White Hackled Green&Silver aka. Rimpauttaja variation

Hi Again

This time I’m about to write about one of my accidental creations that have made its way to my top flies.

White Hackled green&silver started out as so many other great patterns, as a miss memorized version of a popular fly on the river Neiden, the Rimpauttaja. (http://perhorasia.fi/Fly/Fly.thtml?flyID=24049 for those of you that can understand Finnish) . Around ten years ago was tying at the camp and tried to copy from memory a fly, I had seen one of the older fishermen use successfully, but I got only the main colors green, silver and the typical white hackle right. None the less it was not long before the newly created pattern caught me some fine grilse after which it has slowly become one of my “go to” patterns in certain conditions. The fly has to date produced more than a dozen fish for me, with the biggest being a bright silvery beauty of 97cm.

WHGS x3

I mainly tend to use the fly in clear water and clear to overcast skies varying the size depending on the temperatures. I tie the fly, as most of my flies, in several sizes varying the size from +10cm tubes to size 10 or smaller doubles

Recipes:

White Hackled Green&Silver

White hackled green&silver:

Hook: 4-10 Double Low Water

Thread: Black

Tag: Oval Silver

Tail: Fl.Green FluoroFibre

Rib: Oval Silver

Body: ½ flat silver

           ½ Peacock green Super Bright dubbing

Wing: Under: Green Squirrel Tail, 

           Top: Dark Brown Nutria

Hackle: White Hen

Head: Black thread

WHGS Tube:

WHGS

Tube: 1-5 cm Black ProTube

Tag: Oval Silver

Tail: Fl.Green FluoroFibre

Belt: Peacock green Super Bright dubbing

Rib: Oval Silver

Body Hackle: bright Green Cock Hackle on Green part of body

Body: ½ silver braid 

           ½ Peacock green Super Bright dubbing

Wing1: Dark Grey Fox with Blue Angelhair

Hackle: White soft Hen

Wing 2: Black Himalayan goat+ Peacock Herl

Head: Silver Cone head

Blue Charm, a fly for sunny mornings

Hello

While tying flies for  this year’s trip to Norway and studying my fly boxes, for flies missing or in bad shape, I noticed that my supply of Blue Charms were low, and while tying some I decided to share my two versions of this all time classic with you.

I tie my blue charms in two different versions, one with a hair wing the other a feather winged one, that both are more or less simplified compared to the original pattern. 

The hair winged one has also a fl.green tail instead of the classic yellow one

A swarm of Blue Charms

For me Blue charm is a fly for bright weather, when the sun is high and the visibility in the water is good. I fish the fly in fairly small sizes, Hooks 6-10 mostly.

Condition where the Blue charm is for me the number one choice, is in the morning when the sun is shining directly from downstream on a cloudless sky with water temperatures above 10°C

In these conditions the fly has given me a lot of grilse with a bigger fish here and there, including the 82cm beauty last year.

Best of 2016

Recipes:

Feather winged Blue Charm

Hook: Mustad 3582br

Thread: white, black

Tag: Yellow uni stretch

Tail: Yellow silk

Rib: Medium oval silver

Body: Uni Stretch Black

Wing: Turkey Wing Light

Throat Hackle: Medium Blue hackle fibers

Head: Black Thread

Green But Blue Charm

Hook: Mustad 3582br

Thread: Black

Tag: Medium Oval Gold

Tail: fl Green Fluorofibre

Rib: Medium Oval Gold

Body: Uni stretch black

Hackle: Kingfisher blue

Wing: Brownish grey bucktail

Head: Black Thread

"Hopeanharmaa" A fly for rainy days

Hi.

Once again it is time for me to head up to the beautiful finnmark and like so many times before the destination will be the river Neiden. This means that I´m busy with fly tying and other preparations for the trip. So while tying I thought to share one of my favorite recipes with you.

As promised in my post about the trip up north last year, here´s the recipe and tying instructions for another of my own flies. This time I chose a fly that gave me a couple of good takes last year, and has been one of my best flies, with more than 15 good fish and many more lost, since it was born around 10 or so years ago. The name of the fly "Hopeanharmaa" is literally translated to silvery gray, which in my opinion describes its appearance quite well, as the fly isn't much to look at.

This is a fly that has worked best for me in cloudy or rainy days when the sky is gray and visibility tend to be lessened, on clear and even moderately colored rivers. If the conditions are as described, I more often than not find myself starting the day with a "Hopeanharmaa" tied on a size 4 hook as the main fly and having a smaller fly as an upper fly (quite often a "Sarvijaakko")

A lot of gray spiced up with some silver

Recipe:

Hook: Size 2-8 Low-Water

Thread: Black

Tag: Oval Gold

Tail: Grey Guinea fowl

Rib: Oval Gold

Body: Flat Silver

Wing: Under: Gray Squirrel

          On top: Dark Brown 
          Nutria

Hackle.: Grey Guinea fowl

My favorite fly colours for pike

Hi there and a happy new year

As promised in my earlier post about my pike flies, here are some of my favorite color combinations for my Slinky Deceivers.

"Shiny Roach"

Tube: 2/4 mm vinyl tube + 4mm silicon tube
Thread: Kevlar
Tail: 3 Pairs of White Schlappen+ white Slinky fibre+ silver Flash
Body: Off-White SFBlend Slinky fibre + a good amount of silver flash
Throat: Electric yellow Slinky fibre/Deadly Dazzle
Wing: Black Slinky fibre
Head: Hot-glue
Eyes: 3D-Eyes



The "Shiny Roach" is a pattern I use mainly in Clear water when the sky is overcast. Something to be said about the effectiveness of the color combination in this fly is that three first fishes caught whit this pattern were all over 90 cm long. It also holds my Fly-fishing record ( a beautiful 104 cm long fall pike)

"Tånglake"

Tube: 2/4 mm vinyl tube + 4mm silicon tube
Thread: Kevlar
Tail: 3 Pairs of Orange Schlappen+ Dark Orange Slinky fibre
Body: Red Fish Slinky fibre + Some UV-Enhancer tied in between
Throat: Electric yellow Slinky fibre/Deadly Dazzle
Wing: Red Fish Slinky fibre
Head: Hot-glue
Eyes: 3D-Eyes
Spots: Black waterproof marker



"Tånglake" is the pattern that held my fly-fishing record pike (a slim 103 cm torpedo) for quite some time. It has given me best result in the autumn when the water starts to clear up as the temperatures sink.

"Flashlight KeMu"

Tube: 2/4 mm vinyl tube + 4mm silicon tube
Thread: Kevlar
Tail: 3 Pairs of Fl.Yelleow Schlappen+ Electric Yellow Slinky fibre
Body: Electric Yellow Slinky fibre
Throat: Electric yellow Slinky fibre/Deadly Dazzle
Wing: Black Slinky fibre
Head: Hot-glue
Eyes: 3D-Eyes
Stripes: Black waterproof marker



The "flashlight" is for me an all-rounder to be used when the visibility underwater is limited. it has given me best results in conditions when the sky is heavily overcast and the water is a little colored, as it is most of the year in the regions where I fish.

And as the winter has arrived (once again too early for my taste) to the Helsinki region, and my fishing season is probably over(at least for the time being, still hoping for a thaw), it is time to start the tying season for next seasons flies. So in future posts I think I will return whit some more color combinations for pike flies, and probably some other flies as well.