N I L S
F O L M E R
J O R G E N S E N
Welcome to my fly book from 2011 and spring 2012! This book is meant to inspire all levels of fly anglers with a interest in salmon and sea trout fly tying. You will find all kinds of flies from the most simple creations to heavily dressed tube flies. Most are my own designs and might reflect my professional life a designer. - Colors and shapes are fun but there is actually an idea behind each fly. Its not possible to make one fly that covers all if you travel just a little around the waters of the world. Here in Iceland where I live, small simple flies are used and that’s good for that fly tier who ties of necessity, they are cheap and very easy to make. If you have fished on the bigger rivers of Norway, Russia or colored ones in Denmark, you also know that the flies become more technical. But if I should choose just one salmon fly, it would be Henrik Kassow Andersens HKA Sunray in different sizes and wing filling. This “book” also holds a story of my 2011 season here in Iceland. Many think that Iceland is only small salmon, well this report might change your mind. Enjoy ...
STEP BY STEP TYING MATERIALS NEEDED:
Wing: Artic fox, crystal fibers and Raccoon Body: Pro Flexitube Flash: Blue, crystal blue and crystal silver Tube: 25/40 or 40/40 Pro Flexitube Tail: Crystal fibers
4. Upper wing in Arctic Fox or Raccoon. Grey Grizzly hackle.
1. Start by adding a little crystal fiber tail to a Flexitube. Then ad the Flexiweight.
5. One blue flash and one blue crystal flash on the side. Two silver crystals on the top of the wing.
2. Ad As a little artic fox as underwing.
3. Ad a more crystal fiber as middle wing. This will give a nice transparent glow.
6. Ad the Jungle cock, cut the tube ends, dress the wind and your are ready with a cool and different fly.
Abner is in the old testament the father of light. This is not a religious fly but it certainly lights up in the river. - Not in bright fluo colors but in natural but mysterious way. The fly is partly build up with crystal fibers that gives a cool transparent glow. Combined with light colored fox and flash, this gives an amazing glowing fly. The colors are quite special and my goal with this fly is the match any clear salmon river. I am not a believer of the weather theories on salmon flies so I think this fly goes well in all weather. The only thing I do is ad a Raccoon upper wing instead of Arctic Fox in slower rivers to make it more alive. The fly works best when fished traditional down stream fishing but try stripping it to ad extra speed.
STEP BY STEP TYING MATERIALS FOR THE RAVEN NJ: Wing: Artic Fox & Racoon Flash: Red and Black Tube: 10/40 mm Pro Tube Flexi Tube Head: 6 mm Pro Tube Sonic Disc
1. Start by adding a thing layer of glue on the 10/40 Flexi Tube. Let it dry and ad on the drop weights.
4. Ad the upper wing. Arctic Fox or for more life, Raccoon. The ad one red flash on each side. 6 black flash on the top of the wing.
5. Then Jungle Cock of desired. Then wrap it up, ad a 8 mm Sonic Disc. Cut the tube and burn the end.
You now have a simply but deadly salmon fly that will work all over the world.
2. Put on the first wing, here black Arctic Fox.
Try also try the fly with a green flash and Sonic Disc. Good hunting. Nils
3. Ad a black hackle. Marabou if you want it extra lively.
Levende, let at binde og sindsyg effektiv er en kort beskrivelse af den bedste all round lakseflue, som jeg har fisket med. Hvis jeg kun havde en flue, ville det vĂŚre en Sunray HKA.
Simple things somehow often seam to always work and this has also been the case for one of my absolute favorite salmon flies, the Raven NJ. It a rather new pattern that I made for fishing on the bigger rivers here in Iceland where I live. It was mr slow but also has small parts with faster water. This fly was designed to be able to balance Variation with a red wire butt, angel hair in wing and mylar body. it according to the current by adjusting the body weight back and forth on the fly. The fly is built up around a Pro Tube System Flexi Tube 10/40mm and one or two body weights in 4mm. This Pro Tube System really gives the creative fly tier endless opportunities. The weight salmon on the small rivers on this is added behind the wing instead of a cone head which I think technic. Because of the great balgives a great balance. By adding a very thin layer of glue on the ance in this fly, it dives automatitube, the drop weight will run tight on the tube under the wing cally with the head down after each and you now have a fly where the weight can be adjusted to strip and for some reason, this, this most fishing circumstances. The genius hook holder part of really makes they salmon angry and the Flexi Tube will prevent the weights to fall off just in case the hammer the dancing Raven NJ. but also give a solid grip on the hook. The rest of the fly is simple. A two sectioned wing of Polar fox. Sometimes the upper wing is replaced with Raccoon to make the fly extra alive. Between the wings is a hackle A little flash is added and Jungle Cock if on a good day. All the times I have done my Raven NJ, I have used a Sonic Disc in 6 or 8 mm, depending on the size of the fly. This gives a nice move into the wing and the strong red or sometimes green color of the disc gives a nice contrast. It reminds a bit of a reversed Red- or Green butt. The fly fishes great on classic down stream fishing, its really alive even in calm water. The weight balance can as mentioned be adjusted and I recommend trying the Raven with all the weight in front for upstream fishing with fast stripping. I have had many
STEP BY STEP TYING
MATERIALS NEEDED:
BLACK GHOST VERSION 1 - ADVANCED
BLACK GHOST VERSION 2 - SIMPLE
Tube: Pro Tube System - Micro Tube in black
Tube: Pro Tube System - Flexi Tube in black
Weight: Pro Tube System - Drop weight S
Wing: Rabbit strip
Wing: Rabbit strip + yellow marabou
Hackle: Yellow
Hackle: Yellow
Flash: Silver Crystal
Flash: Pearl Angel Hair
Head: Pro Tube System - Pro Cone
Tail: Pro Tube System - Hook guide in black Cheak: Jungle Cock Head: Pro Tube System - Sonic Disc
1 Start by adding size S Pro Drop Weight on a Black Pro Micro Tube.
1 40/40 mm Pro Flex Tube.
Step
Step
Step
2 A a small bunch of yellow marabou.
Step
Step
3 Then a small underwing og pearl Angel Hair.
Step
4 Main wing of white Rabbit. A good tip is to cut the skin like a arrow both in front and back.
Step
Step
5 Yellow front hackle. Step
6 Ad Jugle Cock cheaks, black Pro Sonic Disc and a black Pro Hook guide on the back of the tube. Cut the front tube. Step
2 Ad yellow front hackle.
3 Main wing of white Rabbit. A good tip is to cut the skin like a arrow both in front and back. Also as silver flash.
4 Ad yellow front hackle.
5 Ad Pro Cone and the cut the tube and smelt the tube end to give a nice finish and so the cone does not fall off. Step
If your fishing Sea- or Brown trout, or even salmon, there is no way around the Black Ghost has caught thousands of fish around the world. This is an all time classic that has proven it self. In this article, I make the Black Ghost which is normally made on a streamer hook but here on two kinds of tubes. One advanced with weight and one simple and the also is cheap to produce. Making them on tube does not mean its salmon flies, it means longer life for each fly and saving money. Most anglers know that a contact with a rock can ruin the hook. This many times means “end of story� for the whole streamer but on a tube fly, you just replace the hook and the expensive and time demanding part of the fly is reusable.
