The Stimulator is a very well known fly pattern, especially in North America – and certainly in Montana, where I think it’s impossible to find a fly shop that doesn’t have it in the trays. It might even be hard to a fly box without a Stimulator in it. It’s a very versatile fly and of course not only effective in the US, but on trout everywhere.
The variety in fly fishing is enormous, and almost all species of fish can be trigged in one way or another with a fly fished on a fly rod. The traditional trout and salmon fishing are familiar to everyone, but out there beneath the surface a lot of other exciting species await – and they also like to take an enticing fly. This week we talked to the English fly tyer and fly fisherman Jamie Sandford about one of his newer favourite fish, the “bonefish of fresh water” – the carp.
Here Jamie himself tells about the exciting fishing for the carp.
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.
It’s high summer which isn’t ideal for many of the “traditional” species coveted by fly fishers. Salmon, trout, sea trout, grayling, even pike really don’t like sunny, hot weather. Fishing for perch can be really good – they like it hot and sunny. Another fish that like it hot and sunny – and one’s that’s a summer guest in nordic waters, is mackerel. Mackerel is a popular fish, but it is often hard to reach from the shore. Fishing for them from large jetties is very popular and can be very effective.
Continue reading “Mackerel in the summer”
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.
We have just passed Christmas and started the new year when a package arrived at the office – a nicely decorated package box containing a belated Christmas present from the USA with contents that really impressed us. Two nice decorated boxes containing some very nice, brightly colored and especially foam flies – the famous Sam’s One Bug that have been developed for bass fishing in the USA.
The package came from the late Craig “Sam” Blevins son Wade Blevins, who is working to continue the story of one of the most famous foam flies for bass. We’ll turn the word over to Wade Blevins:
Continue reading “Sam’s One Bug”
When fishing new destinations and waters, are you the type to spend the winter researching hatches, relevant to the time of your visit? I am. In general, I am fairly meticulous in preparing for a trip, especially if involves travel and the following expenses. I can stand being somewhere and missing opportunities because I didn’t prepare.
Continue reading “The Ultimate Generalist?”
In late summer when it’s hot and dry, trout fishing possibilities are limited. Trout are rarely active when the sun and the heat is high. It’s not impossible to catch them, though, especially if you restrict your activity to the evenings.
Continue reading “Late summer dries”
Most predatory fish change behaviour over the season. They are found in different places and feed different times of the day. Why? They are predatory and follow the behaviour of their prey. So I suppose, in a sense, that you can say they have only one behaviour – they follow their prey. If you’re fishing for predatory fish, and I suspect most of us are, the key to catching them is often to understand what they’re feeding on and the prey behaves.
Continue reading “Predator and prey”
Once you mention the phrase, “10 Must-Have-Flies”, that list is obviously going to be different depending on what you’re fishing for, when you’re fishing, where you’re fishing, weather conditions, water level, water clarity – and of course, who you ask. I think you understand – there are no “10 Must-Have_Flies” for anything. But there are of course flies you really should have and if you’re fishing trout and grayling, particularly in or around (but not restricted to) woods and wooded areas, an ant imitation is one of them.
Continue reading “Ants”