Category: Salmon – Steelhead – Sea trout

Old Man’s Earplug Daddy Muddler by Brian Ratcliff

Earplug Daddy Muddler by Brian Ratcliff-01

There are so many new and exciting flies to try, and many of them you discover in the most unexpected way. That is especially true if we as fly fishers and fly tiers are open to new ideas and think outside the (fly)box.

One of the innovative and very creative fly tiers out there is our friend Brian Ratcliff from England. Among all the flies he’s sent us, especially one pattern caught our attention a little bit more than the rest and we were curious how Brian fishes this fly and how it came about.

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The Royal Coachman

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Another of those quintessential flies that embody everything that most people think of when thinking of “a fly”. While the classic Coachman is quite beautiful in its simplicity, the Royal Coachman is a bit more flashy and striking with its dash of red between the peacock herl parts.

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Peace in Corona

It’s January 1st and time to wish all of you, our readers, a very Happy New Year. And not only that – also a very big and sincere thank you for all the support you’ve all given us in the past year. We are grateful and humbled by it.

It’s been a bit of a crazy year, and I’m sure every last one of you not only agree, but also are tied of reading about in various sum-ups of the year.

We got this very nice piece from Charlie Keyser, and we thought you’d appreciate it, so despite the above, I’ll now hand you off to Charlie.

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New Release – HR 418 Bomber Hook

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It’s hook launch time – again! We’re come close to ending 2020 (I think most of us look forward to that), but we decided to just go ahead and throw a proper New Year’s Bomb(er) to you.

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New Release – FW 554/555 CZ Mini Jig Hook

_Pink Jig by Håkan Karsnäser-01a

Pink Jig by Håkan Karsnäser on FW554 CZ Mini Jig.

Yes, another hook release – believe it or not. We’ve been busy! This time it’s a new jig-hook. We of course already have a jig hook – the FW 550/551. So what’s the big difference, I hear you ask? Well, that takes about as long time to answer as it does to ask the question. Hook length!

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Hook News – HR 428 Silver

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Photocredit: Fly Fishing nation – @flyfishingnation

Yes, it’s that time of year. We know all you salmon flyfishers are waiting for the next season and some of you are probably already going through the boxes, checking the flies, deciding on new patterns, which to keep and which need to be replenished. At least I know a few of us here are Ahrex are – OK, one at least. Me.

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Stephen Carella

18lb Hamish Condor Pool Mug Shot

Photocredit: Fly Fishing nation – @flyfishingnation

Salmon season is over and in general I think it’s been a fair season over most of Northern Europe and the UK. Instead of taking a look at season statistics, huge fish, happy stories, stories of the lost fish, I’ll turn you over to Stephen Carella, who in this nice story takes a look at something important that sometimes happens when you go fishing. Making friends – an important aspect of flyfishing.

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Good, old wet flies

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It’s autumn, October, and sea trout this time of year can be very picky and difficult to catch. Fishing can be frustrating, since the fish will often hang around for a long time – often completely uninterested in any offerrings.

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Mallard wings

Wet Fly Box by Håkan Karsnäser-08
The Butcher, proberbly the best known classic wet fly – tied by Håkan Karsnäser.

When fly tiers and fly fishers think about “mallard wings”, I suppose that most of us have the image of a classic spey fly with its low set roof shaped wing of the beautiful (and impossible) brown- and black speckled feathers from a mallard’s wing.

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Spey-i-fication

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What defines a Spey fly? Two distinct features – the low brown mallard wing and the long, flowing hackles, often from a heron. So can you justify adding the “Spey” in from of a fly, which you modify using a long, flowing hackle rather than a more traditional cock- or hen hackle found on most traditional wet flies? And what if the long hackle isn’t even a heron hackle? I’ll steer clear of that discussion for now.

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