ERNA NJ: Tail: Mixture of Buck Tail and Icelandic Horse Flash: Green Crystal Body: Green wire and Green Angel Dubbing Wing: Artic Fox body fur Hackle: Yellow Head: Blue nail polish from H&M
RUDOLF NJ: Tube: Pro Tube Micro Tube in black Tail: Pro Tube Hook Guide in black 1st hackle (under wing): Kingfisher Blue 2nd hackle: Red Flash: Pearl Mirrow Wing: Rabbit zonker strip Head: Pro Tube Sonic Disc
HM ... NJ: Tube: Pro Tube Micro Tube in black Tail: Pro Tube Hook Guide in red Weight. Pro Tube Drop Weight in S 1st hackle (under wing): Red 2nd hackle: Black Orange rubber legs with sparkles Wing: Rabbit zonker strip + red Angel Hair Head: Pro Tube Soft Disc
S FLY NJ: Tube: Pro Tube Flexi Tube 40/40 - mustard Weight: Pro Tube Bullet Weight Body: Crystal Chenille in yellow Rubber legs: 4 orange w/sparkle and 4 grey Hackle: Orange Flash: Night Blue Cheaks: Orange Jungle Cock Head: Pro Tube Sonic Disc - mustard
ALBINO NJ: Tube: Pro Tube Flexi Tube 40/40 - White Weight: Pro Tube Bullet Weight Underwing: Angel Hair Wing: Rabbit zonker strip Rubber legs: 4 grey/brown Hackle 1: White Hackle 2: Bright red Cheaks: RedJungle Cock Head: Pro Tube Sonic Disc - white
PET GREY NJ: Tube: Pro Tube Flexi Tube 40/40 - Blue “Under wing”: Silver Crystal Flash Wing: Bunny strip 1st: Hackle(under wing): Grey marabou 2nd: Hackle: Grey Grizzly Flash: Night Blue Cheaks: Jungle Cock Head: Pro Tube Sonic Disc - white
TIN TIN
Not the most pretty fly in my box but it´s different. Being different was the goal when designing it. The idea was to make something for the autumn fishing where the salmon have seen all the famous fly patterns over and over again. This fly fish cross stream or even up stream provokes the old salmon stuck to the bottom. First time I used it, it brought me what some say is the biggest salmon of the 2011 season in Iceland, a 108 cm silver specimen. 1. A little Buck Tail, 2 x long Night Blue flash and 2 x short Pearl Flash is attached.
4. Then a Turquoise/black grizzly hackle of choice is added.
2. Ad 2 x Jungle Cock feathers.
5. Orange Jungle Cock
3. Ad a yellow hackle, then a orange.
STEP BY STEP TYING MATERIALS NEEDED:
Tube: Pro Unitube + Hook Guide Flash: Night Blue and Pearl Crystal Flash Tail: Orange Buck Tail, Jungle cock feathers Orange Jungle Cock Black cone head Hackles: Yellow, Orange and Turquoise/black 6. Finally ad the cone and the Hook Guide.
Once again, simple is good! This little fly is so easy to tie that you can easily fill a box with different weighted versions. Thanks to the Pro Tubefly System, it is easy to ad different Drop Weights to the Flexi Tube. If you need extra weight, you can ad a Pro Cone Disc but I like this fly with the Pro Sonic Disc. The colors are mostly black and this is the most safe color for both salmon and trout in my opinion. Black flash and the rubber legs make it alive along with the little squirrel strip. The fly can be fish classic down stream but also up stream. I prefer to make small strips of around 5 cm to tease the fish and this I believe works with this fly. To make it simply, this fly just works were many other fail!
1. Ad a Pro Dropweight on a black 10/40 mm Pro Flexitube. Then rubber legs with sparkle.
2. Ad a squirrel strip, a little black flsh and Jungle Cock followed by a black hackle.
3. Ad a rabbit strip as wing and one piece of blue flash on each side.
MATERIALS NEEDED: Tube: Pro Tube System - Flexi Tube - Green
STEP BY STEP TYING
Weight: Pro Tube System - Flexi weight Wing: Rabbit strip Hackles: 1. Grizzly Spey Hackle - Yellow/red 2. Grizzly Hackle - Red/black 3. Soft hackle - Black 7 Ad Rabbit wing. Cut a “V” shape in each end of it in the skin. Step
Legs: Rubber legs - Green Flash: Crystal Flash - Orange/green Body: Ice dubbing - Green + Fluoro red rib Cheak: Jungle Cock - Orange Head: Pro Tube System - Soft Disc - Orange
8 Next hackle and rubber legs is added.
Step
1 Place the Pro Flexi weight on the Flexi Tube.
Step
Step
2 Make a red butt with a fluo red thread.
Step
3 Ad green dubbing.
Step
Step
4 Rib the dubbing. Step
5 Ad the Grizzly Spey Hackle. Step
6 Make a lower wing of Krystal flash. Step
9 Ad black Soft Hackle.
10 Orange Jungle Cock added.
11 Finally a Pro Soft Disc is added. Step
This is a medium sized fly designed to for the Danish salmon rivers. The rivers a often deep, slow moving and color. This Angry Rabbit has a Crystal Flash under wing the fits the rabbit strip color, this makes it very visible. Then there is not held back on the hackles, all three of them. Rubber legs to tease and the a big Pro Soft Cone to create a big wave around the fly. It is lightly weighed but not so much that the fly will “hang dead� in slow water. Danish monster salmon, watch out!
THE FIZZ - NJ: Tube: Pro Tube Micro Tube in red Tail: Pro Tube Hook Guide in red Weight. Pro Tube Flexi Weight Body: Crystal Chenille in Night Black 1st hackle (between wings): Black 2nd hackle: (between wings): Kingfisher Blue Wing(Underwing): Artic fox in black Wing: Silver fox in Orange w/black tip Flash: R ed Angel Hair in wing
- Black mirror on top of wing
- Night Blue Crystal on sides
Cheaks: Jungle Cock Head: Pro Tube Cone
NOA - NJ: Tube: Pro Tube Micro Tube in red Tail: Pro Tube Hook Guide in red Weight. Pro Tube Flexi Weight Body: Crystal Chenille in Night Black 1st hackle (between wings): Black 2nd hackle: (between wings): Kingfisher Blue Wing(Underwing): Artic fox in black Wing: Silver fox in Orange w/black tip Flash: R ed Angel Hair in wing
- Black mirror on top of wing
- Night Blue Crystal on sides
Cheaks: Jungle Cock Head: Pro Tube Cone
BISMARK - NJ: Tube: Pro Tube Flexi Tube 40/40 - Bronze Tail: Buck Tail - red “Hands”: Wing feathers from Jungle Cock 1st: Hackle(back): Kingfisher blue 2nd: Hackle: Orange 3rd: Hackle(front): Black soft hackle Cheaks: Jungle Cock Head: Pro Tube Cone Disc - red
LANTANA - NJ: Tube: Pro Tube Flexi Tube in clear Weight: Pro Tube Drop Weight 1st hackle (under wing): White Spey 2nd hackle: Orange Wing: Artic Fox in xxx blue Flash: A little red Angel Hair and one silver Crystal Flash pn each side Cheaks: Jungle Cock Head: Pro Tube Sonic Disc in orange
MIZPUZ - NJ: Tube: Pro Tube Flexi Tube in silver Weight: Pro Tube Flexi Weight Body: Crystal Chenille in clear 1st hackle (between wings): Orange 2nd hackle: Light Grey Wing(Underwing): Artic fox in orange Wing: 3XL Arctic Fox om light grey Flash: O range Angel Hair in wing
- Green Crystal on sides
Cheaks: Jungle Cock in orange Topping: Ostrich in white
STEP BY STEP TYING MATERIALS NEEDED:
Wing: Turquoise Artic Fox and King Fisher Blue Rabbit Body: Silver Hook: WMC or similar size 14 treble Tail: Fluo Red Crystal fibers and tread Cheeks: Jungle cock
4. Underwing and throat of turquoise Artic Fox body fur.
1. Make a little fluoro bright red butt.
5. Upper wing, King FIsher Blue Rabbit. Notice, not a zonker strip!
2. Ad a fluro bright red crystal fiber tail.
5. Ad Jungle Cock.
3. Make a silver body
10,5 kg Nammi-salmon from Vatnsdalsรก.
