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The Mystery of Colours in Salmon Flies

Jesper Fohrmann — Thu, 05 Dec 2024 10:57:31 +0000

Salmon and trout possess highly specialized vision, finely tuned to detect a range of colours. This adaptation is crucial for their survival, helping them locate prey and avoid predators. Their ability to perceive colours such as red, green, and blue, along with ultraviolet (UV) light, makes the colours of our flies an important factor in enticing these fish. The right combination of hues can make all the difference when fishing for these elusive species.

The Iconic Jock Scott Salmon Fly

One of the most renowned patterns in the world of fly fishing is the Jock Scott. Believed to have been created by the ghillie Jock Scott while crossing the North Sea, this fly is now a must-have in every serious angler’s arsenal. It is a testament to the power of colour and design, playing a key role in its enduring popularity among salmon anglers around the globe.

Design of the Centuries

Victorian fly tyers were true pioneers, crafting intricate and striking flies that remain iconic today. These early designs often featured up to 30 different feathers, glimmering metal threads, and vibrant silk threads, all meticulously combined to create flies that were both visually stunning and highly effective. Their legacy continues to influence modern fly patterns.

Bridging Tradition and Innovation

The success of classic fly patterns from the Victorian era was not just about visual appeal but also the use of natural materials like feathers and wool. These materials have a unique ability to attract trout and salmon, ensuring these timeless patterns are still in use today. The craft of fly tying has evolved, but the principles of design, especially the use of vibrant colours, remain just as relevant for contemporary anglers.

The Role of Colour in Salmon and Steelhead Flies

Certain colours continue to play a significant role in the success of salmon flies.

Bright yellow was a key colour in Victorian fly patterns and remains a staple in modern salmon and trout flies. The yellow flies are particularly effective one or two days after a flood and especially effective in rivers with slightly murky water. Fly: Bulldog # 7/0

The bright red tag has become a timeless feature in salmon and trout flies, frequently used in modern low-water patterns and those patterns designed to be fished near the surface. Often paired with a bright yellow or green wound tag, it creates a striking and highly effective design. Fly: Black Doctor # 2/0

Tinsel: Shimmering threads of gold or silver add just the right amount of sparkle. Often, small amounts of tinsel create a greater impact than larger quantities, offering a glimmer that attracts fish.

Peacock Feathers: The iridescent green peacock herl has long been used in fly patterns due to its ability to add depth and visual attraction, elevating any salmon or trout fly.

Contrasting Colours: The Dual-Coloured Design

Many successful fly designs feature contrasting colours, such as a dual-coloured body with a lighter rear and darker front, as seen in the Rusty Rat. This design, first created by Mr. Joseph Clovis Arseneault in the 1940s, draws inspiration from the classic Jock Scott pattern and remains effective for both salmon and trout anglers today.

The Jungle Cock Feather: Known for its striking contrast and unique wavy structure, this feather was a staple in Victorian flies and continues to be a go-to choice for anglers targeting salmon and trout.

The Cherry on Top: The See-Through Effect

In fly fishing, the see-through quality of a fly can be just as important as its colour. A fly with translucent materials allows light to shine through, creating a more natural, edible appearance to the fish. A solid, dense fly may not trigger the same response. Anglers quickly learn that a fly’s transparency is essential in attracting salmon and trout.

Tube Flies and Transparency

The transparency of tube flies, like the Sunray Shadow, is another key element in modern fly tying. These flies are particularly effective for surface fishing, as the see-through quality catches the light in a way that entices fish. New materials, such as twinkle flash and mylar, enhance this transparency, adding subtle glimmers that increase the fly’s allure.

Golden Rules in Salmon Fly Tying

While there are some established guidelines for selecting colours for salmon flies, flexibility is key. Here are a few principles that experienced anglers follow:

Weather Conditions Matter: On clear, bright days, lighter, more vibrant flies tend to perform best, while darker flies work better in murky water and low-light conditions.
Match the Environment: Matching the fly’s colour to the environment can significantly increase your chances. For example, flies that blend with surrounding foliage are effective in those areas, while flies that contrast with grey riverbeds are excellent choices for rivers with that colour.
Yellow Flies After a Spate: Yellow is particularly effective after a spate, when the water is murky and fish are harder to spot. The bright hue stands out in low-visibility conditions.
Red Flies Late in the Season: Red flies gain effectiveness as the season progresses, becoming a go-to colour for anglers targeting salmon and sea trout later in the year.
Black Flies: Black is a versatile and reliable choice. Particularly during twilight or low-light conditions, black flies become more visible, making them a popular choice for anglers in these circumstances.

Yearly Variations in Fly Colours

As seasons change, so too do the most effective fly colours. For example, in 2024, the White Bomber became the go-to fly for salmon, whereas in 2023, dark green Bombers led the pack. These shifts, although difficult to explain, are a common phenomenon among salmon anglers, and part of the intrigue of the sport.

White Tube Bomber the favourite colour for salmon in 2024 – See this Bomber in our shop

Dark Green Tube Bomber was the favourite colour for salmon in 2023 – See the Dark Green Bomber in our shop

Learn more about the different colours of Bombers on Fishmadman here.

The Red Fly and Changes in Salmon Vision

Salmon and sea-run brown trout undergo significant changes in their vision as they transition between the sea and freshwater rivers. These adaptations may explain why red flies become particularly effective later in the season, as the fish’s vision adjusts to detect different wavelengths of light.

See the blog post on this topic

Conclusion

Understanding the role of colour in salmon flies is key to becoming a successful angler. Whether you’re using vibrant yellows after a flood or experimenting with the subtle transparency of tube flies, the colours and materials you choose can make all the difference in attracting fish. By combining traditional designs with innovative techniques, anglers can continue to perfect their craft, ensuring that each cast is as effective as possible.

The post The Mystery of Colours in Salmon Flies first appeared on Fishmadman.com.

What do sea trout eat in the sea?

Jesper Fohrmann — Tue, 19 Dec 2023 14:53:40 +0000

What do sea trout eat at sea?” – This question has been the focus of extensive research, and we’ve endeavoured to compile an intriguing page on the subject. We aim to showcase the diverse array of aquatic life forms that sea trout feed on in marine and freshwater habitats. Similar to our Fishmadman pages on “What do salmon eat in the sea?”, the text and images will serve as a guide for crafting effective fishing flies tailored to the feeding habits of sea trout

Three forms – one fish

The brown trout, scientifically known as Salmo trutta, is a widely distributed and highly adaptable species that originated in European waters. It has achieved global success due to its ability to thrive in diverse environments. Like many other members of the Salmonidae family, the brown trout exhibits significant variations in its life cycle.
Brown trout populations can be found ranging from 42°N to as far north as 71°N. There are three primary forms of brown trout:

The river trout

The river-resident brown trout (Salmo trutta morpha fario) completes its entire life cycle within freshwater river habitats. Originated in European waters and boasts a widespread presence across the globe, thriving on most continents. These very brown trout from Europa serve as the distant ancestors of the immense Tierra del Fuego sea trout and the prized brown trout inhabiting the rivers of New Zealand.

The lake trout

The lake-resident brown trout (Salmo trutta morpha lacustris), starts its journey in rivers but migrates to freshwater lakes to mature. Here, a large specimen was caught from Lake Vänern in Sweden, which is famous for its landlocked Atlantic salmon and brown trout strains. In the 1960s, populations of these salmonid species were dwindling. However, due to a committed stocking program initiated since then, the fishery has not only been sustained but has also shown signs of improvement.

The trout pictured is one of the stocked and fin-clipped specimens. All wild fish are released back into the Vänern fishery.

The sea trout

The sea-migratory brown trout, (Salmo trutta morpha trutta) but commonly referred to as sea trout, starts its life as a river-resident trout. However, it eventually migrates downstream to the sea, where it spends a substantial portion of its life cycle.

These distinct forms of brown trout demonstrate the species’ remarkable adaptability and ability to thrive in various aquatic environments. On the following pages, we will be looking into some of the fascinating aspects of the form of brown trout we know as the sea trout.

Three significant Sea Trout Habitats

Sea trout are commonly associated with coastal fishing, and Scandinavian anglers pursue them during their migrations to and from river systems. Typically, anglers consider sea trout local fish and don’t expect them to venture further than 30 – 40 kilometres (18 – 25 miles) from their birth river. While this may be true for some sea trout, others may journey hundreds of kilometres from their ancestral home.

Here, we present three different trout caught in the northwestern part of Zealand, Denmark. The three fish are pinned on a Google Maps image for reference.

Living inside fjords and easturies

The fjords and estuaries can act as nurseries for juvenile trout before they embark on their journey into the open sea. However, some sea trout may opt to remain within the familiar and secure confines of these fjords and estuaries, evolving into sea trout that closely resemble the river brown trout. Some individuals may even retain the distinctive red spots and golden-green hues characteristic of river-dwelling trout. These well-camouflaged predators are adept at thriving in brackish waters’ shallow, weed-rich environments.

Living on the open coast

When sea trout leave the river as parr around April, they are already well-equipped for a life at sea. With their silver camouflage, some swiftly integrate into the coastal environment, capitalizing on available resources. In sustainable conditions, certain sea trout may remain close to the inner shoreline and local coastal reefs, seldom venturing far. They hunt near the shore when temperatures or darkness offer both food and safety from predators. During warmer periods and daylight hours, they may retreat to deeper waters and reefs with flowing currents to seek shelter and sustenance.

Sea trout living at sea

As sea trout transition from their juvenile freshwater habitat to saltwater, some quickly depart from the river and shoreline in search of larger prey, different sea temperatures, or salinity levels. These individuals often reach impressive sizes. In regions abundant with herring schools or sand eels, sea trout undergo accelerated growth, developing into formidable specimens compared to those that linger closer to the coastline or within estuaries.

Migrations along coastlines up to 580 km (360 miles) away from the natal river were observed in the Geo-Tag survey conducted in 2019.

A Danish studdy from 2019 on Migration routes and habitat use of Sea trout (Animal Biotelemetry 7(1):23) Authours: M. L. Kristensen, M. W. Pedersen, U. H. Thygesen, D. Del Villar-Guerra

The study was based on a total of 125 sea trout kelts that were tagged with data-transmitting geo-tags.

The results confirm the expectation that sea trout are more coastally oriented than other salmonids but also suggest that longer migrations occur in the seas surrounding Denmark compared to elsewhere.

Sea Trout: Investigating Their Diet

How did we determine what sea trout was eating at sea?

In the following sections and accompanying images, we present a compilation of observations gathered over the years by both ourselves and fellow anglers regarding the feeding habits of sea trout. These insights are drawn from specimens caught in various regions of Scandinavia and Scotland. Furthermore, in our endeavor to comprehend the marine diet of sea trout, we have referenced several marine biological surveys on the topic: “What do sea trout eat in the sea?” Throughout the text, we offer details and links to these surveys, should you wish to explore the subject further.

Finally, we have incorporated images from a.o: World Register of Marine Species and Dorris to illustrate the prey that sea trout consume in the most informative manner possible.

In a study conducted in a Scottish Sea Loch, researchers discovered that sea trout consumed approximately 50 different prey species, based on the analysis of contents from 1,277 stomachs over the course of one year.

We will focused on five groups of prey that sea trout feed on

Fish
Worms
Crustaceans
Insects
Molluscs

The fish sea trout eat

Both in freshwater and the sea, the brown trout show opportunistic feeding behaviours. The marine diet of sea trout is diverse and influenced by factors such as season, fish size, age and where they live. In the following text, we will explore some of the bait fish sea trout feed on

Herring and sprat: Key food sources for bigger sea trout

Baltic sea trout thrives on protein-rich diett

Baltic Sea trout follows a protein-rich diet, as observed in a study conducted by F. Chrzan at the Sea Fisheries Institute in Gdynia, Poland.

According to the study, sea trout experience significant weight gain during their first year of life, increasing by 24.5 times. In the second year, this growth slows to 3.5 times its original weight; in the third year, it approximately doubles in weight.

Most sea trout examined for stomach content were in their second year of marine life, with an average annual weight increase of 2,470 grams (2.47 kilo). They consumed approximately 14 grams of food per kilogram of body weight daily.

The investigation into the feeding behaviors of salmon and sea trout in the Baltic region spanned from 1959 to 1975, involving the examination of 252 sea trout. The primary food sources identified during this study were sprat and herring.

A European Sprat (Sprattus sprattus) as found in the Baltic. Photo by Hendron, C. Register of Marine Species. Shown here is the Common European Sprat (Sprattus sprattus), which serves as the main food source for Atlantic salmon inhabiting the Baltic Sea. These sprats usually reach a size of 14 to 15 centimeters.

The sprat, is widely distributed throughout the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Baltic Sea, as well as parts of the Mediterranean and Black Seas. Sprats are commonly found in nearshore waters, coastal areas, and estuaries, where they form large schools.

Herring is a staple on the menu for sea trout

The Atlantic herring stands as one of the most abundant fish species globally. Found on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic herrings gather in vast schools, sometimes comprising several million individuals. Notably, the smaller-sized herring inhabiting the inner regions of the Baltic Sea is recognized as a distinct subspecies known as the “Baltic herring” (Clupea harengus membras).

Photo by Ueberschär, B. Register of Marine Species

The herring belonging to the family Clupeidae (herrings, shads, sardines, menhadens), which consists of some 200 species, A large family of fish of great importance to marine life also in the North Atlantic. It feeds on copepods, crustaceans and fish eggs. Prefer relatively shallow waters 1 – 200 meters.

