Late summer, early autumn and proximity to water leaves one certainty in life. Midges! Som love them (very few), some hate them (most) and some endure them (fly fishers). As fly fishers we must love them. Yes, sometimes there are so many that it’s impossible to do anything. You can go prepared – bug stopper clothing, repellant, mosquito net over the head and that helps. But dole always find their way in anyway. Especially the “knot” that most Scandinavians know. The smallest creature on the planet that can drive a seasoned anglers to insanity!
Continue reading “Midges”Tag: grayling
The scent of a lady
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.
- This artickel is written by Danish photojournalist Søren Skarby
Continue reading “The scent of a lady”
A love/hate relationship
I suppose there are many of those – I think all fly fishers have them, in one way or another. One of mine is definitely midges, mosquitoes, knot in Swedish – whatever you call them. Some of them are really small, bite and will at one point get under your clothing. And when they’re out, they’re usually out in bi-zillions. There are others that don’t bite, but they cal still be a nuisance when they hatch, because they always do so in great numbers. They do however also produce some really interesting, good and not least challenging fishing. Trout like feeding on them. One can wonder since they’re so small, but the numbers make them a good meal for a trout. Trout also know (well, trout don’t know anything, but you know what I mean) that especially as emergers they are an easy meal.
Continue reading “A love/hate relationship”Seasons
In a fly fisher’s year there are always seasonal highlights that usually occur either when fishing for a particular species open, when seasons turn and not least when certain hatches occur. Some hatches are more important than others and they are of course not the same all over. Streams and still waters have different hatches that happen on different times. Most of them of course begin when spring begins to heat up the water.
Troutman Hex
The fly tying season is well underway and everywhere flies are tied and the boxes are filled for the upcoming season and for the adventures out by the water.
Continue reading “Troutman Hex”Caddisflies
The sight of a beautiful trout or grayling rising majestically to the surface inhaling an insect is the highlight of many flyfishers dream – the sight that drives us off to the water again and again.
Continue reading “Caddisflies”May fly / Green Drake / Danica / Vulgata
“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.
Adams CDC Cripple
Our Swedish friend, Joel Skoghäll once again has provided us with some material for the blog that we’re very happy share. This time, a cripple-version of one of the most famous American dry flies, the classic Adams. The fly is a old one – from 1922, where Michigan fly tyer Leonard Halladay tied it on the request of his friend, Charles F. Adams. The classic Adams is a traditionally hackled dry fly with upright, hackle-tip wings. A parachute-version is a well known variation and here, Joel presents a crippled merger version.
I’ll give the word to Joel:
Trout Food
Every trout angler knows the satisfaction of watching a trout repeatedly rise to take the same insect on the surface. As you carefully note the trout’s position, you tie on a close imitation of the mayflies the trout is eating and as the first cast lands, out come is almost given.
Introducing Angling Scotland
The blog this week is about the amazing fishing in Scotland. Two scottish anglers, Fraser McIntosh and Andrew Herkes have started a project named Angling Scotland. We have been talking to the guys behind and here is their own words about Angling Scotland.