I made this fly for the 2010 season and it´s a name you will find in the log books on Miðfjardará, Vatnsdalsá and Korpa. At least this is where I took it. I don’t know where people who got some samples took theirs but I know they caught fish. Nammigrís means candy pig. It looks “sweet” and fits perfect in the small river in Iceland but I’m sure it will do good other places in the world. It works very well on slow flowing rivers where you can strip it in short aggressive strokes but I also upstream fished salmon in the late season where the fish has been in the river for some time. It also worked great in low water conditions. Put this fly in water and the two blueish colors melts together and the bright red fiber tail becomes transparent, real “sweet”. See if your local salmon has a sweet tooth ...
STEP BY STEP MATERIALS FOR HKA SUNRAY:
Tube: Pro Tube Flexi Tube 40/40. Black Body weight: Pro Tube Flexi weight Body: Size M Mylar tube in pearl Wing: Light grey and black Artic Fox Flash: Crystal in pearl and Peacock hegls
5. Ad two pearl Crystal Flash on each side of the wing.
Head: 3D eyes and epoxy glue
6. The upper wing is added, black artic fox.
1. Mount the Flexi Tube
7. Four Peacock hegls are added on top of the wing.
2. Ad a Flexi Weight
8. Attached the 3D eyes and make a head of epoxy. 3. Ad the Mylar Tube over the Flexi Weight. Fix in both ends.
9. Cut the tube, melt the ends and go fishing ....
4. Ad arctic fox underwing. Notice length.
This fly is without doubt one of the best catching flies on the bigger rivers in Iceland! My friend and inventor of the fly, Henrik Kassow Anderson and I fished this fly a lot since 2004 and the results has been amazing. It was so effective that a one stubborn guide in 2009 made a identical copy of the HKA Sunray and gave it a new name, the Bismo. If you look at the log books in the Rangá rivers in Iceland, you will find most of the fish are booked under Bismo now since Henrik Kassow Andersen and I don´t fish or guide more there much anymore. But this fly is the HKA Sunray, identically. Henrik even made a pink version which the stubborn guide who wont admit he copied it also has made : ) The fly is pretty easy to make but otherwise, the “right one” can be found in Veiðihornið in Reykjavik or on www.flugan.is. Here I will tie it on the Pro Tube System which means no gluing of tubes, easy! The original fly has no weight but I’m going to ad a little weight. The HKA Sunray can besides the materials I use here also be made with goat or monkey here but this is the classic version but on the Pro Tube System.
ADINA NJ: Tube: Pro Tube Flexi Tube 40/40 - Pink Tail: Pro Tube Hard Disc + Pink hackle Body weight: Pro Tube Flexi weight Body: Ice Dubbing - Ice Blue + silver tinsel Hackle: Kingfisher Blue. Wings: Silver Fox - Light grey w/black tip Underwing: DO + Krystal Flash Flash: Marabou flash in red, pearl, blue Front Hackle: Spey Grizzly grey Head: Pro Tube Sonic Disc - Clear
MIGO: Tube: Clear Plastic Under wing: Small peice og Artic Fox - white Middle wing: Goat - white Top wing: Goat - Black Flash: Marabou - pearl + Krystal - night blue Topping: 4 Peacock hegls Head: 3D eyes and proxy
A very deadly fly in the bigger salmon rivers. It out fished everything else on a trip I had to the famous Laxa in Adaldal, Iceland in July 2011. I have made quite many for fellow anglers in Norway who has repported out standing results Inspired by Henrik Kassow Andersons Orange Alta fly.
COSMO NJ: Tube: Pro Tube Flexi Tube 40/40 - Bronze Tail: Buck Tail - red “Hands”: Wing feathers from Jungle Cock 1st: Hackle(back): Kingfisher blue 2nd: Hackle: Orange 3rd: Hackle(front): Black soft hackle Cheaks: Jungle Cock Head: Pro Tube Cone Disc - red
NO NAME: A lot of stuff ...
KETILL NJ: Tube: Pro Tube Micro Tube clear Weight: Pro Tube Bullet Weight Under wing: Bright green and fluo fiber Middle wing: Green Artic Fox Wing: Light Grey Arctic Fox Hackle(under wing): Green Flash: Mirror Flash in green Cheaks: Jungle Cock
STEP BY STEP TYING MATERIALS NEEDED:
Wing: Artic Fox & Racoon Tail: Fiber and Pro Soft Discc Body: Kingfisher Blue dubbing and silver rib Flash: Golden Angel Hair and silver flash Tube: 25/40 mm Pro Tube Flexitube Weights: Pro Flexiweight and Drop Weight Head: Pro Tube Sonic Disc
1. Start by adding some red fibers on a 25/40 mm Pro Flexitube. Ad a Pro Soft Disc,a Pro Flexi Weight and a Pro Drop Weight.
4. Ad the upper wing, grey Raccoon. If needed, a bit more gold Angel Hair.
2. Ad dubbing and silver rib.
5. Make a light hackle of white Marabou.
3. Ad a light grey arctic fox underwing and a little golden Angler Hair. Ad one silver flash.
6. Ad red Jungle cock, a Pro Sonic Disc and then cut the tube in both ends.
he crowd t m o r f t u o s d n fly the sta l a ic n h c e t s u io A mystir
I often say simple is good but complicated is also good. Most of the time, its my passion that leads to complication but the also to strife after making the ultimate fly to fit a certain river or condition. The Silver Fairy flies are inspired by the Silver Ghost. Its a quite technical fly that uses a fox under wing and soft raccoon upper wing combined with a marabou hackle to make it light and very alive in the water and it is! I also added a Pro Soft Disc on the back of the fly to make it “dance” even more. The Pro Sonic Disc in front brakes the soft wing up and makes the fly go crazy. On the pictures, the fly looks big but put it in water it gets the most irresistible shape and movement. The Silver Fairy is made for classic down stream fishing and it almost fishes itself. The grey/silver color is my main colors and I believe it suits our clear rivers here in Iceland. This has nothing to do with the weather theories but it just fits into our rivers. This fly is made for the bigger rivers like Laxá in Adaldal, Blanda, Sog, Rangá but smaller versions of the fly is being made for the smaller rivers.
SHITZMO NJ: Tube: Pro Tube Micro Tube in black Body: Cobber Dubbing Under wing: Artic Fox Tail in burnt orange Hackle: Red soft hackle Wing: 2 x Ostrich herls in red 4 x Ostrich herls in yellow 4 x Ostrich herls in green 2 x Ostrich herls in orange Flash: Crystal Falsh in Night blue Hackle: Grizzly hackle in burnt orange Cheaks: Jungle Cock in orange Head: Pro Tube Cone
BUTMO NJ: IRON PRAWN NJ: Tube: Eumer Prawn Tube in black with red hook guide Tail: Fluo Fiber in red 4 Wild Boar Bristles 2 Crystal Flash in bronze Hackle: Soft Hackle
Tube: Pro Tube Flexi Tube in black Butt: Pro Tube Soft disc in clear Weight. Pro Tube Flexi Weight Body: Polar Chenille in red Underwing: Arctic Fox tail in black 1st Hackle: Red soft hackle Wing: Fluo Fibers in fluo red Wing: Silver Fox tail in yellow w/ brown tip Topping: 6 Peacock herls Flash: Crystal Flash in night blue Cheeks: Jungle Cock in Orange Hackle: Dark brown Head: Pro Tube Cone Disc
CASCADE - NJ: Thread: Hot red Tail: M ix orange Buck Tail win yellow Icelandic Horse hair. Ad two yellow/green Crystal Flash Butt: Green Body: Silver Flash Mylar Wing: Arctic Fox body fur Ad two yellow/green Crystal Flash 1st hackle: Yellow 2nd hackle: Orange The Cascade is not my design but this is my variation that I would like to share. The majority of Cascades out there for my seam stiff and “dead” in the water but this combination just works. The upper black body is not on my variation but I added a green but instead. Great fly all over the world!