Matching the hatch

The sea trout, much like its cousin the Atlantic Salmon, is an opportunistic feeder. The sight of a herring is often enough to trigger its hunting instincts. However, size and details in movement becomes crucial factors in the choice of artificial bait, a point well understood by anglers trolling for salmon and trout, especially in areas abundant with schools of herring of a specific size. If the bait is small, anglers won’t benefit from upsizing their artificial lures and plugs. Instead, it’s essential to match the hatch for optimal success.

Photo: A summer (June) sea trout caught using a live herring. Anglers using artificial lures are advised to fish early in the morning or late at night when herring are abundant, as sea trout tend to be especially cautious during the daytime in the summer months.

Arctic charr and sea trout were seen feeding on small herrings in the high seas

In a survey initially published on March 31, 2005 by A. H. Rikardsen, P.-A. Amundsen, conducted in a fjord in northern Norway, it was observed that both anadromous Arctic charr and sea trout, exhibited a high feeding intensity and predominantly fish diet. Their diet was almost exclusively composed of small herring (Clupea harengus), which appeared to be an opportunistic response to the high density of small-sized herring in the pelagic zone. Fish examined in the survey were captured up to 5000 m offshore. Read the whole survey on Journal of Fish Biology

Photo of juvenile herring (Clupea harengus) commonly discovered in the stomachs of sea trout inhabiting Norwegian fjords.

Sand eels: another crucial food source for sea trout

The sand eel, also known as the sand lance or sandeel, is a small fish belonging to the family Ammodytidae. They are slender, elongated fish with a silvery colouration, perfectly adapted for life in sandy coastal environments. Sand eels are found in the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans, primarily in shallow waters along sandy beaches, estuaries, and nearshore areas.

The sand eel is perhaps the one fish most anglers associate with sea trout fishing. Thousands of lures, flies, and plugs have been designed to mimic its appearance.

A famous bait, such as the Rapala Original Floater 11cm shown in the image, is one of those artificial baits sea trout anglers turn to when they need a bait that is true to the real thing.

Image top left: A haul of sand eels from the stomach of a sea trout weighing approximately 3 kilograms (6 lb) All sand eels are very fresh and were likely consumed within 10 – 20 minutes of the sea trout being caught.

Above: Photographed here is Hyperoplus immaculatus, commonly referred to as the sand eel or sand lancer, names used for numerous species of fish. Sand eels predominantly inhabit areas near the seabed floor, especially regions with smooth gravelly sand bottoms. They play a crucial role as a primary food source for various fish, birds, and whales.

Sea trout feed on eels

Eels where found in stomachs of sea trout during a 1975 survey done by R. Pemberton in North Argyll sea lochs

Anguilla anguilla is the scientific name for the European eel. Sea trout feed on the migration of small baby eels, including larvae and glass eels, as they return from the Sargasso Sea in the North Atlantic Ocean to European coastal waters. The timing of their arrival varies, influenced by factors such as ocean currents and water temperature.

Eels were once abundant in European waters, prompting the creation of numerous sea trout fly patterns tailored to imitate them. However, in recent years, eels have faced a decline in population, becoming endangered due to factors like habitat loss, overfishing, pollution, and climate change. To address this, conservation initiatives are underway to safeguard and rejuvenate European eel populations.

For more insights, check out the thought-provoking article on eel trafficking in Europe on Phys.org. Photo C & R Phys.org

Sea trout feed on smelt

Smelts where found in stomachs of sea trout during a 1975 survey done by R. Pemberton in North Argyll sea lochs

The sand smelt, scientifically known as Atherina presbyter, is the specific species found in the Argyle sea trout habitat. This small fish, belonging to the Atherinidae family, is commonly encountered in coastal marine and brackish waters along the eastern Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Black Sea.

Typically measuring between 10 to 15 centimeters in length, sand smelts are often observed in sizable schools near the water’s surface. They primarily feed on plankton and small crustaceans, contributing to the intricate marine ecosystem of their habitat.

The term “smelt” is commonly used to refer to several species of small, silvery fish belonging to the family Osmeridae. These fish are found in coastal marine waters as well as freshwater rivers and lakes throughout the Northern Hemisphere.

Photo C & R Eneman, Eddy marinespecies.org

The fish sea trout eat

Both in freshwater and the sea, the brown trout show opportunistic feeding behaviours. The marine diet of sea trout is diverse and influenced by factors such as season, fish size, age and where they live. In the following text, we will explore some of the bait fish sea trout feed on

The fish sea trout eat

Both in freshwater and the sea, the brown trout show opportunistic feeding behaviours. The marine diet of sea trout is diverse and influenced by factors such as season, fish size, age and where they live. In the following text, we will explore some of the bait fish sea trout feed on

The fish sea trout eat

Both in freshwater and the sea, the brown trout show opportunistic feeding behaviours. The marine diet of sea trout is diverse and influenced by factors such as season, fish size, age and where they live. In the following text, we will explore some of the bait fish sea trout feed on

The fish sea trout eat

Both in freshwater and the sea, the brown trout show opportunistic feeding behaviours. The marine diet of sea trout is diverse and influenced by factors such as season, fish size, age and where they live. In the following text, we will explore some of the bait fish sea trout feed on

Above: Pictured is a typical late summer sea trout weighing around 1 kilogram or 2 pounds. As the spawning season approaches, the sea trout’s appearance undergoes a transformation. Once silver, its colouration has now taken on a golden hue while its skin and fins toughen in preparation for the journey upstream. This small female is gearing up for the upcoming spawning migration in the river system where it once was born.

Sea trout are surface-oriented, greedy fish

The first wake fly I encountered was during my summer holidays in Wales in the early 80s, where seasoned sea trout anglers introduced me to this ingenious creation. I vividly remember an old “sewin” angler (Welsh for sea trout) pulling out a large and weathered wake fly from his fishing bag. It was a simple yet effective design, consisting of half a wine cork attached to a large single hook, with additional hooks protruding from the cork on either side. The angler shared with me that this fly was so potent that it had been banned on numerous rivers in Wales. Variations of these wake flies were crafted in various shades and shapes, tailored to different fishing conditions.

Photo: The rare Hardy No. 2 wake lure is made of wood with small protruding treble hooks. Today most wake lures will be made with closed-cell foam – simple, efficient flies.

Some sea trout eat in the river

While mature Atlantic salmon may occasionally consume food in rivers, the same holds true for mature sea trout entering river systems. Scientific research, such as that conducted by J. M. Elliott in April 2005 for the Journal of Fish Biology, indicates that female sea trout, in particular, demonstrate some level of food intake within rivers.

Left: Depicted is a late summer male sea trout displaying distinct signs of spawning colors. These mature sea trout may begin entering river systems as early as May and continue to do so as late as November. Some individuals will linger outside river mouths for extended periods, while others will transition directly from their life in the open sea to the river system.

Sea Trout: A Study in Greed and Discernment

Sea trout have truly enriched my life as a fly fisher, and I’ve been fortunate to pursue them as often as my heart desired. Growing up near the sea with access to several small rivers within biking distance, I eagerly awaited the thawing of ice on the rivers to cast my line for sea trout. From the earliest days of the season to its very last, spanning all 365 days of the calendar, I indulged in this pursuit. Along the way, I encountered sea trout in various states of voracity, devouring frogs, other trout, and even a bat. One memorable catch was a 43 cm sea trout that had tried to swallow a 25 cm Rock Gunnel. Moreover, I’ve dedicated countless days to casting for discerning autumn sea trout, which occasionally succumbed to a mere #20 offering.

Attached is a photo from the 80s, capturing a much younger version of myself proudly displaying a typical sea trout caught in March.

What do salmon eat in the sea?

Shrimps: a sought-after meal

* Studies into salmon feeding at high seas in the North-East Atlantic by biologists Jacobsen J. A. and Hansen L. P. (2001) show that shrimps accounted for 95% of the food in number but only about 30% by weight.

By weight, 66% of the stomach content was fish, particularly mesopelagic fish. Some larger pelagic fish, such as herring, blue whiting, and mackerel, were also part of the diet.

Fish and crustacean prey accounted for 96% of the weight of all prey taken by salmon, but

the report also mentions a small percentage of birds and bird remains… being part of the salmon stomach content !!

Right: The Frances fly is one of the most successful salmon flies ever made -most likely interpreted by salmon as a shrimp.

We plunged into the depths with this biological survey from 2001, meticulously examining the contents of thousands of salmon stomachs to identify some of the most common critters that salmon consume.

What do salmon eat in the sea

Read the interesting report by Mr. Jan Arge Jacobsen and Lars Petter Hansen

Important crustaceans from the Jacobsen and Hansen survey

Studies into salmon feeding at high seas in the North-East Atlantic show that shrimps accounted for 95% of the food in number, but only about 30% by weight

Above: Crustaceans of the genus Thermistor libellula one of the crustaceans salmon, had eaten in the sea north of the Faeroe Islands. Along with other crustaceans, this food source was found in high numbers during the survey conducted during late autumn. Photo Mr Claude Nozères, World Register Of Marine Species

Above: Thermisto libellula in comparison to its cousin: Themisto abyssorum. Photo Mr Kwasniewski Slawomir, World Register Of Marine Species

Above: Meganyctiphanes norvegica swimming with a Thermisto libellula (see above) – Both important animals in the zooplankton food chain. Both are 30 – 45 millimetres big. Photos Mr Claude Nozères, World Register Of Marine Species

Above: Sergestes arcticus (top of photo), another type of shrimp. Below in the same photo is a Nothern krill, Meganyctiphanes norvegica. Photo Mr Claude Nozères, World Register Of Marine Species

Above: Paraeuchaeta norvegica. A marine planktonic copepod 6 – 7 millimetres long – The blue sack at the rear is eggs. Photo © ®Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Jean-François St-Pierre, 2011

Above: Crustaceans of the genus Themisto abyssorum – another important food source found during the survey. Photo Mrs Joanna Legeżyńska, World Register Of Marine Species

Above: From top to bottom: Thermisto libellula, Themisto abyssorum and Thermisto compressa. Three crustaceans were found in great numbers in the survey conducted in the North-East Atlantic. Photo Mr A. Kraft, Alfred-Wegener-Institut

Above: Meganyctiphanes norvegica A krill commonly known as the Northern Krill. A crustacean that is a central figure in the zooplankton mass and an important course of food for whales, birds and fish in the North Atlantic. Photo: © & ® Øystein Paulsen

Above: Hymenodora glacialis Brilliant blood-red shrimp growing to 19 – 20-millimetre. Photo Mr Russ Hopcroft, World Register Of Marine Species

Above: Eusirus holmi – A 40 – 50-millimetre big Gammaridea. Photo Mr Russ Hopcroft, World Register Of Marine Species

Important fish and squid from the Jacobsen and Hansen survey

By weight, 66% of the stomach content was fish, particularly mesopelagic fish. Some larger pelagic fish such as herring, blue whiting and mackerel were also part of the diet.

Above: Maurolicus muelleri: Pearlside. A small silver fish with pigment spots. Size: 40 – 80 mm – a species that lives (mesopelagic) from 20 – 400 meters deep. It lives at greater depth during the daytime and rises toward the surface when it gets dark. Photo Mr Jim Ellis, World Register Of Marine Species

Above: lampanyctus crocodilus or Jewel lanternfish. A small fish that feeds on zooplankton found from 45 – 4000 meters depth – fully grown it will stay between 700-1,000 meters during the day and 4000-1,000 meters at night. Photo Mr Costa, F, Discoverlife

Above: Myctophum punctatum. Its common name is spotted lanternfish. Just like Notoscopelus kroeyeri it lives to the depth of 1000 meters during the daytime but may come to the surface during nighttime Photo Mrs Daphne Themelis, World Register Of Marine

Above: Gaidropsarus argentatus. Commonly known as Arctic rockling, it is a genus of lotid fishes. (Here, a juvenile specimen). Found offshore at depths of 150- 2000 meters on soft bottoms. Photo Mr Claude Nozères, World Register Of Marine Species

Left: Scomber scombrus. The Atlantic mackerel is a pelagic schooling species on both sides of the North Atlantic Ocean. The species is also called Boston mackerel or just mackerel. The mackerel is, in its own right, a ferocious predator that can grow to a length of 50 centimetres – but like most fish, they start out being sizable prey to salmon that roam the same waters as the mackerel. The mackerel strain is growing strong these years, and the species is migrating further north into the Arctic Ocean – Some say that they have become a potent adversary to the Atlantic salmon, who will have to fight for the same food as the Atlantic mackerel – New surveys on this hot topic will surely be worth reading.

bove: gonatus fabricii or Boreoatlantic gonate squid or boreoatlantic arm hook squid, is a squid in the family Gonatidae. (Here is a juvenile specimen) It occurs in the northern Atlantic Ocean from Canada to the Barents Sea. Grows to 30 cm in length. This tiny beautiful squid was well represented in the Norwegian team’s late autumn and winter surveys. Photo Mr Claude Nozères, World Register Of Marine Species

Above: Arctozenus risso – A long fish of the baracudinas family, occurring singly or in small schools mainly at 200-1000 meters depth. Grows to 29-centimetre. Photo Mr Henk Heessen, World Register Of Marine Species

Above: Notoscopelus kroeyeri, Another deep sea fish that lives to the depth of 1000 meters during the daytime but may come to the surface during nighttime – Grow to 17 centimetres. It has glowing dots along the body that help disguise the fish’s outline when seen from below. Photo Mr Henrik Carl, Fiskeatlas –

Above: Benthosema glaciale. Commonly known as Glacier lanternfish. Also, a small migrating deep-sea fish that surges to 700 – 1000 meters at day time to return close to the surface at night time Photo Fisheries and Oceans Canada, World Register Of Marine

Above: mallotus villosus capelin: The capelin or caplin is a small fish of the smelt family found in the Atlantic and Arctic oceans – A important food source for the Atlantic salmon. Photo Mr Claude Nozères, World Register Of Marine Species

Above: Micromestistius poutassou. Commonly known as Blue Whiting, belonging to the cod family. Found over the continental slope and shelf to more than 1000 meters, but more common at 300-400 meters. Blue whiting can grow to a length of more than 40 centimetres. Photo Mr Henk Heessen, World Register Of Marine Species

Above: Belone belone. Commonly known as garfish. Yet another ferocious predator that the Atlantic salmon will feed on when they find them in the correct size. The garfish, or sea needle, is a pelagic, oceanodromous needlefish found in brackish and marine waters of the Eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean Sea and the Baltic Sea. The garfish is a long and slender fish that grows to about 50 to 75 centimetres – They hunt in packs near the surface, Photo Mr Pillon Roberto, World Register Of Marine Species

Above: Gasterosteus aculeatus or three-spined stickleback. Lives in marine, brackish, fresh. Most populations are anadromous (they live in seawater but breed in fresh or salty water). Among the larger sticklebacks, it is usually 5 cm (2 in) long.

