A plan missfired

So, two days ago my hopes were high for some spring pike.
Those hopes where not only dimmed but blotted out as i discovered river Våmån is completely frozen solid.

So no pike there for me, maybe next time we go up to visit.
On top of that the weather forecast is promising snow this afternoon.

Since we are gonna be here a couple of days i might try to locate a water close by that is not frozen solid.
The larger rivers around Mora and Orsa seems to be open though they are deeper and lack the vegetation suitable for pike.
Nothin much to do but curse and tie more flies.

On that note i'm trying out a sort of traveling pike kit.
Since i'm gonna go abroad for pike in may i want to try some flies now and see what materials i might be missing or find myself wanting.
The kit now consits of:
Flash in many colours
Fox hair, many colours
Holographic eyes
Rubber legs
Glue
Hooks
Vice and other tools
A newly aquired rooster saddle with barred feathers. (still not that Whiting Grizzly i'm so longing for but it's something at least.)

Got any ideas, something you could not do without?
Remember,this is a lightweight project, if i wanted to have everything i'd bring my entire kit.
And a separate bag just for that...

Pike Premiere

It's been a long winter.
But now,finally the warming rays of sun is starting to do its job proper and the snow is melting.
The ice is still on the lakes and rather thick to add to that.
Some rivers and streams are opening up though and with easter break comming up me and the lass is planning to go up to her parents, stay a few days, take care of our house and get it sorted for moving in and i plan to make my pike premiere of the year up in river Våmån, specificly in the lower regions.
The upper are still iced over and the pike are in low stock anyways.
Up there it's mostly grayling and brown trout and the season start for those are not until the sixteenth of May.

So pike it is!
Hopefully the river is fairly open and that some pike will have started moving up in preparation of spawning.
Might as well bring a rod anywhere you go,wouldn't you say?
There's always some fishing to be done.

To that end and in general preparation for the pike season i've tied some more glitter ones.
Experimented a little bit with fox hair and added rubber legs to a couple ones.
The all-hair ones are way to small for my tase in pike flies,only about 10 cm(over all they are a bit small, brown/orange flash/hair fly is 15 and YES that is a bit small), but the hairs lenght has its limitations.
Gonna have to get my hand on some Big Fly Fibre or Craftfur or something like that, tying with just fox hair is a bit expensive...
I do however like to look of the flies, especially the monochrome one.

Here's to hoping and a good comming pike season!

News from the vice

So i've been looking around a bit for inspiration.
I find that when i tie flies for rainbow,seatrout and salmon i almost always resort to hairwings.
Quick and easy to tie, look good andthey work.

But i want more, i want to stir the pot and give a bit more attitude to the flies.
So i combined elements from classical salmon flies with the rude look from intruder type patterns and nice wing from the furwinged ones.

Silver tag, dubbing, palmered soft hackle, fox hair wing, bead eyes and schlappen.
Tied on a single.

Tic-Tac-Toe.
Blue,Orange,Green.

Windy closeup

A bit more attitude.

I paid a visit to Capricorn, a "local" fly fishing-only shop and got some new materials.
These included rubber legs.
Here's some more contemporary ones using sili legs as well.
I must say they really lift the fly and a pack contains about a hundred strips.
These are all tied using only one strip.
Tied on double.

Bunny Zonker, Fox hair and Bucktail

Closup.

Zonker with rubber legs and schlappen.

What keeps fishermen going?

 A non-fishing friend of mine once said:
You go out in almost any weather,even when it's below freezing, you toil and try but almost never catch anything.
How can you possibly keep going?

Well first of this refered to winter fishing and as some of you know it IS hard.
Secondly i do catch fish but since i mostly practice catch and release i don't have much to show for my efforts at the end of the day.

But really,what keeps you going through the seasons, why do you keep going out there?
To fishermen the answers are as abundant as the flies we've stuck in trees.

To those of you that do not fish however i'd like to share my take on it all.
Fishing is a great hobby. Gets you outside, close to nature and with a sole thing to focus your attention on when you are there.
To some of us and certainly for me fishing is more,it's part of life and the year as a whole.

The thing that makes you go back out there is the knowledge that the big one is out there.
Not nessecarily a big fish but just as well a big day.
The day when the stoneflies hatch and dryfly fishing is at its best.
The day when you see the water rising over the attack of a big pike and all those small ones were just something to spice up your trip.
The first day of spring when you see waking fish.
And of course, the very first fish of the year.