JÁ JÁ NJ: Tube: Pro Tube Flexi Tube 40/40 - Mustard Body/weight: Pro Tube Drop Weight S “Under wing”: Silver Crystal Flash Wing: Bunny strip 1st: Hackle: Yellow Marabou 2nd: Hackle: Black Cheaks: Jungle Cock in green Head: Pro Tube Sonic Disc or Cone
WILLIE GUN VARIATION - NJ: Tube: Pro Tube Micro Tube in red Tail: Pro Tube Hook Guide in red Weight. Pro Tube Flexi Weight Body: Crystal Chenille in Night Black 1st hackle (between wings): Black 2nd hackle: (between wings): Kingfisher Blue Wing(Underwing): Artic fox in black Wing: Silver fox in Orange w/black tip Flash: R ed Angel Hair in wing
- Black mirror on top of wing
- Night Blue Crystal on sides
Cheaks: Jungle Cock Head: Pro Tube Cone
NO NAME 1 - NJ: Tube: Pro Tube Flexi Tube in clear Tail: Marabou + Cystal Flash in dark red Disc: Pro Tube Soft Disc in clear Weight. Pro Tube Flexi Weight Body: Polar Chenille - UV Dudding in grey Wing(Underwing): Arctic Fox in grey + gold Angel Hair Wing 2: Raccoon in grey 1st hackle: Spey Hackle in dark red 2nd hackle: Marabou in dark red Wing 2: Arctic Fox in grey Cheaks: Jungle Cock in red Head: Pro Tube Sonic Disc in silver
NO NAME 2 - NJ: Tube: Pro Tube Flexi Tube in silver Disc: Pro Tube Soft Disc Weight. Pro Tube Flexi Weight Body: Polar Chenille - UV Dudding in silver Wing(Underwing): Flouro Fibers - red Wing 2: Arctic Fox in grey + gold Angel Hair Wing 3: Silver Fox in grey/black tip 1st hackle: King fisher blue 2nd hackle: Grey Grizzly Wing: Silver Fox in grey/black tip Flash: G old Angel Hair
- Silver Crystal Flash on sides
Cheaks: Orange Jungle Cock Head: Pro Tube Cone
KETILL NJ - HORSE VERSION: Tube: Pro Tube Micro Tube clear Weight: Pro Tube Bullet Weight Under wing: B right green Icelandic Horse hair and lime fluo fiber Middle wing: Highlander green Icelandic Horse Hackle(under wing): Green Wing: Light Grey Icelandic Horse hair Flash: Mirror Flash in green Cheaks: Jungle Cock
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Iceland, the land of fire and ice, is home to some of the best Atlantic salmon and game fishing in the world.
By Nils Folmer Jørgensen
ANOTHER YEAR WITH THE My annual report from Iceland for the 2010 season was “The Year Of The Giants”. This was an unbelievable season, which for me seemed like once in a lifetime with many monster salmon up to 108 centimeters which was one of the biggest in Iceland in 2010. Well, the madness continued from day one in 2011…
It’s winter, it’s cold and it’s not officially allowed to fish inland in Iceland at this time, but in a small private river, I took an hour just after new year to get the line wet between the ice floating in the river. I know a few spots where the few salmon in the river might be on the way back to the sea. In the second spot, I hooked into a strong fish. I was expecting a slim ugly salmon on the way to the sea but this turned out to be an absolute cracking silver sea trout of 72 centimeters or more than 28 inches! This was a surprise since I had never seen such big fish in this river. The fish was returned with hope of more fish of this size on the future. Five minutes later, a slim salmon followed and was of course also released. It might be slim but “the first salmon of the season” was a reality. After the usual long winter break in Iceland, some rivers opened the 1st of April. We mainly fish for sea trout that are on the way to the sea at this time. I was to fish on the small river Varmá close to Reykjavik the 4th of April. The
I was expecting a slim salmon, not this nice sea trout
fishing reports were poor and the early anglers said the river was empty of fish. I went there with no expectations on a bright frosty morning but only after 10 minutes of fishing, I set one of my new fly designs, Spider NJ, in a nice sea trout which measured 72 centimeters. This
4th of April on river Varmá fishing sea trout in frost. Here the first fish of the trip.
being a quite big fish here, I was very pleased. Within the next six hours, 6 more sea trout followed from several places on the river. A freshly run trout of 64 centimeters or 25 inches was the highlight of the day and not something we see that often here in Iceland at this time of the season. It is very common in Denmark, where they are called elevator fish - non-spawning fish that go up and down the stream during the early season. This was such a great start to the official season
In mid April and may, I visited the famous big brown trout river Minnivallækur for some day trips. It’s always hard work there and God knows I saw some huge monsters there which I did not get but settled with brown trout up to “only” 74 centimeters or 29 inches, which was a nice fat female fish. I broke the line on a fish around 4 kilos or 8 lbs. But it’s difficult Some say you cant catch freshly the land these big fish on the light lines, and if you go run sea trout in april in Iceland. up in diameter, you will not have any takes. Well, what do you call this then? Back on my small local streams, there were not many trout for some reason and I had to spend a lot of time “hunting” before I got a shot at a big brown one day. He was holding in very shallow water awaking up to the spring sun. After sneaking in on him from the behind to get the perfect presentation, he took the little nymph in the first cast. A 64 centimeters/25 inch brownie followed. He was quite slim so I hope to meet him again when his back in shape. More brown trout followed the following weeks from my local streams, but there were not many fish compared with the past seasons. I was afraid that somebody nasty had started fishing these streams and on one trip, I met a kid who told me he just had killed a 6 pound brown trout. He actually kills all brown trout since he had been taught that they were bad for the Char… But thank god he likes fishing the lakes more than this stream. On small streams like this, you just need a few guys like that to finish off a river. June is brown trout month for me, and a lot of fishing was planned in the north of Iceland where my favorite streams are located. But something was very unusual this year. It was very cold up north, in fact the spring never came and even in the summer month June, we had daily temperatures around 4 deg. Centigrade or just under 40 deg. F, and a constant cold northern wind. The landscape was still winter yellow and had not gotten the spring green colors. I canceled Minnivallalækur proves my first two 3 day trips up to the river Reykjadalsá because itself again as a big of frost! fish river Then my friends from Denmark came to fish but they also got to see a winter yellow landscape but we managed to pull some nice brown trout anyway. They did however get to see the monster trout in the small river Galtalækur in the south, but they are very difficult to catch. Then I had a period of guiding and fishing with clients from Denmark and the US. We saw some better days weather wise and had some crazy dry fly fishing up north. I remember fishing an evening for two hours and catching brown trout of 48, 61 and 70 centimeters! That’s 19, 24 and 25.5 inches! We had an absolute crazy average size and lots of fun. The Americans all set a new personal records the first day here. All clients got “sold” by the amazing trout fishing Iceland offers. It fits perfectly since we have the spring, which is prime time for the brown trout, summer for salmon and the late autumn for the sea trout.
Great brown trout fishing in the north.
An artic char feeding from the surface.
Angry birds ...
Freedom
64 cm brown trout on size 18 dry fly.
Yet another cracking brownie from the north.
Double 50+ cm release ...
Gentlemen
Kasper landing a char
There are 8 kg brown trout in this little stream.