Curious? - Read the report!

Read the interesting report by Mr. Jan Arge Jacobsen and Lars Petter Hansen

What do salmon eat in the sea? - Facts from other surveys on salmon feeding

Science will tell us that adult salmon will prey on whatever organisms are present

86 % of the food was Caplin

A survey from 1952 done at the Faroese Islands showed that pre-grilse had eaten amphipods (thermistor gaudichaudi) – and squid (Brachioteuthis riisei), while another study from 1967 done by Shearer and Balmain off Greenland showed that salmon had been taking mainly 86 % Capelin mallets Villousus

Right: mallotus villosus capelin: The capelin or caplin is a small fish of the smelt family found in the Atlantic and Arctic oceans – An important food source for the Atlantic salmon. Photo Mr Claude Nozères, World Register Of Marine Species

Salmon inhabiting the coastal waters of Greenland predominantly feed on fish.

According to Reddin’s research in 1988, salmon off West Greenland primarily consume Capelin and sand eels (also known as sand lance) in coastal waters. In the Labrador Sea, their diet includes herring, barracuda (Parallels coregonides borealis), amphipods, euphausiids, and squid, which collectively form a significant portion of their food intake.

Left: Pictured is Hyperoplus immaculatus, commonly known as the Sand eel or sand lancer, names used for numerous species of fish. Sand eels prefer habitats near the seabed floor, particularly areas with smooth gravelly sand bottoms. They serve as a vital food source for many fish, birds, and whales.

Salmon in the Grand Banks region predominantly feed on Capelin and sand eels.

According to Templeman (1968), Lear (1972), and Lear and Christensen (1980), as cited by Redding (1988), salmon caught over the Grand Banks were observed feeding on Capelin and sand lance (sand eel). Additionally, it was noted that salmon in the oceanic depths to the east of the Grand Banks were consuming barracuda, black smelt, and amphipods.

Right: Pictured is Hyperoplus immaculatus, commonly known as the Sand eel or sandeel.

Young cod is on the menu in Labrador.

In the coastal waters of Newfoundland, salmon feed mainly on herring, capelin and sand eels, while in Labrador; pteropods, sand eels, young cod and capelin are the primary food (Lear, 1972b.). Reddit (1988) concludes from this wide variety of prey species that adult salmon are opportunistic feeders and prey on whatever organisms are present. Similar conclusions could also be made from examining salmon stomachs from fish caught in the North-east Atlantic.

Above left: Gadus morhua. Common name cod. Here is a trio of tiny cod. Photo Mr Claude Nozères, World Register Of Marine Species

Above right: Gadus morhua (juvenile) – A cod about 10 cm or four in here. Cod is found from the shoreline to the edge of the continental slope. Photo Mr Claude Nozères, World Register Of Marine Species

Caught on sprats, but their primary food sources were small krill and tiny crustaceans.

Research by Strtuhers (1970-71) highlighted sea animals such as amphipods and euphausiids as the main dietary components.

Fish caught on longlines baited with sprats supported these findings. Another survey conducted at the Faroese Islands also utilized longlines and discovered amphipods (parathemisto spp.), euphausiids, myctophidae (Lantern fish), capelin, and Maurolicus muelleri (pearlsides).

Right: Pictured are myctophidae, fish of the Lanternfishes family, typically found offshore at depths ranging from 300 to 1200 meters during the day and between 10 and 100 meters at night. Photo credit: Mr. Henk Heessen. World Register Of Marine Species

Squid served as a significant food source in the deep sea.

A separate survey conducted in 1985, examining 1145 salmon stomachs, was carried out by Hanson and Pethon off the shelf of Helgeland/Trøndelag (Norway) and in the oceanic waters of Andenes (Norway). The results revealed that essential food items varied between locations.

At the shelf of Helgeland/Trøndelag, euphausiids and hyperid amphipods were predominant, whereas in Andenes, myctophid Benthosema glacial and the squid Gonatus fabric, along with euphausiids, were the most frequently found food items in the stomachs of caught salmon.

Fantastic video of one type of squid the Atlantic salmon prey on - gonatus fabricii

Scottish salmon have been observed feeding on ragworms.

Some Scottish salmon, caught in drift nets, were found to have consumed polychaete worms (Nereis spp.), amphipods, euphausiids (Meganyctiphanes norvegica), as well as herring, sprats, whiting, and sand eels (Fraser, 1987).

Photo on the right: Polychaete worms, commonly known as Ragworms (Nereis spp.), are inhabitants of soft and muddy bottoms, where they dwell in a network of burrows. They emerge from their hiding places to spawn and are sought after as prey by various marine animals. Photograph Copyright © 2008 Field Studies Council.

How do salmon get to the food out at sea ?

Flowing with the currents

Sea currents, including gyres, play a crucial role in transporting small salmon parr from rivers and fjords to their feeding grounds. These young salmon appear to migrate towards waters with optimal temperatures for growth, adjusting their movements to follow the cyclical patterns of their prey within the vast water column as sea temperatures fluctuate throughout the seasons. (Image source: sciencelearn.org)

Spanning the oceans

Atlantic salmon exhibit extensive oceanic migrations, seeking out areas where oceanographic conditions foster the distribution of zooplankton, a primary food source for smaller fish, shrimps, and crustaceans. Remarkably, tagged salmon have been documented traveling on intercontinental journeys, with individuals tagged in the United Kingdom later being recaptured in North America, while others tagged in North America have been caught in Norway.

Climate changes may alter the life at sea – and stocks of Atlantic salmon

Certain scientists have proposed that the notable shifts observed in sea-surface temperatures across the North Atlantic might have played a role in heightened mortality rates among young salmon, often referred to as post-smolt. It is theorized that these temperature variations could be linked to the pronounced decline witnessed in Atlantic salmon populations over recent decades.

Studies by Cushing (1983) and Dunbar (1981) have demonstrated that climate changes can exert significant impacts on the distribution and abundance of various marine fish species. Alterations in climate can affect surface water temperatures, the intensity of ocean currents, and, by extension, the salinity of seawater due to increased ice melting. Any of these factors have the potential to influence food availability, survival rates, growth patterns, maturation processes, and overall activity levels within marine ecosystems.

The post What do sea trout eat in the sea? first appeared on Fishmadman.com.

Nyhedsbrev November 2022

Jesper Fohrmann — Sat, 05 Nov 2022 13:54:17 +0000

Read the letter in Scandinavian (This time Danish)

Kære overfladefiskere …Lakse- og ørredsæsonen er ved at være slut, og atter vil livets cyklus begynde i de elve og åer, vi elsker at besøge.

Jeg får altid den klump i halsen den allersidste dag, hvor jeg skal rejse hjem, så plejer jeg at minde mig selv om Pippi Langstrømpes ord:

Du skal tage afsted for at kunne vende tilbage

Med disse berømte ord byder vi dig velkommen til et nyhedsbrev om, hvad du kan se frem til i 2023

Fiske hilsen fra os på Fishmadman Las, Per & Jesper

Nyhedsbrev denne gang

En micro flue bag en riffling hitch flue
Fluorocarbon versus nylon tippet
Fantastiske hanenakker..værd at nævne – Og en tidlig jule gave
Nogle fotos fra sæson 2022

Micro stinger og hitch

i Skotland

Skotsk know-how

Når jeg tager til Skotland og fisker Kinnaber-beat ved elven North Esk i Aberdeenshire, er jeg heldig at kunne tilbringe tid med min fiskeven Ron Gray, som er ghillie på Kinnaber-beatet. Ron er riffling hitch specialist, og som ghillie er han ved elven 24/7 hele fiske sæsonen.

Lokal indsigt

Når du er ved elven hver dag i løbet af sæsonen, oplever du de forskellige små forandringer ved de stedlige laks og ørred bedre, end de fleste lystfiskere nogensinde ville kunne gøre, og råd fra den slags lokale lystfisker eller ghillier kan være uvurderlig information for den besøgende dagskort fisker.

Micro fluer …En essentiel nødvendighed.

Hvis elven er lav og varm, eller de fisk, du er kommet for at fiske, er blevet vanskelige, så vil du nok opleve, at de fluer, der skal til for at narre sådanne fisk til at bide, vil være nogle af de mindste fluer, du kan finde i din boks.

Langsomt vand kan diktere en sparsomt dresset flue, der kan lave den helt rigtige præsentation i den bagerste del af den langsomme pool, eller måske har de sidste dages klækning af insekter, såsom slørvinger (stenfluer), caddisfluer eller døgnfluer (majfluer), hjernevasket de stedlige fisk til kun at reagere på fluemønstre der efterligner noget, de ser fra dag til dag.

Et smugkig ind i Ron´s æske med mikrofluer – De små micro trekrogsfluer # 16 – 20 ses i den øverste del af æsken.

Se små outpoint trekroge til at binde mikrofluer på her

Hitch fluen som et fartøj

At fiske med riffling hitch teknik kan være et godt valg, når man fisker Kinnaber beat ved North Esk, hvor kanter af strømmen og hurtige lavvande stryg, i flere pools fungerer til fordel for en flue præsenteret på eller i overfladen, men en riffling hitch flue kan også virke som et fartøj for en anden flue såsom en mikroflue i # 16 – 20, og dette er en teknik, Ron Gray råder lystfiskere til at bruge, når de besøger Kinnaber beat i sommermånederne, hvor laks kan være meget meget kræsen.

How To

Når du binder krogen på rørfluen, skal du lade overskydende tippet fra knuden, blive tilbage i den mængde du ønsker til den efterhængende flue (typisk 70 – 100cm.)

Fluer bundet på micro outoint trekroge

Ron´s hitch rør flue og en lille flue bundet på en outpoint trekrog – Ron bruger også microfluer bundet på enkeltkrog til efterhængende flue.

Opsætningen

Figur A) Knude opsætning ved riffling hitch fluen. Brug f.eks en Uni-knude

Figur B) Til den efterhængende flue

Hold det simpelt

At bruge en efterhængende flue kan være en fantastisk teknik, men det er også en form for fluefiskeri, der kan ende i en hel masse linerod.

Ron bruger en lille hitch rørflue som hovedflue og fartøj til mikrofluen (# 16 – 20), der hænger omkring 70 – 100 cm bag den forreste flue.

For at holde den efterhængende flue under overfladen foretrækker Ron at bruge 0.25 mm. fluorcarbon som tippet materiale. * Fluorocarbon synker en smule hurtigere end nylon, og det er også en smule stivere end normalt nylon tippet materiale, noget der sansynligvis kan forhindre en del af det uundgåelige linefilter (på fotoet ovenfor har vi brugt et stykke almindelig Maxima Chameleon nylon – for bedre at kunne illustrere opsætningen)

Den efterhængende flue… hvorfor er den så effektiv?

Vi ved ikke, hvad det præcist er med den efterhængende flue, der gør den så speciel, endnu engang er det en af de ting i fluefiskeri efter ørred og laks, som ikke er særligt godt beskrevet i den store manual for laksefiskeri (:

Cocktailen: hitch flue + efterhængende mikroflue er blot endnu et værdifuldt værktøj i flueboksen for fluefiskeren, der prøver at fange de besværlige laks og ørreder, der gemmer sig i poolen sommeren igennem.

Personligt tror jeg, at laksen eller ørreden ser udstyret med flere fluer som en række af klækkende insekter… og den bliver så måske, animeret til at fange den sidste flue …den, der endnu ikke er klækket… bare et gæt.

Besværlige laks - se mere

Er du nysgerrig efter at lære mere om de forskellige cyklus for den atlantisk laks … se vores Fishmadman-side om dette emne her

Fluorocarbon versus nylon

Hvad er fluorcarbon?

