Sea trout - Ahrex Hooks

Flatwings

Flat wing flies are widely spread and I suspect well known by most fly fishers who fish for almost any predatory fish. Drawing on inspiration from the old long shank traditional streamers, Ken Abrames created a style of fly which is now know as a “flat wing”. The defining element is simply one or more feathers, usually in the tail of the fly, tied so they lie flat and not stand up. Like so many other influential fly tiers, Ken Abrames’ fly was based on keen observation of the bait fish the stripers eat in the North East of the USA.

Rigging madness

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.

Please remember you can find many of the articles as podcasts on our PodBean channel here:

This artickel is written by Danish photojournalist Søren Skarby

Big flies – big fish?

Photo: Matt Gymon / Freestone River Photography.

I’m sure there’s some truth behind that – to an extent, because it’s certainly far from impossible to catch big fish on small flies. However, this is about big flies and there can be little doubt that big, predatory fish mainly feed to bigger prey, mostly smaller fish. A dense hatch of bugs will bring any trout up, but a bif fly will tempt them consistently, all year round.

IT’S ALL SHRIMPS

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.

This artickel is written by Danish photojournalist Søren Skarby

HOME WATERS

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.

This artickel is written by Danish photojournalist Søren Skarby

THE SECRET TIP

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.

This artickel is written by Danish photojournalist Søren Skarby

MURPHY TOOK A DAY OFF

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.

This artickel is written by Danish photojournalist Søren Skarby

Winter on the coast

We’re lucky in Scandinavia that most winters are mild enough that we can fish through them. It happens every now and then the it’s cold enough to put a lid on, even in the salt. The shallower areas, where there isn’t much current (yet often good fishing) can freeze over and the same of course goes for our lakes. But even with very cold water, there’s always a chance. It’s slim, but if you never buy a lottery ticket you never win.

Big Hole Demon

I don’t think there’s a fly with a scarier name than this. A demon from a big hole – however it looks nothing like a demon, it is only a streamer fly. There’s endless debate on how old a fly has to be, before it can be called a classic. However I’ll classify this as a classic. It was invented in 1965 by Pete Narancich, in Montana and named after the famous Big Hole River.

Keep it simple

Once again a blog from Peter Alexandersson, our resident fishing machine. Peter fishes a lot and for a lot of different species, but maybe more for sea trout than any other species. Today Peter offers a little advice for autumn fishing for sea trout.