When guiding trout anglers on the Laxá in Adaldals Hraun beat, an angler mentioned that he had seen a huge fish brake the surface several times. Hraun can hold a few salmon but they are mostly located on the lower two beats which are the salmon beats. The day after the clients had gone home, I was on the river with a friend. I rigged 6 weight rod, which was the heaviest I had on this trout trip. It was armed with a Sunray HKA and I went out to the spot where the big fish had been seen. Casts were The first half of July I spend guiding, and it was first until the end of the made and with small short strips and it did month I set off for Laxá in Adaldal again, but this time to the famous salmon not take long before the fly was stopped by beat called Nes. It was the first time I was to fish on the beat, which turned something angry. out to be good quality water. There are 8 rods on 8 beats. The only minus I lifted the rod and it bent all the way down in - and a big one - is that the beats are way to short under Icelandic circumthe handle. Deep massive pulls followed bestances. Some are fished through in a hour and each rotation is three fore the fish took a long run. It’s a shallow river hours. But it can be OK if the fish are running. so even the trout make long runs but this was I had done something I don’t normally do, I hired a guide. But it’s a not a trout, this was something bright and very good investment the first times fishing this big river because it is more big. In fact the wave indicated something huge! tricky than the smaller rivers in Iceland where you often see the salmMy poor Z-axis 697 did not have the power for on. On the Laxá, it’s “blind” fishing, and many times in big open arthis so I had to take it slow not to break the leader. eas where you need to know where to wade and, of course, where But things went like they should and we landed the salmon are. a great “bar of silver” measuring 103 centimeI had a great guide called Steingrímur S Stefánsson (Steini) whom ters/40.5 inches! The fish had just arrived from the I can only recommend. We hooked into three salmon already the sea since he still had sea lice. I guess I picked up first evening and landed two of them, being fresh specimens of 67 where I left last year with the Icelandic monsters … and 84 centimeters (26/33 inches), both with sea lice. Joy…! We ended the evening on a pool where there were many salmon showing themselves, but just when I thought I knew all about catching a salmon, my self confidence fell. I did not get a single take from any of these many fish. But by the end of the evening when coming back to the lodge, it turned out that the other seven rods had not had any salmon at all, so Steini and I did good for a first evening!
DEEP MASSIVE PULLS FOLLOWED BEFORE THE FISH TOOK A LONG RUN ...
This freshly run 103 cm salmon had given my client “problems”.
The rest of the Nes beat was fished by Bubbi Morthens, an Icelandic musician with a great passion for this river. He was good at speaking Danish and we shared a real passion for this sport. On the river was also the world famous Jon Asgeir. He’s not famous for anything good these days. Many believe that his business practices was one of the main reasons for the crash of Iceland in 2008. Next morning, Steini and I started at a BIG and flat pool called Grá Straumur which for me looked like a very boring ocean. But while standing at the car staring at this sea, I saw a salmon jump very far down in the pool where there was barely any current. At least they were there and shortly after we were in the water in the top of the pool. There was nothing in the upper part Steini landing secwhere many would expect it, but halfway down the long pool, ond salmon of the a salmon took my size 12 Night Hawk hard. The hook was set morning and another salmon went into Steini’s net. 50 meters further down, there was a hard take again followed by a good fight by a 88 centimeters/35 inch female salmon! Great! We ended the morning rotation on what Steini calls the big fish pool, Presthylur. Many of the big salmon from Laxá comes from this pool. Steini sailed me out in a small boat to fish from but it did not do the trick for us. At lunch time back at the lodge, an nice English guy had caught a 20 lb salmon and he was in heaven. This calls for a hitch! A perfect hitch The afternoon was spent at two of the very short beats which caught salmon were very quickly fished through. Just as I was ready to call it a day after only one hour of fishing, Steini spotted a good sized salmon holding a few meters from the bank in the pool Skriduflud. He showed me where is was by dropping a Sunray fly just over the fish which immediately rose for it. “Stop!” I said, “This calls for a hitch” and I rigged a single hand hitch setup and fished over the salmon over and over again. It did not react before a medium size Sunray hitch was served, but then he also rose and took it confidently. This fish gave a great fight with several of jumps and almost ended down by the next anglers. Steini netted and measured him to 92 centimeters or a bit more than 36 inches. An absolutely beautiful fresh salmon. Later a smaller salmon followed on the shallow neck in the pool Kirkjuholmabrut. Great start to a day on a boring pool
The fingers were starting to get chewed up ...
A winner fly
The next morning after 4 takes but only 2 salmon on the bank. The first was again a fish spotted after he had been fished over with a traditional down stream fishing which there was no reaction on. After changing to the hitch, he took very close to the rod tip and gave us a perfect view of the episode. This was a strange looking 80+ centimeters (31+ inches) salmon with almost no spots. In the pool Langaflud, I hooked into a very strong salmon a little later in the ripples. We knew this was a big one right away and it was, 100 centimeters or almost 40 inches of it! Back at the lodge, Bubbi was in heaven just having landed a 96 centimeter or 38 inch salmon and another angler had landed a smaller one. Next morning we took it slow and landed two more salmon in Gr책 Straumur. One we thought was a monster since it went absolutely crazy. We had to follow him in order to keep control of the line. But he turned out only to be 88 centimeters or 35 inches, but this was fun. Most crazy was the take. The fly had moved over the fish but it looked like it had second thoughts. He wanted it badly because we saw a big wave from where the fly had been and the fish jumped down on the fly. Good that we were two people to witness this mad fish. After three days, our group of 8 anglers ended with 13 salmon on the bank, and released. 10 of them were mine!
Steini holding my second 100 cm salmon from 2011.
THE BIGGEST FISH WAS LANDED BY BO BEING A CRACKING FRESH MALE OF ...
After fishing Laxá in Aðaldal, I was supposed to drive all the way to the south east corner of Iceland to fish Breiðdalsá, but as weird as its sounds, I was totally worn out of energy so I decided to cancel, go home and spend some time with my family since next week would see yet another fishing trip. Next fishing adventure was to the northern river called Fnjóská. I had never fished this river and was positively surprised by its beauty and after two days there, it became one of my favorite rivers in Iceland. Actually it is not a typical Icelandic river. A lot of it is surrounded in green forests. It’s amazing standing fishing in the beautiful green valley with the snow covered mountain peaks rising over the trees. The river itself is medium to large under Icelandic circumstances. The current is strong and wading can be tricky on the rocky bottom. The water was almost beyond gin clear. The only thing I personally did not like was that worm fishing is allowed and there is too much killing of big fish. Anyway, the river, the group and self catering lodge was great, and we had a fantastic time. For the second time in my life I tried sharing a rod, but with a great Danish guy called Bo. We found the very long and big river quite difficult meaning we could not find the salmon easily like I’m used to. The locals said “just by the stones” but there were stones all over the place… So it became our slogan, “just by the stones”. Maybe it was luck but within the first 5 minutes of our trip, I hooked and landed a nice salmon. At the end of the two days, 53 salmon were landed on the 8 rods fishing the whole river, 10 of them
were mine, so I was very pleased with the first meeting with this river. I even managed to catch my first salmon on a Red Francis tube fly. Otherwise the HKA Sunray and Cockmo did great. The biggest fish was landed by Bo being a cracking fresh male of 92 centimeters/36 inches. I spotted a group a fish from a high bridge and among them were two salmon that fell for Bo’s Francis fly and that certainly brought out a true smile. My highlight was hitting a run of fresh salmon entering a tiny pool where not even the shooting head on my two-hand rod was fully out of the tip top. Salmon kept on coming up from some hard white water and into the pool. Then they jumped around and three times got so angry at my fly that they attacked it. I banked three fresh salmon within 45 minutes. The last morning was without results for Bo and I and the fish we had hit on beat 1 the evening before were spread out on the upper river which is much more challenging. But a lovely meeting with an amazing and outstanding river with great fishing.