Fluorcarboner er kemiske forbindelser med kulstof-fluorbindinger Fluorcarboner og deres derivater er kommercielle polymerer, kølemidler, lægemidler og anæstetika. (kilde Wikipedia)

Den første fluorcarbon-line blev produceret i 1972

Det er den japanske produktionsvirksomhed Kureha i byen Iwaki, der udviklede og lancerede Seaguar, verdens første fiskeline lavet af fluorcarbon (PVDF), i 1971.

Materialet blev hurtigt uhyre populært blandt biggame og kommercielle fiskere, hovedsageligt på grund af lysbrydningsindekset for fluorcarbon, der ligger tæt på vandets brydningsindeks, hvilket gør det mindre synligt under vand, noget ganske væsentligt, f.eks. ved fiskeri efter blåfinnet tun med 200 lb mono.

Fluorcarbon-linen har også andre bemærkelsesværdige egenskaber, bl.a. manglende vandabsorbering, slidstyrke og knudestyrke, sidst men ikke mindst, synkehastighed for fluorocarbon. Fluorocarbon synker gennem vandet hurtigere end nylon) * noget Ron Gray har gavn af i sit fiskeri med efterhængende mikrofluer.

Fluorcarbon bliver mere og mere populær blandt fluefiskere

Fluorocarbon er blevet tydeligt populært i løbet af de sidste par årtier, og mange lystfiskere, jeg kender, tænker ikke to gange, når de køber en spole af fluorocarbon tippet materiale 6 – 7 gange dyrere end en spole af kvalitets nylon tippet materiale.

Er fluorcarbon forfangsmateriale nødvendigt?

Hvis du spørger mig som havfisker, der fisker efter tun, makrel og grå multe, vil jeg sige ja! … fluorcarbon vil give dig flere fisk på krogen. Tunarterne og multerne er fisk, der ser og undgår ting som nylon og på denne måde kan de også afskrække fra at tage din agn, når du bruger nylon.

Fluorcarbon til ørred og atlantisk laks

Som en ivrig ørred og laksefisker vil jeg sige nej… spar dine penge og køb nylon til dit flueforfang – når jeg skriver dette, vil jeg nok få andre fluefiskere til at løfte på øjenbrynene – men min erfaring med fluorcarbon har vist mig, at materialet har få egenskaber det ville hjælpe mig med at få flere fisk på krogen, jeg anerkender, at fluorocarbon har så mange evner, som potientielt kan hjælpe lystfiskere på specifikke og specielle måder, som jeg ikke kender, hvilket gør mit råd en smule skævt.

Laks og ørred lader til at være ligeglade med lysets brydningsindeks!

Siden 1980’erne har jeg jævnligt brugt fluorcarbon i mit fiskeri efter havørred og laks. I begyndelsen var jeg sikker på, at det lave lysreflektionsindeks for fluorcarbon ville gøre mig i stand til at narre nogle af de forsigtige ørreder og laks, jeg så ofte mødte på kysten og i elven – jeg lærte efterhånden, at disse fisk var nøjagtig lige så uinteresserede og forsigtige, som de plejede at være med mine fluer fisket på nylon – og generelt tror jeg ikke, jeg har fanget en ørreder eller laks mere, på grund af brugen af fluorcarbonforfang eller ditto tippet-materiale.

Fluorcarbon er stivere end konventionel nylon

Generelt set er fluorcarbon tippet stivere end konventionelt tippet materiale og det er også et mindre elastisk materiale end nylon, hvilket ikke er egenskaber jeg ville have stor gavn af i mit fiskeri efter ørred og laks, tværtimod forsøger jeg at undgå stift tippet materiale da jeg mener, at stive forfang fjerner noget af det liv, som små og mellemstore fluemønstre har brug for.

Jeg foretrækker også en blød og elastisk nylon tippet frem for et stift og mindre elastisk tippet materiale – da jeg ofte fisker efter større fisk med små kroge og let grej i en sport, hvor elastisk tippet materiale er praktisk ….Læs mere om dette emne på vores Fishmadman blog (Du skal tabe laks og steelhead på små fluer) (dog på engelsk)

Bruger du skydehoved på kysten? Fluorcarbon kan være noget for dig

Per Fischer bruger længder af fluorcarbon (Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon) til at binde sine forfang, når han fisker med skyde-hoved efter havørreder og gedder fra den åbne kyst. Per binder, sit forfang op fra 0,60 millimeter fluorcarbon til 0,45 derefter 0,40 osv., der ender med 0,25 millimeter)

Ved brug af to fluer på forfanget bruger Per også fluorcarbonmateriale, da dette filtrer sig mindre ved kast.

Lad os diskutere emnet fluorcarbon

Jeg tror, at nogle af jer har haft gode erfaringer med fluorcarbon, og hvis det nu er tilfældet, vil jeg gerne modtage alle relevante input og tanker om emnet fluorcarbon til ørred og laks, jeg vil tilføje din tekst til denne side, som også vil blive vist på Fishmadman. com for lystfiskere at se.

Hvis du har lyst til at bidrage, så tag dig tid til at skrive til mig om dine tanker på jesper(A)fishmadman.com

Nogle fra 2022

Snaelda Willie Gunn Conehead Copper Tube ¾

Vores nye Snaelda Willie Gunn Conehead Copper Tube ¾ var på vores tippet fra begyndelsen til slutningen af sæsonen – Her fiskede vi dybt efter oktober havørred.

Se fluen i vores butik

Den store version af Snaelda Willie Gunn Conehead Copper Tube 1 1/4

Den store version af Snaelda Willie Gunn var fantastisk at bruge i begyndelsen af sæsonen … fiske på toppen af hurtigt hvidt vand – en spektakulær måde at fange laks på.

Se fluen i vores butik

HITCHMAN – Black and Gold # 10 – 14

August bragte nogle spektakulære bid på HITCHMAN – Black and Gold # 10 – 14 Jeg så ikke engang denne fisk, selvom den kun var en stanglængde væk, da den hægtede sig fast til fluen.

Se fluen i vores butik

HITCHMAN – Black and Gold # 10 – 14

Endnu en august laks på HITCHMAN – Black and Gold – denne fiskede med brækket hånd (bogstaveligt talt)… En ny oplevelse for mig og nok ikke hvad min læge ville anbefale.

Se fluen i vores butik

Silver HITCHMAN

Riffling Hitch aficionado hr. Alan Vang fangede denne smukke 88 centimeter juli-laks på en Silver HITCHMAN

Se fluen i vores butik

Alans video kanal på Youtube

Du finder Alans spændende videokanal på Youtube her

Fluebindings vinter

Tag plads ved stikket…

Du ser måske frem til julegåsen, venners skønsang og gløgg – jeg glæder mig til at binde fluer … Jeg har et par nye ideer og nogle fluer, jeg skal binde til min kystflueboks, her til vinterstid. Jeg har købt krogene, og jeg har også den perfekte hanenakke til jobbet.

Længe undervejs

En af de mest ventede sæsonbestemte ordrer i vores butik er vores ordre på Metz hanenakker og sadler … De ankom lige i tide, da vores dygtige Frances fluebinder snart skal i gang med et nyt parti fluer. Nakkerne tog sig tid til at dukke op her i Danmark… og jeg ved, at nogle af jer, der læser dette, vil sikre udvalgte nakker, mens vi har materialet på lager… desværre fik vi ikke så mange – så det er først til mølle princip – igen i år.

Hvorfor sælger i nakker i 2 og 3 kvalitetsklasse?

Vi tror, at disse # 2 og # 3 kapper flyver lige under radaren, ude i den store fluefiske verden. De er billige, og de er af super kvalitet og sidst men ikke mindst, så har de et større udvalg af fjer, der hælder mere til lidt større fluemønstre, så som laksefluer.

Super overkommelig amerikansk kvalitet ★★★★★

Metz #2 brun hane nakke

Perfekt til små og store krops-hackler på Frances fluer – Perfekt til at lave lange levende følehorn af. Super fine små taperede fjer til kyst-tanglopper – Fantastisk materiale.

Tag mig til butikken

Metz #3 Grizzly Hane nakke

Overlegne naturlige farver – Fantastisk kvalitet til en fantastisk pris. Perfekt til et utal af kystflue mønstre – Følehorn til de mest fantastiske rejefluer.

Se nakke i butikken

Metz #2 naturlig brun sadel

Metz #2 naturlig brun sadel

Materialet til store tørfluer – Bugs og orme, kystfluer samt store og små laksefluer (en del Coch–y–Bonddu fjer)

Se alle nakker i butikken

Metz #2 Ginger Sadel

Metz #2 Ginger Sadel

Lige materialet til store tørfluer – Bugs og orme samt store og små laksefluer i en smuk ginger farve.

Se flere Metz produkter

Lidt inspiration (:

Micro Frances Fly Treble # 14

Se denne flue i butikken

Frances Copper Tube – Red 1 1/4″

Se denne flue i butikken

Glitter Bug Green and Orange

Se denne flue i butikken

Få et nyt perspektiv på livet - hjælp nogen til at komme på fisketur

Tag nogen med på fisketur

Til alle nye og gamle kunder hos Fishmadman… tak for jeres støtte, spændende-mails og telefonopkald denne sommer – Vi forsøger at holde priserne på vores ting i butikken så lave som muligt og forhåbentlig vil vi være i stand til at opretholde vores fluebindingsforretning gennem en besværlig tid.

I håbet om, at nogen venligst ville tage hr. Putin med på fisketur, så han kan få et positivt syn på fremtiden og ideer til, hvordan han kunne tilbringe resten af sit liv i fred… og fiske… et sted dybt inde i Rusland.

Fiskehilsen fra Las, Per & Jesper

SE FORRIGE NYHEDSBREV

The post Nyhedsbrev November 2022 first appeared on Fishmadman.com.

Newsletter from Fishmadman December 2024 Colors in salmon flies – Things for nymphing

Jesper Fohrmann — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 11:58:38 +0000

Read in Scandi language

Newsletter this time

Unveiling the Mystery of Fly Colors in Salmon and steelhead Fishing
Discover some of the secrets behind the hues that attract salmon and how to make the most of your fly selection.
Revolutionary Nymph Fishing Gadget
Introducing a game-changing tool that will elevate your nymph fishing experience.
Early Christmas Discount
Get ahead of the holiday rush with exclusive savings on our top fishing gear—just in time for gifting (or treating yourself!).

If you join our newsletter you will also be able to get special dicount offers feel free to join newsletter

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Fish see colour: Anadromous species, such as salmon and trout, have highly specialised colour vision adapted to their environment. They can perceive colours like red, green, and blue, and their specialised vision also allows them to detect UV wavelengths, which aid them in locating prey and evading predators. Consequently, the colours of our flies play a crucial role, as specific shades can be particularly effective in attracting fish.

Above: The legendary Jock Scott, regarded as an iconic pattern in the world of fly tying, is believed to have been created by the ghillie Jock Scott. The story goes on to say that he tied the fly while crossing the North Sea from England to Norway, travelling with his employer, Lord Scott. This famous pattern has become a must-have fly pattern for salmon anglers worldwide.

Design of the Centuries

Victorian salmon anglers were pioneers in crafting some of the most striking and intricate salmon flies in history. These avant-garde designs sometimes incorporated as many as 30 different exotic, contrasting feathers, shimmering metal wires, and silk threads dyed in every imaginable hue to form flies that were as visually stunning as they were effective.

Bridging tradition and innovation

The enduring success of these classic patterns that lasted for many decades lies in their exceptional craftsmanship and the use of organic materials like feathers and wool, renowned for their ability to entice trout and salmon into biting. Victorian anglers not only mastered the art of fly tying but also understood that specific design elements and vibrant colour schemes could significantly enhance their ability to catch salmon. These innovative insights laid the foundation for modern fly patterns and fly-tying techniques. Their legacy continues to thrive in the salmon fly patterns we tie onto our leaders today, bridging tradition and innovation.

The Role of Color in Salmon and steelhead Flies

Shimmering threads in gold or silver add a subtle yet effective glimmer to a fly. In many cases, a small amount of shimmering material has a greater impact than larger quantities, providing just the right amount of sparkle to attract fish.

The iridescent peacock feather, a key feature in countless fly patterns, holds an undeniable allure for salmonids. Green peacock herl, in particular, is a versatile material that elevates nearly any salmon or trout pattern, adding both visual depth and irresistible attraction.

The dual-coloured body—featuring a lighter-coloured rear and a darker front—is a well-established design used by both trout and salmon anglers. The Rusty Rat originated by East Coast fly tier Mr Joseph Clovis Arseneault in the 1940s is a prime example of how 20th-century anglers drew inspiration from traditional salmon fly patterns like the Jock Scott pattern.

Black and white contrasting feathers are an evolutionary design found in birds, used to camouflage them into their surroundings and break up their body’s outline to avoid detection by predators. Such camouflaging pattern is also seen in some water insects. Salmon and trout, no doubt, have developed the ability to identify these contrasting stripes as part of their predatory instincts.

The Jungle Cock feather, once a key feature in Victorian salmon fly designs, brings together a mix of ingredients that effectively can deceive salmon and trout. These fish, like many predators, instinctively target the head and eyes of their prey for an effective strike. The distinct contrast between the bright and dark colours of the Jungle Cock feather, along with the wavy structure, makes this feather a useful tool for anglers targeting salmon and trout

Blue and green are colours that seem particularly effective for attracting fresh trout and salmon. This is likely because salmon and trout entering from the sea have eyes adapted to detect shorter wavelengths, like blue and green, which help them spot prey in the open ocean. As they spend time in the river, their vision gradually adjusts, becoming more attuned to other colours. You can learn more about this fascinating adaptation further down in the newsletter. Fly: Silver Doctor # 11/0

The see-through quality is also a key feature of tube flies designed for surface fishing, such as riffling hitch tube flies and larger patterns like Sunray Shadows. Modern materials like twinkle flash and mylar further enhance this effect, adding a subtle transparency that can be highly effective for attracting trout and salmon. Incorporating these elements into your fly designs can significantly boost their allure and effectiveness.effektivitet.