Why flyfish?
As stated in "A backyard in Nowhere"; Years ago someone invented the hardest way possible to catch a fish. To succed and be good at that gives you a great rush.

While i don't agree it's the hardest way of catching fish it is indeed not always the most effective.
But it is more than just catching fish.
It's the ritual of it all, getting to the water, rigging your rod, choosing a fly that you believe in, placing that perfect cast and much more that need to be felt, not read.

We continue to fish because we know that the big one will come.
The big day, the big fish, hopefully at the same time.

Yellow hackle fly on double hook.
Weighted with chainbead eyes.

My fishing company.
These swans usually checks up on me when i'm fishing in the usual spot.

The spring is comming

The winter is comming to an end.
At least i can see the dawn of spring comming up.

The ice is still lying on the lakes but the river is open and the rainbow trout are starting their runs to spawn and i'm hoping for a couple of spring rainbows.

On top of that i'm really looking forward to when the ice is letting its grip go on the small shallow bays and the pike is moving up into the warm water to spawn.

I've been planning a trip together with my father and uncle to go to Åland, home to some of the biggest pike in Europe were we'll fish in the archipelago,mainly from boat but i'll do some wading as well.
They'll fish lures and i'll fish fly.
But i'll be damned if i can't get my dad to try his luck on pike on the fly.

Better start tying some pike-candy!

Making loops and mending lines.

Since wintertime means less fishing (no not "No fishing") it's a good time to look over your gear.
In this case i've done a bit of repairing on a couple of broken lines.

The factory made loops are good ans strong but WILL break eventually, especially when you fish in the wintertime, the guides get frozen up and the line is put through a LOT of stress.

So here's a quick and easy guide on making new loops, either if you want one on your line or shooting head or want to repair a broken one.
It's not the prettiest repair but i've always been one for cheap,simple and durable solutions.

What you need:
Broken line in need of new loops.
Sharp knife or scissors.
Strong thread and bobbin.
One pointy needle (not nesseseraly sharp but pointy)
Epoxy glue,aquasure or similar.Any glue that retains a little bit of flexibility once dried.

The bust.
As you can see the line is bust and the braid is showing.
It will continue to wear and eventually break.
Possibly while fighting that price salmon.

Sever the ties!
Nothing fancy,just cut it.

The new loop!
Here's the trick:
Fold the line back WITHOUT removing the plastic coating.
The thread will grip the plastic way better then the braid and give you a very strong loop.
Hold the loop with both hands and swing the bobbin between your fingers 'round the doubled line.
Spinning the thread like this gives more pressure.

Cut the thread and go back between the two lines a couple of times to secure the thread.

Between the lines!

Now you are left with a bit to spare.

Cut it with your knife.
This is the reason i want a sharp knife, you can make a closer cut.
Make the cut angled so you get a taper.

Slab on the glue!
If you want to you can add some colour to the glue to make it look really neat.
The glue is to secure the thread further but more importantly protect it from wear.
Notice that i've let the glue a bit in to the loop to keep the thread
from splitting and that i've built a taper down to the
main line for easy transitions through the line guides.
Now you just hang it by the loop to dry and you are done!

In further news i've added Flies over Nebraska to my Blog Roll.
I like Erics simple and explorative style and enjoy seeing him catch what is to me exotic species, often small ones showing that you don't need insane trophy steelhead to have a very good time fishing!

What's new?

Dries for the summer.
Skater Wooly Bugger with foam top.
Hares ear Streaking Caddis.
All time favourite Elk Hair Caddis.

So. What's new?
First of it's February.
We are slowly progressing towards warmth,spring and eventually summer.
The days have gotten longer and a bit warmer and i spent a couple of wonderfull hours down by the river today swinging flies for rainbow trout.
No takers but i couldn't care less, the weather was amazing.

Unfortunatly one of my line-guides are busted and in need of repair and i'm looking in to how to do it,where to get new guides etc.
Got a couple of broken loops on my shooting line and T-17 tip respectivly so i'm gonna take care of those as well.
Mayby i'll upload a little tutorial of my way of making new loops.

And of course there's been some fly-tying!
Mainly new dries for the spring and summer, some for the twohander,some for my smaller rods.
Some of them you can see above.

Lastly there's been an icefishing session with my girlfriend.
Nothing caught, we tried for rainbow trout angling with shrimp.
They are there in the lake but they are very spaced.
I thought we'd catch some perch at least but no luck there either.
Ahh well...

Happy couple.
Notice the ice dubbs,very important to stay safe on the ice.

What's down there?

Keep on fishing, the spring is almost here!