My first salmon from Fnjoská
After Fnjoská, Jon Sigurdsson and I had company from Germany. The chef editor Michael Werner from the German fly fishing Magazine, Fliegenfischen. He turned out to be a great guy. The trip was planned to be 3 days on Miðfjardará, 1 day on Fljotá and 2 days on Laxá in Aðaldal. I joined 2 days too late on the Miðfjardará which for many years has been my favorite river but I don’t go there as often as I used to. But now I had evening fishing and morning fishing and was going to “beat” this river, which I know like the back of my hand. The evening was quite relaxed but after a few hours, two salmon were banked and one lost on the Vesturá part of the river. Next morning, Jon and I were fishing together. I stared at an old favorite pool of mine, Myrkhylur on Austurá, which involves an always interesting climb down a steep Canyon wall. I always stop half way down and scan the pool. There were salmon laying all the way down the pool in a line along the opposite bank. I went all the way down the cliff, went to the back of the pool and made the first cast to a salmon. He slowly rose up from the bottom and took my little black Francis fly. I gave him full power to get him away from the other fish and shortly after landed a fresh salmon around 75 centimeters/29 inches. After a few more casts, the next one was on and the story repeated itself 7 times going up through the pool. All salmon were fresh with sea lice and between 65 to 85 centimeters (25-33 inches) so this was really fun! At the top of the pool in the deeper water, a much stronger fish took the fly and made a mess of the whole pool, meaning spooked off every fish in there. I could not control it like the other on my TCX 796-4 but landed him just below the pool, 92 centimeters or 36 inches of very strong salmon!
92 cm with seal bite
MICRO Francis
The next day we headed more north to the little river called Fljotá. We only had one evening and a morning there before leaving for Laxá in Aðaldal. Since this small river is absolutely packed with sea run arctic char, I offered some of my fishing time to fish them instead of salmon. I found a pool that was PACKED with char and there was an opportunity to practice my nymphing skills, which are not the best on char. I’m a dry fly guy. Within 2 hours I had landed 40 char! I had never tried anything like it. It was fun but after 2 hours it was enough. The other guys had landed a salmon so it had been a good evening. In the morning, we all went for salmon. I found a fish standing alone below a small bridge. I sneaked down to the river and made a very short cast laying on my stomach in the high grass. I could not see anything but felt a little pull. I thought it was a char but it turned out to be the salmon. He turned out to be the smallest fish of the season for me, only 59 centimeters or a modest 23 inches. Then I blind fished many pools and eventually another salmon 64 centimeters/25 inches followed. That was all the happened on the river so no big ones this time. The the guys took off the Laxá while I headed home to get a little break from fishing.
Mid-August brought my good friend Kasper (Yes, that’s GFF’s own Kasper Mühlbach!) from Sweden to Iceland. He joined Ásta and I for a week’s fishing in the north side of the country. We started with brown trout fishing on one of the small dream streams away from everything. The weather was as it’s been all summer exceptionally cold and our dry fly dreams were threatened. Ásta and I started up in one of the “safe” pools and it did not take long before she had her first 50 centimeters+ (almost 20”) brown trout on the dry fly and in only 5 degrees Centigrade! I did not see it coming, but there was a hatch of very determined, tough insects and a few trout were taking advantage of that. We caught a few more trout, but I was worried about Kasper not having fun but after a few hours, he came back to us, smiling, and told about the 16 brown trout he had landed. They were not all over 50 centimeters like I had told him they would be, but it was fun. The next day we were again fighting cold weather but we had great fun and got some nice movie captures. Kasper caught me on film hunting down a 59 centimeters (23”) brownie just a rod length away. Like hunting most other trout, I sneaked up on him from the back. He was very busy eating among other smaller trout so it was very lucky that after many casts, he took me tiny dry fly. He gave a strong fight, much more than a similar sized salmon. He turned out to be the biggest trout of our trip. We all had a relaxed trip with good fishing and the company was perfect, just like a trip should be. Last morning was too cold for Ásta and I to enjoy, only 1 degree Centigrade and very close to freezing, but Kasper went out and actually managed to hook into a trout on the dry fly!
Vinter summer in Iceland
Welcome to Hafralonsá!
At noon we took off the the north east of Iceland to the remote and beautiful Hafralonsá salmon river. It was my our first time at this river. The river is 55 km or almost 35 miles long and is only fished with 6 rods, so there is an endless row of pools. My kind of river. The water runs quite fast but on the middle part, it runs through a steep canyon where the fish are easy to spot. The downside is that you need to climb down the steep walls with rope to get to the river. On the other hand, it does give some extra excitement. Hafralonsá is not a river were you catch many fish. You have to work for them here. We fished with Jon Sigurdsson, the owner of FishIceland, his girlfriend Hanna, his brother and an American. It turned out to be a great group. The first evening, Ásta and I fished together with Kasper on Can water the upper beat 1. There are three beats with two rods on each. become We dropped off Kasper and agreed on to meet about five pools more clear downstream according to the river map. then this? We went a bit upstream to a place where we had to climb down a rope to get to the river. Halfway down was a cliff hanging out over a nice pool. Right away, 15-20 salmon could be spotted in the gin clear water and it was time for laying the tactics. I wanted to climb down behind them and fish them upstream not to spook them. I tried going down the cliff but the salmon could see me so I changed plans and went up and down on the other side of the overhanging rock and could easily hide myself from the salmon. I laid out a few casts with my 11 foot Switch rod and the third time the little Undertaker fly went out, a salmon rose in stroke it. Great start! It did not take long to get the fish in, he was quite small be freshly run with sea lice. I released it and went down through the pool but got a bit frustrated over I could not rise any more salmon since I could see they were there. These were fish that had been in the river some time and they get “stuck” to the bottom, especially when a desperate angler appears on the bank. Upstream was another pool with around 10 salmon in it. It was a very small pool with more calm water making it more difficult to get the take. It was easy to see the fish had been fished on before and we only managed to get one to chase a small hitch tube. Just like most Icelanders do, we also tried with a heavy Frances tube that hung right in front of the salmon but they just laughed at this mad attempt! Up the wall again and we drove down to our meeting point and I fished through long pool with traditional downstream swings and hooked a colored salmon. But it was at least a salmon and we were very happy. One thing I find funny when I bring Ásta on fishing trips, she always talks to the fish when releasing them till they swim. Some calming connection? Soon Kasper arrived and he was very happy having landed two salmon, both freshly run. We went back to the lodge early and found the we were to only ones having success. So a good start... for some of us at least. A little extra excitement besides the fishing
Well prepared, one switch- and one single hand rod.