🍒The Cherry on Top

No discussion about colors for salmon and trout flies is complete without mentioning the importance of the see-through aspect in our flies.

In general, most of our flies are perceived by trout and salmon as some form of edible prey rather than being dismissed as, say, a piece of driftwood or other plant debris found in the water column. A combination of moving hair, dubbed woolen bodies, and other organic materials creates this impression. However, the see-through quality also plays a crucial role in enticing fish to strike—something fly tiers quickly learn when their flies are made too dense or solid.

It’s better to allow light to shine through our flies and the materials they are made of, as this transparency seems to be an essential part of deceiving the salmonids that roam our rivers.

In fly fishing, especially when selecting colours for salmon and sea trout flies, there are certain golden rules that many anglers swear by. However, it’s important to remember that these rules often come with an important caveat: flexibility is key. Fishing conditions are constantly changing, and fish behaviour can be unpredictable. Sometimes, it’s those small adjustments you make that can lead to success. So, yes—follow the golden rules, but don’t hesitate to adapt and experiment as needed.

Weather Matters The weather conditions have a significant impact on how flies are perceived by salmon and sea trout. On clear, bright days, fish tend to respond better to lighter, more vibrant flies. However, on dark and murky days, you’ll often find that darker fly patterns are more effective at attracting fish.

Match the Environment The environment where the fish are located plays a crucial role in determining which fly colours will be most effective. For example, if you’re fishing in an area with a lot of foliage, flies that blend in with this natural backdrop tend to work better. On the other hand, if you’re fishing over a grey-tinted riverbed, a grey Bomber fly could be just the thing to catch the fish’s attention.

Yellow Flies After a Spate Yellow-coloured flies are especially effective a day or two after a spate, particularly in murky rivers. The bright yellow hue stands out in the dim water, making it an excellent choice for fish hiding out in less-than-ideal visibility.

The Power of Red Red flies tend to become more effective as the season progresses. * Read about this further down in our newsletter.

Black Flies: A Universal Choice Black flies are a reliable and versatile option in nearly all rivers and conditions. Their adaptability makes them a staple in many anglers’ fly boxes, as they prove effective regardless of water clarity or time of day. It’s important to note that in low-light conditions, such as the twilight “witching hour” before complete darkness sets in, flies are often perceived primarily as black. During these times, slightly larger and darker flies can be especially effective, capitalising on their visibility in the reduced light. This highlights the fact that without light, colour perception changes, making black flies a go-to choice when other options may not stand out.

Yearly variations

As with every season, the most effective fly patterns tend to change. In 2024, White Bombers became my go-to fly, a striking contrast to 2023, when dark green Bombers produced the best results.

The reasons behind these shifts are difficult to pinpoint, but they are something most salmon anglers will notice over time. It’s one of the many fascinating mysteries that make our sport so intriguing.

White Tube Bomber the favourite colour for salmon in 2024 – See this Bomber in our shop

Dark Green Tube Bomber was the favourite colour for salmon in 2023 – See the Dark Green Bomber in our shop

Learn more about the different colours of Bombers on Fishmadman here.

Changes in the eye of salmon and sea-run brown trout may explain Why a Red Fly is More Effective Late in the Season.

Throughout their remarkable life journey, both salmon and sea-run brown trout move between two drastically different environments—freshwater rivers and the open sea. Each of these worlds presents distinct visual challenges, prompting these fish to develop extraordinary adaptations that allow them to perceive colours more effectively.

☞ Read the longer story on this subject in our blog on Fishmadman here

We’d love to hear from you! If you have any thoughts or insights about colours in salmon and trout flies, feel free to drop us a message at fishmadman@gmail.com. We’re excited to connect and look forward to hearing from you!

A New Nymph-fishing Product You Should Try

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Nymphs for salmon and sea trout

During my summer of salmon fishing, I occasionally switch to a heavy nymph to target sea trout or salmon hiding in secluded areas of the river, often in slow or slack water. For this type of fishing, I rely exclusively on strike indicators. Over the years, I’ve tried a wide variety of them, but this season, I discovered a game-changer.

I purchased a set of indicators from Patrick and Teri Douglas in Belgrade, Montana. Their OROS strike indicators feature a clever foam design with an easily adjustable screw-on, screw-off system. This innovative setup makes them incredibly practical and user-friendly. I was so impressed that we’ve decided to include these OROS strike indicators in our range of fly fishing gadgets.

The version we offer in our shop is the # small model featuring a 16 mm diameter.

See a video on how you attach this smart OROS strike indicator (the strike indicator used in this video is the BIG version) – The one we sell is the SMALL version.

On the subject of nymphs

Starting in 2025, we will be expanding our collection of TDF flies with the addition of two new nymph patterns. The first, the Copper John, is a widely recognized favourite among anglers targeting sea-run brown trout (sea trout) in Argentina. The second is a unique stonefly pattern, inspired by a design featuring two golden brass

Double Gold Bead stonefly in action October 2024

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The post Newsletter from Fishmadman December 2024 Colors in salmon flies – Things for nymphing first appeared on Fishmadman.com.

Nyhedsbrev fra Fishmadman – December 2024 – Farver i laksefluer – Ting til nymfefiskeri

Jesper Fohrmann — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 11:58:38 +0000

Nyhedsbrev denne gang

Hemmeligheden bag fluefarver i laksefiskeri
Opdag nogle af hemmelighederne bag de farver, der tiltrækker laks, og hvordan du får mest ud af dit fluevalg.

smart gadget til nymfefiskeri
Præsentation af et værktøj, der vil løfte din nymfefiskeoplevelse til nye højder.

Tidlig jule-rabat
Kom foran i juletravlheden med eksklusive besparelser på vores bedste fiskegrej—perfekt til gaver (eller til at forkæle dig selv!).

Hvis du tilmelder dig vores nyhedsbrev, får du også adgang til særlige rabattilbud. Tilmeld dig gerne nyhedsbrevet!

Tilmeld dig vores nyhedsbrev

Fisk ser farver! Anadrome arter, såsom laks og ørred, har et højt specialiseret farvesyn, der er tilpasset deres miljø. De kan opfatte farver som rød, grøn og blå, og deres specialiserede syn gør det også muligt for dem at se UV-stråler, hvilket hjælper dem med at finde bytte og undgå rovdyr. Derfor spiller farverne på vores fluer en afgørende rolle, da specifikke nuancer kan være særligt effektive til at tiltrække fisk.

Ovenfor: Den legendariske Jock Scott, betragtet som et ikonisk mønster inden for fluefiske, menes at være skabt af ghillien Jock Scott. Historien fortæller, at han bandt fluen, mens han krydsede Nordsøen fra England til Norge sammen med sin arbejdsgiver, Lord Scott. Dette berømte mønster er blevet et uundværligt fluevalg for laksefiskere verden over.

Design gennem århundreder

Victorianske laksefiskere var pionerer inden for skabelsen af nogle af de mest imponerende og detaljerede laksefluer i historien. Disse avantgarde-designs indeholdt ofte op til 20 – 30 forskellige eksotiske, kontrasterende fjer, skinnende metaltråde og silketråde farvet i alle tænkelige nuancer for at skabe fluer, der var lige så visuelt betagende, som de var effektive.

Bro mellem tradition og innovation

Den vedvarende succes for disse klassiske mønstre, der holdt gennem årtier, ligger i deres enestående håndværk og brugen af organiske materialer som fjer og uld, kendt for deres evne til at lokke ørred og laks på krogen. De victorianske fiskere mestrede ikke kun kunsten at binde fluer, men forstod også, at specifikke designelementer og levende farvekombinationer kunne forbedre chancerne for at fange laks betydeligt. Banebrydende indsigt der lagde fundamentet for moderne fluemønstre og fluebindingsteknikker. Denne arv lever videre i de laksefluer, vi binder på vores forfang i dag, som en bro mellem tradition og innovation.

Farvens Rolle i Laksefluer

Klar gul var en nøglefarve i victorianske fluemønstre og er stadig en fast bestanddel i moderne fluer til laks og ørred. De gule fluer er særligt effektive en eller to dage efter en elv-stigning og fungerer især godt i elve med let grumset vand. Flue: Bulldog # 7/0

Den klare røde tag er blevet et tidløst element i lakse- og ørredfluer, ofte anvendt i low-water mønstre og mønstre designet til at fisket nær overfladen. Ofte kombineret med en lys gul eller grøn tag skaber det et iøjnefaldende og yderst effektivt design. Flue: Black Doctor # 2/0

Skinnende tråde i guld eller sølv tilføjer en diskret, men effektiv glans til en flue. I mange tilfælde har en lille mængde skinnende materiale større effekt end større mængder, da det giver præcis den rette mængde bling-bling til at tiltrække laks og ørred.

Den iriserende påfuglefjer, en central funktion i utallige fluemønstre, har en uomtvislig tiltræknings kraft på laksefisk. Især grøn påfugle herl er et alsidigt materiale, der løfter næsten ethvert lakse- eller ørredmønster, idet det både tilføjer visuel dybde og uimodståelig tiltrækning.

Den tofarvede krop—med en lysere bagende og en mørkere forende—er et velkendt design, der bruges af både ørred- og laksefiskere. Rusty Rat, skabt af fluebinder Joseph Clovis Arseneault i 1940’erne, er et fremragende eksempel på, hvordan fiskere i det 20. århundrede hentede inspiration fra traditionelle laksefluemønstre som Jock Scott-mønstret.

Sort-hvid kontrasterende fjer er et evolutionært design, der findes hos fugle, og bruges til at camouflere dem i deres omgivelser og bryde kroppens kontur for at undgå at blive opdaget af rovdyr. Et sådant camoufleringsmønster ses også hos nogle vandinsekter. Laks og ørred har uden tvivl udviklet evnen til at identificere disse kontrasterende striber som en del af deres jagtinstinkter.

Jungle Cock-fjeren, som engang var et nøgleelement i victorianske lakseflue-designs, samler en blanding af ingredienser, der kan narre laks og ørred. Disse fisk, ligesom mange rovdyr, har instinktivt tendens til at målrette angreb mod hovedet og øjnene på deres bytte. Den markante kontrast mellem de lyse og mørke farver på Jungle Cock-fjeret, sammen med den bølgende lak agtige struktur, gør disse fjer til et nyttigt redskab for fluebindere der binder ørred og laksefluer.

Blå og grøn er farver, der ser ud til at være særligt effektive til at tiltrække friske ørreder og laks. Dette skyldes sandsynligvis, at laks og ørreder, der kommer ind fra havet, har øjne, der er tilpasset til at opfange kortere bølgelængder som blå og grøn, hvilket hjælper dem med at opdage bytte i det åbne hav. Når de har opholdt sig noget tid i elven, tilpasser deres syn sig gradvist og bliver mere modtageligt for andre farver. Du kan læse mere om denne fascinerende tilpasning længere nede i nyhedsbrevet. Flue: Silver Doctor # 11/0

Den gennemsigtige kvalitet er også en nøglefunktion i tubefluer designet til overfladefiskeri, såsom riffling hitch tube fluer og større mønstre som Sunray Shadows. Moderne materialer som twinkle flash og mylar forstærker yderligere denne effekt og tilføjer en subtil gennemsigtighed, der kan være meget effektiv til at tiltrække ørreder og laks. At inkorporere disse elementer i dine fluedesigns kan markant øge deres tiltrækningskraft og effektivitet.

🌭 Rossinen i pølseenden.

Ingen diskussion om farver til laks- og ørredfluer er komplet uden at nævne vigtigheden af den gennemsigtige egenskab i vores fluer.

Generelt opfattes de fleste af vores fluer af ørreder og laks som en form for spiselig bytte i stedet for at blive afvist som f.eks et stykke drivtømmer eller andet planteaffald, der findes i vandsøjlen. En kombination af bevægeligt hår, dubbet uldkrop og andre organiske materialer skaber dette indtryk. Dog spiller den gennemsigtige kvalitet også en afgørende rolle i at lokke fisken til at hugge—noget fluebindere hurtigt lærer, når de fluer de binder bliver for tætte eller kompakte.

Det er bedre at lade lyset skinne igennem fluen og de materialer den er lavet af, da denne gennemsigtighed synes at være en essentiel del af at narre de laks- og ørreder, der svømmer i elv og å.

I fluefiskeri, især når man vælger farver til lakse- og havørredfluer, er der visse gyldne regler, som mange fiskere sværger til. Det er dog vigtigt at huske, at disse regler ofte kommer med en vigtig forbehold: fleksibilitet er nøglen. Fiskeforholdene ændrer sig konstant, og fiskens adfærd kan være uforudsigelig. Nogle gange er det de små justeringer, du foretager, der kan føre til succes. Så ja – følg de gyldne regler, men tøv ikke med at tilpasse dig og eksperimentere, når det er nødvendigt.

Vejret betyder noget

Vejrforholdene har stor indflydelse på, hvordan fluer opfattes af laks og havørred. På klare, lyse dage reagerer fisk generelt bedre på lyse fluer. På mørke og uklare dage vil du ofte opdage, at mørkere fluemønstre er mere effektive.

