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”
The two largest mayflies that hatch in Scandinavia are the E. Danica and it’s still water relative, E. Vulgata. Most commonly they are simply referred to as “may flies”. In this article, Andreas Larsson tells you more or less everything you need to know about the E. Vulgata, the imitations and the few tips on how to succeed in a hatch.
Continue reading “Green drakes and brown trout”
Many flyfishers are looking for the time when the big mayflies, E. Danica and E. vulgata, start to hatch in late spring and early summer. The image of a big newly hatched mayfly dun swirling down the stream or standing on the surface of a small lake, is for many of us the true picture of what flyfishing is all about. And it is great fun to see, when also the biggest fish lower their guard and start chasing those big flies. But in Stillwater, there as time that are even more fun to experience and that’s when the big Caddis flies begin to show, running the surface to safer ground.
Continue reading “Phryganea Grandis”
There are many fly fishers and many have different tastes and preferences. Salmon on the hitch, grayling on a deep nymph, trout on streamers and so on. But I think all fly fishers enjoy visible, vicious takes on the surface, whether on a foam beetle or a popper. Right now is perfect pop-pop-pop-time.
Continue reading “Pop-pop-pop”
The importance of a certain food item for trout and grayling and other species can be ascertained in several ways. You can get on the water with a seine and check what’s available to the fish, but you can also have a look at the number of imitations of a certain insect or other prey.
Continue reading “The small stuff”
Steve Silverio is our coordinator for the North American Ahrex Pro Team and in general a great help and friend to us, here at Ahrex HQ. Steve often offers invaluable advice on many levels and he was very much the man behind our HR 418 WD Bomber hook. Below Steve has written a Little on squid flies for striped bass. Just now, in the early summer months squid are coming close to shore to bredde and behind them follow big, stripes bass.
“Kært barn har mange navne” – a Danish proverb for “Beloved child has many names”. And that of course is also true for the Green Drakes, the largest of may flies that hatch in Europe, an important hatch as it’s the trout- and grayling fly fisher’s best chance for some of the river’s largest fish on a dry fly. The Danica/Vulgata hatch is one of the season peaks we all look forward to.
… in the salmon rivers might seem relatively far away right, but that allows proper preparation (or as a former, German elite forces friend taught me – The 7 P’s: Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance). And while this proverb might have otherwise serious consequences in his former line of work, it also has the potential to get the most out of a week of otherwise difficult fishing.