Next morning, Ásta and I went up to the upper river while everybody else stayed on the lower part. It takes 40 minutes to drive up there on a terrible dirt road that only can be driven in a proper 4X4 - and that’s not a Vitara or RAV4! But the drive was worth it. It was an endless remote landscape with raw beautiful nature. The river was mainly with fast water and endless pools, a true play ground and we had it all to ourselves. It is impossible to fish all the pools so I picked out some to try until lunch. They first pool gave a smaller colored male salmon on an Erna fly size 12. But after that, the rest of the day was a struggle without result. Including the afternoon fishing on the lower part of the river. I fished with Kasper in the evening but we did not hook up no matter where we went. We found a few older/colored salmon standing here and there but they were like glued to the bottom. At the end of the day, it turned out that our American friend had landed three salmon on the home pool. He had gotten some help from our newly arrived guide Siggi. Omar, had lost a very big fish in the famous Gusta pool. Next morning, Kasper and I split up on the lower beat while the others went either to the upper river or down to the sea pools. I fished the home pool and it did not take long before a monster salmon broke the surface in the tail of the pool. He was over 100 centimeters (close to 40”) but very colored and I could not get him to take. It’s like mid-August is a “deadzone” for the big ones. Either you get them when they are fresh from the sea in July or in September when they start to become territorial and aggressive. This old salmon here was jumping quite a lot but he was not willing to chase off our flies. Hitch, size 18 trebles, small tubes, big tubes, up- and down stream fishing. Depressing! I did catch a very nice sea run Arctic char instead, which ended up as a exceptionally nice dinner! I went up to Kasper who had been fishing several pools. Just like me, he had seen older fish but had no takes. I told him about the monster in the home pool and we went back so he could have a try. As expected, the monster was not interested in Kaspers flies either. Instead, he made up a trout rod and stared fishing for the char. The pool was packed with them. We could both see them right in front of us, but when Kasper put down his under water camera under the surface, we discovered that there were arctic char all over. Also a few old colored salmon showed up on the screen. Back at the lodge for lunch, Jon and Omar could tell about fresh salmon coming in. They had two down in the sea pools so that was good news. This could get things moving again.
Reason to celebrate
In the evening, I drove Kasper all the way up to where the salmon can’t go further due a waterfall. He could then walk downstream and fish many untouched pools. Earlier in the season there has been caught some big fish up here so I said “Go find them and meet me further down the river”. I drove around 20 pools downstream and tried out some fantastic pools in the amazing landscape. There were a few salmon in all of them but again old and colored ones so I did not get more than one to follow follow the fly. I was getting very tired of not catching. This is not how it normally is for me in Iceland and the fishing energy was running out, still enjoying the beauty out here though. In a pool where Ásta had a pull this morning, my energy level had at boost in a split second when I felt a pull in the top of the pool in the very hard water. I was not in doubt that this was from a salmon and I was back in hunting mode again. Instead of casting to it over and over again, I sat on the bank for around 5 minutes and then tried again and just hoped that I would get the chance again after almost two bad days. Well, I could not see anything in the fast flowing water but I got the best feeling, a solid salmon pull that lead into a hooking of the fish! He was on and he felt good in size also. He swam slowly down in the middle of the pool in the calmer water. I got up my camera and started filming my lonely adventure. He was quite difficult to get into the shallow to beach him but the first time he got close, he made trouble and took off in a big solid wave. I was into a serious big fish and the movie tells the story of that. Turn off the camera and focus on the fish that by now was very unhappy about the whole event and took off in high speed into the next pool below. I ran after him and had butterflies in the stomach after being close to landing him already. I got him and he was
BIG. Measure tape on the fish and the mandatory picture told the story of the biggest salmon from Harfalonsá this year, 104 centimeters or 41 inches! This was too good to be true and all the hard work was now forgotten. This was a great moment and I truly felt grateful for it. Kasper came and we sat by the taking spot celebrating with a Underberg. Unfortunately Kasper had not hooked up but had had a very long walk. He fished the big fish pool through, then I did the same, and we went back to the lodge. At the lodge, there was a very good atmosphere. Ásta and Hanna had been fishing together. Ásta had gone against the guides advise and done it her way and hooked up with a nice salmon. They were in heaven like kids on Christmas eve and the story was told over and over again. Eventually, my story came out but that did not make things worse. A great day ended with two barbecued freshly run Artic Char in good company. The American, Brandon entertained with many funny stories. Among them one about a lady that was bit by a barracuda in her private parts...
Next morning, Kasper and I took the upper lower part of the river. Kasper started furthest upstream while I started in the middle on a pool Kasper had seen fish in the previous days. I think it was in the third cast that my fly just stopped in the top of the pool in the hard water again. I set the hook into a calm fish, but I could not lift him up in the water. Judging from that, it must have been a decent size fish. For some time he just went around in the small pool but that didn’t last. He suddenly dropped over the neck of the pool and ran far down through the shallow very fast water and into the next pool. I could do nothing else than give the fish loose line to avoid breaking it around rocks and then follow the fish and pick up the line again. In the next pool, he had rested a bit and on “my arrival”, he took off again to the next pool. I could not follow the fish in the river now since some holes were to deep to wade so I had to climb up the cliffs with a loose line and then go downstream from the high banks. Further down the river, I got contact with the fish again and also saw him for the first time and my luck had struck again. It was another big one. He was getting tired now so I went down to the high bank were I planned on landing him. It was impossible to pull him fully in because of the cliffs behind me and to make it more dramatic, the strong current took the fish and dragged it further down the river again. Now I was soaked in sweat and the Gore-tex in the my waders was put to hard work. I was fearing for the hook to loose its grip after all this drama. In the next little calm spot, I got the fish close again but then the bloody rod broke! Here we go again ... It must have gotten damaged when banging it against the rocks behind me during the battle. The fish was laying only two meters out in the river and was worn out so I actually managed the last meters with the line directly in my hands. But I did it and was totally soaked in sweat and laughing of this crazy experience’ I could finally measure and take pictures of a nice male salmon of 98 centimeters or almost 39” and a broken rod. I also managed to make a movie to memorize this experience. Thanks for this one Mr. Salmon! It was quite a walk back to the taking pool where the car was parked. Kasper was there, fishing in the pool and I could see on his face that he was thinking what I had been up to now. He came up and noticed the broken rod and the story followed. He wanted to fish the pool again and I asked him if he wanted to try my new ugly fly that only had caught two salmon so far. But the statistics were quite good: 104 and 98 centimeters in a row! Kasper into a big bar of silver He did and soon he was hooked into one more big one in the 90+ centimeters range, but this one was newly arrived from the sea. It stayed in the pool and we were close to landing him two times before the hook pulled. This one would have looked good on Kasper in a picture. But he was happy anyway for this experience and teased me saying that he only hooked the freshly run salmon. That was the call to pack up and leave from this great river. Kasper went Not a solid situation home to Sweden and Ásta and I to Reykjavik. Next stop, Vatnsdalsá early September.
Amen!
It’s always nice to go to the yearly autumn trip in Vatnsdalsá. Even though the season had been quite slow there, you never know if you can rise one of the big salmon that the river is known for. And also nice been welcomed nicely by the river owner Pétur at his great lodge. The only thing looking bad for this trip was the weather. As it was looking now, we would only have one evening with a chance of a catch due a dramatic weather change. The worst possible: frost and snow. So we had to be effective on or one good evening. Luckily, Jon and I who were sharing a beat got beat 1, which holds the two best pools on the river. We flipped the coin on who was to start at the main number one pool and I got to start. I fished my way through it, saw a few fish but did not get any. Then Jon did the same. I tried again while Jon went 200 meters upstream to fish a tight small spot. That payed off. He hooked and landed a little silver salmon. We decided to try a new pool none of use had tried before. The river here was very wide, slow flowing and quite boring. While standing by the car deciding if to fish here or not, a very big salmon jumped close to the bank. I went down and sneaked out into the shallow clear water, which was absolutely calm. The fished jumped again just 15 meters from me and it was massive and looked very fresh. I had never seen such a big fish ever in Iceland, so I got quite exited. I was almost shaking when I put out my small Erna fly and stripped it in. I gave the place a rest until around 10 minutes later where the fish showed itself again two times. I tied on a new pattern I had made for this trip which later got named Tin Tin - a very different looking fly. I cast it directly across the current and stripped it in small “hits”. Not far from me, a wave rose towards the fly and a monster salmon came half out of the water and almost jumped onto the fly. No matter what this it called, the fly got seriously attacked! I set the hook and the fish set off in a big wave towards the middle of the river. It stopped there and started making deep pulls that sent some great feeling all the way down the rod and into my arms. A massive fish was on the end of the line and I was shaking a bit now. He was pushing my rod to the limit just with his weight, but I was not in trouble before I got him closer to the bank where weed snaked onto the fly line. I had to be careful since I lost a lot of feeling with the fish. Everywhere this fish went, I could see the wave from it. I took it easy and eventually I won the battle and could enjoy my dream fish in Iceland! 108 centimeters or 42.5 inches of silver salmon! I have caught a 108 centimeters salmone once before, but that was a very colored male. This one was massive, in great shape en quite fresh from the sea. The fish was not weighed but according to the length/weight measurement on this river, it could well have been 14 kilos/28 lbs. We have two rivers in Iceland where salmon are heavier than the average. These are Vatnsdalsá and Laxá i Aðaldal. No matter what, this was just far out great! It turned out that there were quite a lot of salmon in this area and I had quite a few pulls and waves chasing the fly. I landed one more but colored fish of 86 centimeters. Jon landed a nice 92 centimeters salmon which normally is a big fish in Iceland but after having having a 108 centimeters bar of silver, it didn’t seem that big at the moment. Well, that was an amazing start and another strike of luck for me with the big ones in 2011. It was my fourth salmon over 100 centimeters this year. The rest of the river only gave one more salmon if I remember correctly so we got lucky there.
