spey cast with a double handed green heart rod. So who knows?
Continue reading “Tubeflies – big and small”
Today we would like to present you with two books, both very recent releases. We all like fish and one is on fish and fish alone and is a quite spectacular project. The other is about flies and we all like flies.