Match miljøet

Miljøet, hvor fiskene befinder sig, spiller en afgørende rolle i at bestemme, hvilke fluefarver der vil være mest effektive. For eksempel, hvis du fisker i et område med meget bevoksning, vil fluer, der blandes ind med den naturlige baggrund, ofte være mere effektive. På den anden side, hvis du fisker over en gråfarvet flodbund, kan en grå Bomber-flue være lige præcis det, der fanger fiskens opmærksomhed.

Gule fluer efter stigning på elven

Gule fluer er især effektive en eller to dage efter en stignin. Den lyse gule farve skiller sig ud Især i uklare elve, hvilket gør den til et fremragende valg hvis du fisker i elve med opvivlet sand og udvaskning af jord.

Den røde flues kraft

Røde fluer bliver ofte mere effektive, jo længere ind i sæsonen man kommer. *Læs mere om dette længere nede i vores nyhedsbrev.

Sorte fluer: Et universelt valg

Sorte fluer er et pålideligt og alsidigt valg i næsten alle elve og forhold. Deres tilpasningsevne gør dem til en fast bestanddel i de flestes flueboks, da de er effektive uanset vandklarhed eller tidspunkt på dagen.

Det er vigtigt at bemærke, at i lavt lys, som ved den skumrings-“heksestund”, før det bliver helt mørkt, opfattes fluer primært som sorte. I disse perioder kan lidt større og mørkere fluer være særligt effektive, da du udnytter deres synlighed i det reducerede lys. Dette understreger det faktum, at uden lys ændrer farveopfattelsen sig, hvilket gør sorte fluer til et go-to valg, når andre muligheder ikke skiller sig ud

Årlige variationer

Som med enhver sæson plejer de mest effektive fluemønstre at ændre sig. I 2024 blev Hvid Bomber min foretrukne flue, hvilket var et markant kontrast til 2023, hvor den mørkegrønne Bombers gav de bedste resultater.

Årsagerne bag disse skift er svære at fastslå, men det er noget, de fleste laksefiskere vil bemærke over tid. Det er et af de mange fascinerende mysterier, der gør vores sport så spændende.

White Tube Bomber – den foretrukne farve for laks i 2024 – Se denne Bomber i vores butik.

Mørkegrøn Tube Bomber var den foretrukne farve for laks i 2023 – Se den Mørkegrønne Bomber i vores butik.
Lær mere om de forskellige farver af Bombers på Fishmadman. Her

* Ændringer i laksens og havørredens øjne kan forklare, hvorfor en rød flue er mere effektiv sent på sæsonen

Gennem deres bemærkelsesværdige livsrejse bevæger både laks og havørred sig mellem to drastisk forskellige miljøer—ferskvandfloder og det åbne hav. Hvert af disse verdener præsenterer forskellige visuelle udfordringer, hvilket har fået disse fisk til at udvikle ekstraordinære tilpasninger, der gør dem i stand til at opfatte farver mere effektivt.

* Læs den længere historie om emnet på vores blog på Fishmadman her

Vi vil meget gerne høre fra dig! Hvis du har tanker eller idéer om farver i fluer til laks og ørred, er du velkommen til at sende os en besked på fishmadman@gmail.com. Vi ser frem til at høre fra dig!

Nyt nymfefiske-grej du bør prøve

Se den i vores butik

Nymfer til laks og havørred

I løbet af min sommer med laksefiskeri skifter jeg af og til til en tung nymfe for at fiske efter havørreder eller laks, der gemmer sig i langsomt eller stillestående vand. Til denne type fiskeri bruger jeg gerne strike-indikatorer. Gennem årene har jeg prøvet mange forskellige, men denne sæson opdagede jeg noget, der virkelig gjorde en teknisk forskel.

Jeg købte et sæt indikatorer fra Patrick og Teri Douglas i Belgrade, Montana. Deres OROS-strike-indikatorer har et smart skumdesign med et let justerbart skrue-på, skrue-af system. Denne innovative opbygning gør dem utroligt praktiske og brugervenlige. Jeg blev så imponeret, at vi har besluttet at inkludere disse OROS-strike-indikatorer i vores udvalg af fluefiskegrej.

Den version, vi tilbyder i vores butik, er den lille model med en diameter på 16 mm.

Se en video om, hvordan du monterer denne smarte OROS strike indicator (den strike indicator, der bruges i videoen, er den STORE version) – Den, vi sælger, er den LILLE version.

Besøg vores butik

Om nymfer

Fra 2025 vil vi udvide vores samling af TDF-fluer med to nye nymfe-mønstre. Den første, Copper John, er en meget anerkendt favorit blandt havørredfiskere i Argentina. Den anden; Double Gold Bead stonefly, er et unikt mønster designet med to gyldne messingperler.

Double Gold Bead stonefly in action October 2024

Besøg vores butik

Se forrige nyhedsbrev

See this newsletter

The post Nyhedsbrev fra Fishmadman – December 2024 – Farver i laksefluer – Ting til nymfefiskeri first appeared on Fishmadman.com.

Newsletter winter 2021

Jesper Fohrmann — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 11:58:38 +0000

Read the letter in Scandinavian (This time Danish)

Hello fellow anglers and welcome to another newsletter from us at Fishmadman – the holiday season is close and we as many other anglers will spend time with family and friends and then go to our fly tying room and try our hands on some new flies for the upcoming season …This newsletter will be focusing on some of the things we have made for fly tying in 2021… hopefully, it will be of inspiration to you

This time in the newsletter

The Pink´s are coming
NEW tube fly tying needles from us
A NEW form of tube from us
Natural black squirrel tails in stock again
Introducing our new associate
Holliday discount 🥳

Jesper Fohrmann

Fly Designer

Pacific salmon in Scandinavia

Season 2021 was not a particularly good year for the Atlantic salmon in Scandinavia, but runs of pink salmon were completely off the charts and I for one did not miss out on the opportunity to fish for this aggressive and hard fighting fish both in rivers and in the salt – Here is a male pink salmon in spawning colures caught on sea trout costal gear – Compared to its size, pink salmon can be one of the hardest fighting fish you may encounter at the end of your fly rod.

The pinks are coming!

The Pacific salmonid (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) or pink salmon as it also is known as in North America was introduced to the Russian Barents region by mad scientists in the late 1950´s – ever since then, these species have appeared in salmon rivers all over Scandinavia and in the UK. Some years runs have been weak but other years like the recent, runs of this irregular critter have gained momentum and 100000´s pink salmon have entered our river systems… especially in the very north of Norway.

Fish non grata

The ecological impact of pink salmon entering our Atlantic salmon river systems has as of yet not been fully determined and the Norwegian government have finally instigated extensive research into the matter. To read more about the timeline of this major example of how humans may ruin native biodiversity – Go to this link

Arriving at the river pink salmon are silver and the meat is red and tasty a bit like our native trout, after some weeks in freshwater the meat loses some of its taste and firmness and pink salmon become less interesting as food.

A brace of fresh pink salmon caught on a Ban´s Special. The top fish is a female, the bottom fish is a male.

I did my bit my fair bit to diminish the runs of pink´s this summer and I highly recommend these fish for your sushi and sashimi.

Pinks on a Bomber

Using our Orange tube Bomber fitted with a small Owner ST BCX # 14 trebles I managed to hook and land several pink salmon. The orange and the brown coloured Bombers was definitely the best choice for pink salmon. See the Orange Tube Bomber in size medium.

When pink salmon have been in fresh water for some time they can become quite difficult to catch and very easy to spook – but the sheer amount of them makes things interesting and this summer I spend countless hours trying to catch them on a dry fly.

Some notes and observations on pink salmon in Scandinavian waters.

None of the + 80 Pacific salmon I caught this summer had sea lice on them… an interesting fact considering the number of sea lice native salmon has to cope with

When observing the 4 species together in the rivers I visited (arctic char, Atlantic salmon, sea-run brown trout and pink salmon) I did not once observe any fight among the native fish and the Pacific salmon this does not mean that Pacific salmon would avoid and take up space that the other fish normally would occupy … It looked like all fish did there own thing without bothering each other.

Tube fly tying needles from Fishmadman

Smart design!

Over the years we have happily used normal sowing needles for our tube fly tying – we have also promoted this inexpensive solution through our shop but we have had problems getting the right sowing needles for the tubing we sell so we decided to produce our design of tube fly tying needles – and are proud to present you with some of the smartest needles on the market.

4 different needles to choose from. We make needles that will fit the tubing we sell – from the thinnest 1.4 – millimetre tubings to the biggest 3.2 mm. tubing we use for big Sunray Shadow flies – A small plate at the rear end of the needle serves as a clamping point to put in your fly tying vise.

See it in the shop

The long needle – Sunray Shadow needle

A specially made needle for long tube flies like Sunray Shadow flies.
Fits our 3.0 and 3.2 mm Hitch tube that has an inside diameter (Ø) of 1.8 & 2.0 mm. The total length is 115 mm.

See it in the shop

The Hitch fly Needle

A short needle we use for our skaters, riffling hitch flies and normal tube flies up to 2 # … Super quality forged steel. Fits perfectly with our 3.2 mm hitch tubing that has an inside diameter (Ø) of 1.8 & 2.0 mm. The total length of the needle is 62 mm.

See it in the shop

The Medium needle

For small/medium diameter tube flies or metal tubes with inner-lining tubing – Bottle tubes.
Made for our 1.8 mm tube that has an inside diameter (Ø) of 1.1 mm. The total length is 97 mm. A needle that will enable you to tie big tube dry flies a.o.

See it in the shop

The Thin needle

For tiny tube flies or metal tubes with inner-lining tubing – Micro Bottle tubes.Made for our thinnest 1.4 mm tube that has an inside diameter (Ø) of 0.7 mm. The total length is 62 mm.

A new type of tubing for your cone head flies

Cone-Head-Tube ™ from Fishmadman

A simple solution to a major headache

If you design tiny flies on tube you will often come across the problem where your tubing doesn’t fit the tiny coneheads you want to use in your fishing, and you probably already have a whole draw full of coneheads that won’t fit the tubes you can buy (except for those extra expensive tubes manufactures make to fit their special coneheads) – Well… we have the solution for you…and we know you’re going to like it.

Heat and pull the Cone-Head-Tube ™ and change the diameter of the tubing

Here is a revolutionizing concept in the world of tube flies that we have been working on for some years. Simply heat the tubing slightly – pull – and let the tube cool down, now you have a new tube dimension that could fit your desired conehead. A really smart tube to have if you design tube flies with coneheads

The best tube material on the market

Absolutely “low-memory” properties within the plastic compound ensure that the tube will fall back into place after the hook has been removed The non-toxic special plastic formula used for the tubes also prevent the tube from cracking up in challenging temperatures.

Use the Cone-Head-Tube ™ as an inner tube on your metal tubes – then add a conehead

The Cone-Head-tube ™ 1.6/ 0.8mm. fits perfectly into most met™al tubes found in shops.

Heat and pull the Cone-head-tube ™ and you can shape it to accommodate a small tungsten conehead making it possible for you to design tiny heavy flies.

We have made a video showing you how it all works

NB! Fits our Fine tube tying needle

Our thinnest Cone-Head-Tube ™

Size and Product specification

Outer diameter: 1.6 millimeters. Inner diameter: 0.8 millimeters – This is the smallest version of our Cone-Head-Tube™… suited for tiny riffling hitch flies – tiny sub-patterns

1 – meter of material 3.45 $

See it in the shop

NB! Fits our Fine tube tying needle

Our thicker Cone-Head-Tube ™

Size and Product specification

Outer diameter: 2.0 millimeters. Inner diameter: 1.0 millimeters – This is the biggest version of our Cone-Head-Tube™ … suited for tiny riffling hitch flies – tiny sub-patterns

1 – meter of material 3.45 $

See it in the shop

Natural black squirrel tails from Russia

New stock

We initially had 100 of these tails …but they were sold out in a matter of weeks…so we decided to see if we could order more… now a few days before publishing this letter we were promised additional tails so now we should be able to supply you.

Natural black squirrel (Scientific Name: Sciurus vulgaris) hair has that super alluring effect on trout and salmon and 1000´s salmon fly patterns are based on the properties of squirrel hair – Not all squirrel tails are alike and some squirrel hair will work best if used on small flies and other hairs work better on bigger flies – if you are curious to learn more about squirrel hair in fly tying – take a look at our page on the subject squirrel tails. We will be listing the tails in shades of black and brown as long as stock lasts.

The prize is 6.95 $

Buy natural Black Squirrel

New Fischer on the block

Las Fischer is the new guy on the block at Fishmadman

In fact, Las isn’t that new as he has been part of Fishmadman for some years. Las is a cornerstone in our small enterprise where angling doesn’t have to be part of your CV…but it helps (:

Here Las is pictured on one of those classic looking vintage photos showing off his first-ever sea trout back in 1993

Merry Christmas and a happy new fishing season

Thank you for supporting our highly specialized fly shop – We hope that our flies will bring fish to your leader and a smile on your lips in 2022

To make things a bit merrier we would like to give you our newsletter readers a 11 % discount on all goods in our shop.

To take advantage of the discount please use the promotion code FISHALOT at checkout and the discount will automatically be deducted from any purchase you make in our shop.