A MONSTER SALMON CAME HALF OUT OF THE WATER AND ALMOST JUMPED ONTO THE FLY
“Bloody fuck finger!
The sea trout did not mind the cold
The next morning turned out just as bad as the weather forecast predicted. Frost and light snow in early September! This is not normal, but thank god we had good fishing the former evening because frost kills the fishing. We gave it a shot up on beat four but it was dead. The sea trout and arctic char took, but not the salmon. I think one salmon was caught the whole day and the next day was the same. Jon and I spend a lot of time in the good lodge working instead until the last evening where we had beat 1 again. We pushed ourselves out in the cold and had to use gloves, something I usually never do. But it was freezing. I got surprised when I hooked and landed a 65 centimeters male salmon in the main pool and a little later a freshly run 2.5 kilo sea trout. Jon went up where I had the big one on the first evening. After fishing one more round and was trying to fix the hook into the rod guide after fishing, something went wrong. I did not feel it but the fly was suddenly “attached” to finger. The Ken Sawada hook was sharp enough to go all the way into the tip of my finger. This time the cold came in handy since I could not really feel it. So I tried my best to get the hook out but it was stuck! Jon came and I pulled up a bloody “fuck” finger and asked where the nearest doctor was. I went to the nearest town where a doctor met me at a operation room. He could not get it out either so he put in two injections to put the whole finger to sleep. He came with same big nasty looking tool and I had to look away during the fixing. I just remember him pulling with a lot of power and my whole body moving but he got it out and wrapped the old finger up in white bandages. 30 minutes later I was back at the big fish pool. I wanted to have a chance again but had to find a solution so that my wrapped up finger would not get wet. This is where the many tackle plastic bags come in handy and soon I was ready with a condom looking finger. That was the trick and another salmon of 88 centimeters came out of the cold water. The last morning, Jon and I did not fish but one of the other guys got a nice 99 centimeters salmon. Now I was off the fish three days in Laxá in Aðaldal Nes but on the way up there, I drove through snow! It is only September so it was very boring getting fishing ruined by the weather this early. It also ended up with me driving home instead of fishing. Sometimes it’s just not fun to fish.
Fishing in Laxá in this? No way!
Good morning Iceland! I bit to early snow on 7th september.
Not interested!
Then I had 10 days of guiding and fishing on the East Rangรก river. The first week was OK but the second was poor, not many fish in the river. I got to fish quite a lot myself and landed around 20 salmon. My client Olaf landed the biggest salmon of the season on the East Rangรก one morning in the very first cast.
Early October I was involved in a film project with Danish Niels Vestergaard who makes some cracking fishing movies. But he was so unlucky with a horrible weather starting with three days on one of the best sea trout rivers in Iceland, Tungufljot. The river was muddy due heavy rain and unfishable. Next river, 3 days on Varmá. Most of the time unfishable, but I had some success with a specially made flash fly for the circumstances. I had 4 nice sea trout with the biggest of 78 centimeters or 31 inches, which came very aggressively out from under the bank and attacked my fly. This being on the far upper river which is very small was really amazing. Such a big fish in so little water. Great! And my biggest sea trout in Iceland. We spend some time looking at a 3 meter or 10’ tall waterfall where the guys did not believe the sea trout could jump up. Just like I did when I started fishing here many years ago. But they got to see many sea trout jump up here. Two weeks later, I was back at Varmá again with my old fishing friend Martin, the founder of globalflyfisher.com. He was on a family trip, but I had planned a surprise fishing trip for him on the last day of the season. Not much fishing was done since Martin unfortunately has been hit by MS and and he can’t fish alone even on solid ground. Not fair for a guy who has been living a healthy live. But we had a good time anyway and landed a half frozen brown trout. That was 2011, another year with giants …
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Icelandic Horse Hair A 100% Iceland product Gives your fly the perfect shape and life
INTERNATIONAL DEALER: SÍÐUMÚLI 8, 108 REYKJAVÍK, ICELAND VEIDIHORNID@VEIDIHORNID.IS
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The Francis
Have you tried casting it upstream and stripping it in? Well, try it ...
NO NAME 7 NJ: Tube: Pro Tube Micro Tube clear Weight: Pro Tube Bullet Weight Under wing: B right green Icelandic Horse hair and lime fluo fiber Middle wing: Highlander green Icelandic Horse Hackle(under wing): Green Wing: Light Grey Icelandic Horse hair Flash: Mirror Flash in green Cheaks: Jungle Cock
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GRAPHIC- & PRODUCT DESIGN S T R AT E G I A N D P H O T O
STEP BY STEP TYING MATERIALS NEEDED: Wing: Rabbit zonker Body: Black dubbing, silver rib , Pro Soft Disc Flash: Silver flash Tube: Clear or black Pro Micro Tube Head: Pro Disc or Pro Cone 4. Time for the rabbit zonker. Better to long than short. You can cut it when finished.
1. Start by adding a 6 mm or 8 mm Pro Soft Disc to a Pro Micrtube.
5. Ad front hackle.
2. Ad black dubbing and silver rib.
6. Ad the Jungle Cock, a Pro Disc or Cone and cut the tube in both ends. Finally ad a Pro hook holder.
3. Ad a hackle a two pieces of silver flash.
think so. t u o r T a e S d n a t the Salmon s a le t a , d o o g e r Rabbits a
Black and blue colors are great no matter where you are fishing for Salmon or Sea Trout. The PET BLUE is just one of several colors of my “PET´s”. They are great in all sizes but my favorite is the one tied on the Micro Tube from Pro Fly Tyer. The fly is perfectly balanced with a small Pro Disc or Pro Cone in front, then the hook as weight on the back of the fly. To give the fly some extra life, it has a Pro Soft Disc on the back part close to the hook. The wing is a key ingredient on the smaller flies, it is a rabbit zonker and just beats the furs in my opinion. It has the perfect shape, fill and movement and can easily be cut/ adjusted to the circumstances. The PET BLUE works best as a traditional down stream fished streamer but cross stream fishing with medium to fast stripping is very effective. I think the little red butt(hook guide) provokes the take when it is stripped fast in and out of the fish´s sight. But this fly is also good fished slow on a sinking line for sea trout in the deep pools. This biggest salmon in 2011 on the East Rangá was caught on this fly on the first cast one september morning in the Batsvad pool by my client Olaf. Bring the PET to the river, you wont loose with this fly!