The offer will be valid for the rest of 2021

Thank you from us

Thank you for supporting our highly specialized fly shop – We hope that our flies will bring fish to your leader and a smile on your lips in 2021… I think we all could need that (:

Remember to bring your kids and grandkids fishing it is only by sharing the dreamy and glorious moments at the river and ponds that new generations of people would want to conserve the fragile world of the salmon and trout that run our waters.

Yours Per & Jesper

GO TO PREVIOUS NEWSLETTER

The post Newsletter winter 2021 first appeared on Fishmadman.com.

Nyhedsbrev vinter 2021

Jesper Fohrmann — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 11:58:38 +0000

Read the letter in English

Hej fluefisker og velkommen til endnu et nyhedsbrev fra os på Fishmadman – juleferien er rundt om hjørnet, og vi vil som mange andre fluefiskere vil bruge tid sammen med familie og venner og derefter gå til vores fluebindingsrum og prøve at binde nogle nye fluer til den kommende sæson… Dette nyhedsbrev vil fokusere på nogle af de ting, vi har lavet til fluebinding i 2021…forhåbentlig vil det være til inspiration for dig

Denne gang i nyhedsbrever

Puklerne kommer
NYE rørfluebindenåle fra os
EN NY form for rør fra os
Naturlige sorte egernhaler på lager igen
 Må vi præsenterer vores nye medarbejder
Julerabat til nyhedsbrev læsere 🥳 Brug Promotion code, du finder den længere nede i vores nyhedsbrev ★

Jesper Fohrmann

Fly Designer

Stillehavslaks i Skandinavien

2021 var ikke et særligt godt år for atlanterhavslaks i Skandinavien, men opgangen af pukkellaks var helt utrolig og undertegnede gik selvfølgelig ikke glip af muligheden for at fiske efter denne aggressive og hårdt kæmpende fisk, både ved elve og på kysten – Her en han pukkellaks i gydefarver fanget på havørredegrej.

I forhold til pukkellaksens beskedende størrelse kan den være en af de hårdeste kæmpende fisk du kan møde for enden af din fluestang.

Pukklerne kommer

Pukkellaks (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) eller pink salmon, som den også er kendt som i det nordvestlige USA, blev introduceret til den russiske Barents-region af gale videnskabsmænd i slutningen af 1950’erne – siden er denne art dukket op i lakseelve over hele Skandinavien samt i Storbritannien. Nogle år har bestanden været lille, men andre år som det seneste, har opgangen af disse irregulære væsen taget fart og + 100000 pukkellaks er vandret ind i vores elvsystemer… især i det nordlige Norge.

Fisk non grata

Den økologiske indvirkning fra pukkellaks, der kommer ind i atlanterhavslaksens elve, er endnu ikke fuldt ud klarlagt, og den norske regering har endelig sat gang i omfattende forskning i sagen. For at læse mere om tidslinjen for dette perfekte eksempel på, hvorledes mennesker kan ødelægge lokal biodiversitet – Gå til dette link

Ved ankomst til elven er pukkellaksen sølvfarvet og kødet er rødt og velsmagende, lidt som vores hjemmehørende ørred. Efter nogle uger i ferskvand mister kødet noget af sin fine smag og fasthed og snart bliver pukkellaksen meget mindre interesant som menneske føde.

Et par nystegne pukkellaks, fanget på en Ban´s Special. Den øverste fisk er en hun, den nederste fisk en han.

Jeg gjorde mit bedste for at mindske mængden af pukkellaks denne sommer, og jeg anbefaler bestemt disse fisk til din sushi og sashimi.

Pukkellaks på Bomber

Ved at bruge vores Orange tube Bomber udstyret med en lille Owner ST BCX # 14 trekrog lykkedes det mig at kroge og lande adskillige pukkellaks. De orange og de brunfarvede bomber´s var absolut det bedste valg. Se Orange Tube Bomber i størrelse medium.

Når pukkellaksen har været i ferskvand i nogen tid, kan den blive ret svær at fange og meget nem at skræmme – men de store mængde af dem gør tingene interessante, og denne sommer brugte jeg utallige timer på at prøve at fange dem på tørflue.

Rørfluenåle fra Fishmadman

Smart design!

I årenes løb har vi med glæde brugt normale sy og stoppenåle til vores rørfluebinding – vi har også promoveret denne billige løsning gennem vores butik, men vi har haft problemer med at få fat i de rigtige nåle til de rør vi sælger, så vi besluttede at få vores eget design af nåle produceret, og vi er nu stolte af at, kunne præsentere dig for nogle af de smarteste fluebindingsnåle på markedet.

4 forskellige nåle at vælge imellem. Vi laver nåle der passer til de rør vi sælger – fra de tyndeste 1,4 millimeter rør til de største 3,2 mm. rør, som vi bruger til store Sunray Shadow fluer – Den lille metalplade for enden af nålen fungere til fastholdelse af nålen, du skal blot klemme om den med dit almindelige fluestik, så er du klar til at binde dine rørfluer.

Se den i butikken

Den lange nål – Sunray Shadow nål

En specialfremstillet nål til lange rørfluer som Sunray Shadow-fluer Lavet til vores 3,0 og 3,2 mm Hitch Tube rør med en indvendig diameter (Ø) på 1,8 & 2,0 mm. Den samlede længde er 115 mm Pris $ 17.95

Se den i butikken

Hitch flue nål

En kort nål vi bruger til vores skater, riffling hitch og normale rørfluer op til 2 # … Super kvalitets smedet stål. Passer perfekt til vores 3,2 mm. Hitch Tube rør, der har en indvendig diameter (Ø) på 1,8 & 2,0 mm Nålens samlede længde er 62 mm. Pris $ 17.95

Se den i butikken

Medium nålen

Til rørfluer med lille/mellem diameter eller metalrør med indvendig foringsrør – Bottle-tubes. Lavet til vores 1,8 mm. rør der har en indvendig diameter (Ø) på 1,1 mm Den samlede længde er 97 mm. En nål, der gør dig i stand til at binde store rør-tørfluer. Pris $ 17.95

Se den i butikken

Den tynde nål

Til små rørfluer eller metalrør med indvendig foringsrør – Micro Bottle-tubes. Lavet til vores tyndeste 1,4 mm. rør der har en indvendig diameter (Ø) på 0,7 mm Den samlede længde er 62 mm Pris $ 17.95

En ny type rør til dine conehead fluer

Cone-Head-Tube™ fra Fishmadman

En simpel løsning på en større hovedpine…

Hvis du som vi, designer små fluer på rør, vil du ofte støde på problemet, hvor dit rør ikke passer til de små coneheads du vil bruge i dit fiskeri, og du har sandsynligvis allerede en hel skuffe fuld af coneheads, som ikke passer til de rør du kan købe (bortset fra de ekstra dyre rør, som producenterne laver, så de passer til, nettop deres specielle coneheads) – Nå… vi har løsningen til dig… og vi ved, at du vil kunne lide den.

Varm og stræk Cone-Head-Tube™ for at forandre rørets diameter.

Her er et revolutionerende koncept i rørflueverdenen, som vi har arbejdet på i nogle år. Du skal blot varme røret lidt op – træk – og lad røret køle af, nu har du en ny rørdimension, der kan passe til dit ønskede conehead. Et rigtig smart rør at have, hvis du designer rørfluer med conehead.

Det bedste rør-materiale på markedet

Absolut, såkaldt “lav hukommelses egenskaber” i disse giftfri plastrør, sikrer at røret falder på plads igen, efter at krogen er blevet fjernet. Den specielle plastikformel, der bruges til rørene, forhindrer også røret i at revne i udfordrende temperaturer.

Brug Cone-Head-Tube™ som et inderrør på dine metalrør – tilføj derefter et conehead.

Cone-Head-tube™ 1.6/ 0.8 mm passer perfekt ind i de fleste metalrør, du finder i grejbutikkerne. Opvarm og træk Cone-Head-Tube™ røret, og du kan forme det, så det kan passe et lille Tungsten conehead eller tungstenskugle, hvilket gør det muligt for dig at designe små tunge fluer.

Vi har lavet en video der viser hvordan det hele fungere

NB! Passer med vores tynde fluebindingsnål

Vores tyndeste rør

Størrelse og produktspecifikation

Udvendig diameter: 1,6 millimeter. Indvendig diameter: 0,8 millimeter – Dette er den mindste udgave af vores Cone-Head-Tube™… egnet til små riffling hitch fluer – bittesmå vådfluer

1 meter materiale. i posen 3.45 $

Se den i butikken

NB! Passer med vores tynde fluebindingsnål

Vores tykkere rør

Størrelse og produktspecifikation

Udvendig diameter: 2,0 millimeter. Indvendig diameter: 1,0 millimeter – Dette er den største version af vores Cone-Head-Tube™… egnet til små riffling hitch fluer – bittesmå vådfluer

1 meter materiale. i posen 3.45 $

Se den i butikken

Natursort egernhale fra Russland

Ny sending

Vi havde oprindeligt 100 af disse haler … men de blev udsolgt i løbet af få uger … så vi besluttede at se, om vi kunne bestille flere … nu her et par dage før offentliggørelsen af dette brev blev vi lovet yderligere haler, så nu skulle vi være i stand til at forsyne dig.

Naturligt sort egern (videnskabeligt navn: Sciurus vulgaris) hår, har en super lokkende effekt på ørred og laks, og 1000-tals laksefluemønstre er baseret på egenskaberne fra egernhår – Ikke alle egernhaler er ens, og nogle egernhår vil fungere bedst, hvis brugt på små fluer og andre hår fungerer bedre på større fluer – hvis du er nysgerrig efter at lære mere om egernhår i fluebinding – så tag et kig på vores side om emnet egernhaler. Vi har halerne i nuancer af sort og brun, så længe lager haves.

Pris er 6,95 $

Køb natur sort egern

Ny Fischer på blokken

Las Fischer er den nye fyr på blokken hos Fishmadman

Faktisk er Las ikke så ny, da han har været en del af Fishmadman i nogle år. Las er en hjørnesten i vores lille virksomhed, hvor lystfiskeri ikke behøver at være en del af dit CV…men det hjælper (:

Her er Las afbilledet på et af disse klassiske vintage papirbilleder, visende sin første havørred tilbage i 1993

Glædelig jul og et godt nyt fiskeår

Tag mig straks til butikken!

Tak fordi du støtter vores specialiserede fluebutik – Vi håber, at vores fluer vil bringe fisk til din stang og et smil på dine læben i 2022

For at gøre tingene lidt sjovere vil vi gerne give dig som læser vores nyhedsbrev 11 % rabat på alle varer i vores butik. For at bruge rabatten skal du bruge ★ kampagnekoden FISHALOT ved kassen, og rabatten vil automatisk blive trukket fra ethvert køb, du foretager i vores butik. Tilbuddet gælder resten af 2021

Tak fra os

Husk at invitere dine børn og børnebørn på fisketur, det er kun ved at dele de herlige og spændende øjeblikke ved elv og sø, at nye generationer af mennesker vil ønsker at bevare den skrøbelige verden laks og ørred svømmer i.

Med venlig hilsen Las, Per & Jesper

GÅ TIL FORRIGE NYHEDSBREV

The post Nyhedsbrev vinter 2021 first appeared on Fishmadman.com.

Newsletter summer 2022

Jesper Fohrmann — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 11:58:38 +0000

Read the letter in Scandinavian (This time Danish)

Hello, fellow anglers and welcome to another newsletter from us at Fishmadman.

So to keep things in balance and get ready for the summer fly fishing season I will be doing a short newsletter with a few highlights

Hitching for sea trout
NEW flies from us
A NEW Owner hook
Shop on holiday
★ Holiday discount (Promotion code further down in this newsletter

Hitching for sea trout

I had the fortunate opportunity to go to Scotland and fish the North Esk river in June this summer and conditions was shallow water as we have seen over the last decade…only very few fish entered the river and other than an 11 lb fresh salmon we were left with the occasional sea trout that had settled in the pools. I have fished this beat in similar conditions and aimed for sea trout.

Daytime sea trout is a tall order

Sea trout or sea-run brown trout are notoriously tricky to catch during the day, mainly because they are so easy to scare. Most sea trout river guides recommend that anglers stay well away from the river until late evening when sea trout change attitude and become bold and aggressive.

Daytime sea trout caught on a Green Hitchman I use a relatively thin leader (0.20 mm Maxima) to get more movement out of the tiny flies. Ripping small hitch flies or bigger Sunray Shadow flies across the river on a square angler can also be a great technique during summertime low water conditions

Per Fischer and friend Christian Balle who are in Southern Norway on low water conditions (as I write) also used hitch flies and Speed Sunrays to catch day time sea trout

Stealth fishing and riffling hitch flies is the technique

When fishing for salmon, most anglers will be fishing daytime, and very few will ever experience the local sea trout until late at night except if you fish with tiny hitch flies and have a stealthy approach to the tail end of the pools or shadow runs where sea trout may hide out during day time. Try this form of fly fishing next time you visit your salmon river in low water conditions

Snaeldas n the shop

Islandic salmon candy

The Snaelda, or Snælda as it is called in Old Norse, is also the name of a hand spindle made from wood used for spinning and twisting fibres, such as wool, into yarn. The Snaelda fly is Made in so many versions in various colours – you usually find the Snaelda flies with a black wool body made to be fished deep.

We have two versions in 3 sizes for 2022

If you are pursuing salmon in Norway, Scotland or Russia (not so much the latter for political reasons) …these are flies to bring.

See it in the shop

Snaelda Willie Gunn Conehead Copper Tube ½ a version of the Willie Gunn Snaelda. The Willie Gunn pattern is a hair wing pattern after the head keeper on the Sutherland Estates (river Brora) Scotland

See it in the shop

German Snaelda Conehead Copper Tube # 1

We made a small selection of this great fly pattern (a version of the German Snaelda) originally designed by Icelandic angler Mr Grímur Jónsson.

Shop holiday in week 28

Shop holiday

The calendar week 28 in the year 2022 from Monday, 11.07.2022 to Sunday, 17.07.2022

This is the week when we can’t ship your orders …so we hope that you will order flies and fly-tying material before this period or after – or wish you are patient and can wait for us to ship to you.

Thank you from us

Thank you for supporting our highly specialized fly shop – We hope that our flies will bring fish to your leader and a smile on your lips in 2022… I think we all could need that (:

Remember to bring your kids and grandkids fishing it is only by sharing the dreamy and glorious moments at the river and ponds that new generations of people would want to conserve the fragile world of the salmon and trout that run our waters.

Yours Per & Jesper

GO TO PREVIOUS NEWSLETTER

The post Newsletter summer 2022 first appeared on Fishmadman.com.

Newsletter November 2022

Jesper Fohrmann — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 11:58:38 +0000

Read the letter in Scandinavian (This time Danish)

Dear topwater anglers…Salmon & trout season is ending, and yet again, the cycle of life will begin in the rivers we love to fish.

I always get that lump in my throat on that very last day when I have to travel home, so I tend to remind myself of the words of Pippi Longstocking:

You have to leave to be able to return

With those famous words, we welcome you to a short newsletter on what to look forward to in 2023

Tight lines from us at Fishmadman Las, Per & jesper

Newsletter this time

- A micro fly behind the hitch fly
- Fluorocarbon versus nylon
- Some great capes worth mentioning – and an early Christmas discount
- A few images from this year

Micro stinger and hitch

In Scotland

Scottish know-how

When I go to Scotland and fish the Kinnaber beat on the river North Esk in Aberdeenshire I am fortunate to spend time with my fishing friend Ron Gray who is the head ghillie on the Kinnaber beat. Ron is a riffling hitch specialist, and as a ghillie, he is lucky to be at the river every day during the season.

Ron with a big local critter caught on a micro # 16

Local insight

When being at a river every day during the season, you learn the different moods and small changes of Atlantic salmon and trout better than most anglers ever will do. Advice from the local angler or ghillie may be invaluable information to the visiting day ticket angler.

Micro flies … the essential requirement

If the river is low and warm or the fish you have come to fish have gone stale, you will ever so often find that the flies needed to trick such fish into bitting will be some of the smallest flies you may find in your box. Slow water could dictate a sparsely dressed fly to enable you to make the right presentation at the back part of a pool, or the daily rise of local insects such as stoneflies, caddisflies or mayflies may have brainwashed the stale inhabitants only to react to fly patterns that mimic something they see from day to day.

A sneak peek into Ron´s box of micro flies – The tiny Micro treble hook flies # 16 – 20 are seen in the top part of the box.

See small outpoint silver trebles # 16 for your micro fly tying here

The Hitch flies as a vessel

Fishing riffling hitch flies can be a great choice when fishing the Kinnaber beat on the North Esk where pockets and runs in several pools work in favour of a fly presented on or in the surface, but a riffling hitch fly can also be a vessel for other flies such as micro flies in # 16 – 20 and this is a technique Ron Gray advise anglers to use when they visit the Kinnaber beat during summer months where salmon can be very very picky.

How To

When you tie on the tube-hitch fly hook, leave the amount of tippet from the knot that you want for the trailing fly

Micro outpoint treble hook flies

Ron´s hitch tube fly and on a small fly tied on a outpoint treble – Ron also use micro flies tied on single hooks.

The set-up

Figure A) The tie down at the hitch fly. Use a f.o a Uni-knot

Figure B) To the trailing fly

Keep it simple

Using a trailing fly can be a great technique, but it is also a form of fly fishing that could end up in a lot of line tangle.

Ron uses a small tube hitch fly as the main fly and carrier for the micro fly (# 16 – 20), trailing some 70 – 100 cm behind the front-end fly.

To keep the trailing fly below the surface, Ron prefers to use 8 Lb. fluorocarbon as a tippet material. * Fluorocarbon sinks a bit better than nylon, and it is also a bit stiffer than standard nylon tippet material, something that may prevent some of the tangles (for illustration, we have used a piece of regular Maxima Chameleon nylon in the photo above )

Trailing flies – what is it all about?

We don’t know what it exactly is with the trailing fly that makes it so unique, yet again it is one of those things in fly fishing for trout and salmon that isn’t well described in the grand manual of salmon fishing (:

The cocktail: of hitch fly + trailing micro fly is another valuable tool in the fly box for the angler seeking to catch those elusive Atlantic salmon and trouts hiding out in river pools during summertime.

I think that the salmon or trout sees the setup as a line of hitching insects… and it is then animated to seise the last one ..the one that hasn’t hatched yet…just a guess.

Stale salmon - learn more

Curious to learn more about the cycles of Atlantic salmon …see our Fishmadman page on this subject here

Fluorocarbon versus nylon

What is Fluorocarbon? Fluorocarbons are chemical compounds with carbon-fluorine bonds Fluorocarbons, and their derivatives are commercial polymers, refrigerants, drugs, and anaesthetics. (source Wikipedia)

The first fluorocarbon line was produced in 1972

It is the Japanese manufacturing company Kureha in Iwaki city that developed and launched Seaguar, the world’s first fishing line made from fluorocarbon (PVDF), in 1971.

The material quickly became immensely popular among big-game and commercial fishermen largely because of the light refractive index of fluorocarbon line so close to that of water, making it less visible underwater, something quite significant, e.g. fishing for giant bluefin tuna with 200 lb mono – Fluorocarbon line also has other noteworthy features a.o lack of water absorbency, abrasion resistance and knot strength last but not least the speed fluorocarbon sinks through the water (it sinks faster than nylon) * something Ron Gray benefits from in his fishing with trailing micro flies.

Fluorocarbon is becoming more and more popular among fly fishermen.

Fluorocarbon has become distinctly popular over the last couple of decades, and many anglers I know do not think twice when buying a spool of fluorocarbon tippet material 6 – 7 times more expensive than a spool of quality nylon tippet material.

Is fluorocarbon line material necessary?

If you ask me as a sea angler fishing for tuna, mackerel and grey mullet I would say yes! … fluorocarbon will get you more fish on the bank.

The tuna species and mullets are fish that see and avoid things like nylon, and in this way, they may also deter from taking your bait when you use nylon.

Fluorocarbon for trout and Atlantic salmon

As an avid trout and salmon angler, I would say no… save your money and buy nylon for your fly attachment – doing so, I will probably have fellow anglers raising their eyebrows – but my experience with fluorocarbon has shown me that the material has few properties that would help me get more bites, saying so I acknowledge that fluorocarbon has so many abilities that could aid anglers in specific and unique ways not known to me, making my advise a bit bias.

Salmon and trout don't seem to care about the light refractive index!

Since the 1980´s I have regularly used fluorocarbon in my fishing for sea trout (sea run brown trout) and Atlantic salmon. In the early days, I was sure that the low light reflective index of fluorocarbon would enable me to trick some of the wary trout and salmon I so often would encounter at the coast and in rivers – I gradually learned that these fish was just as uninterested and cautious as they used to be with my flies fished on nylon – and overall I don’t think I have caught any more trout and salmon because of the use of fluorocarbon leaders or tippet material.

Illustration Jesper Fohrmann

Fluorocarbon is stiffer than conventional nylon.

Generally speaking, fluorocarbon is stiffer than conventional tippet material, and it is also a lesser elastic material than nylon, which is not something I would benefit greatly from in my fishing for trout and salmon; on the contrary, I try to avoid stiff tippet material as I find that inflexible leaders take away some of the life that small and medium fly patterns need to perform well.

I do also prefer a cushy and elastic nylon tippet to a stiff and less so flexible tippet material. Since I often fish for bigger fish with small hooks and light tackle in a sport where elastic tippet material comes in handy ….Read more on this hard fighting topic on our blog at Fishmadman (You have to lose salmon and steelhead on small flies)

Using Shooting head on the coast? Fluorocarbon might be something for you

Per Fischer uses measures of fluorocarbon (Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon) to tie up his leaders when fishing with shooting head fly lines for sea trout and pike from the open coast. Per ties, his leader from 0.60-millimetre Fluorocarbon to 0.45, then 0.40 etc. ending in 6 or 8 lb (0.25 millimetre)

When using two flies on the leader Per also uses fluorocarbon material as this tangles less when casting.

Let's debate the subject of fluorocarbon

I believe that some of you may have had great experiences with fluorocarbon and if so I would welcome any relevant input and thoughts on the subject of fluorocarbon for trout and salmon, I will add your text to this page – write me about your thoughts at jesper(the A)fishmadman.com

Some from 2022

Snaelda Willie Gunn Conehead Copper Tube ¾

Our new Snaelda Willie Gunn Conehead Copper Tube ¾ was on our tippet from beginning to the end of the season – Here fished deep for October sea trout.

Go to fly in shop

Big Snaelda Willie Gunn Conehead Copper Tube 1 1/4

The big version was great to use in the beginning of the season…right on the top of fast white water – a spectacular way to catch salmon.

Go to fly in shop

HITCHMAN – Black and Gold # 10 – 14

August brought some spectacular takes to the HITCHMAN – Black and Gold # 10 – 14 I didn’t even see this fish even though it was only a rod length away when it sipped up the fly.

Go to fly in shop

HITCHMAN – Black and Gold # 10 – 14

Another August salmon to the HITCHMAN – Black and Gold – this one fished on a broken hand… A new experience for me and probably not what my doctor would recommend.

Learn more

Silver HITCHMAN

Riffling Hitch aficionado Mr Alan Vang caught this beautiful 88 centimeters 35 inch July salmon on a Silver HITCHMAN

Go to fly in shop

Alans video channel on Youtube

You will find Alans video channel on Youtube here

Fly tying winther

Get in there…

You might look forward to Christmas turkey, friends, and eggnog – I am looking forward to fly-tying … I got a few new ideas and some flies I need to tie up for my coastal fly box. I have bought the hooks, and I also have the perfect cock cape for the job.

A long time coming

One of the most awaited seasonal orders in our shop is our order for Metz cock and saddle capes… They arrived just in time, as our skilled Frances fly tier is about to start the new batch of flies. The capes took their time to turn up here in Denmark… and I know that a few of you reading this now will be securing necks while we have the material in stock… unfortunately, we weren’t granted that many.

Why do you sell # 2 and # 3 capes?

These # 2 and # 3 capes fly right under the radar. They are inexpensive, and they are super quality; last but not least, they have a wider variety of feathers leaning more toward the bigger fly patterns.

Super affordable US quality ★★★★★

Metz # 2 Brown Neck

Perfect for small and big body hackles on Frances flies – Perfect to make long, vibrant feels from – Great.

Go to item in shop

Metz # 3 Grizzly Neck

Superior natural colures – Awesome quality at a great price.

Go to item in shop

Metz # 2 Natural Brown Saddle

Metz # 2 Natural Brown Saddle

Just the material for big dry flies – Bugs and worms.

Go to item in shop

Metz # 2 Ginger Saddle

Metz # 2 Ginger Saddle

Just the material for big dry flies – Bugs and worms in a beautiful ginger colure.

Go to item in shop

A bit of inspiration (:

Micro Frances Fly Treble # 14

See it in the shop

Frances Copper Tube – Red 1 1/4″

See it in the shop

Glitter Bug Green and Orange

See it in the shop

Give someone a new perspective on life - take them fishing

Please...Take someone fishing

To all new and old costumes at Fishmadman… thank you for your support and great letters and phone calls this summer – We try to keep prices on our things as low as possible and hopefully we will be able to maintain our fly-tying business through a troublesome time.

In the hope that someone would please take Mr Putin fishing so that he may gain a positive outlook on the future and idea’s on how he could spend the rest of his life in peace… fishing… somewhere back in Russia.

Tight lines from Per & Jesper

GO TO PREVIOUS NEWSLETTER

The post Newsletter November 2022 first appeared on Fishmadman.com.

Newsletter May 2023

Jesper Fohrmann — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 11:58:38 +0000

Dear topwater anglers…the Salmon season is close by, and that is truly something to get excited about

This time our newsletter will be about climate changes, how they may affect your fishing … and how you could use them progressively.

Tight lines from us at Fishmadman:

Las, Per & jesper

Newsletter this time

The climate is changing – so is fishing for salmon
A new range of tiny Island favourite flies
A couple of old hooks
New tippet material for your summer
New plans for 2023

Fresh from the sea… caught on a hitch fly in shallow water in early July. Salmon fly fishermen must adapt to the new challenges and fishing methods if they want to be effective throughout the season.

The climate is changing, and so is fishing for salmon. The last decade has been unusual with radical weather changes, and dry and hot summer weather has been dominant in large parts of the north – 2022 was no exception and rivers in the north saw weeks without rain – and again the season brought new challenges – or opportunities.

Fishing conditions in Northern Europa are becoming a bit like in Newfoundland

Weather conditions in the Nordic countries, Ireland and Scotland, are becoming similar to those we can experience in areas of North America, where east-facing rivers run in a landscape that in many ways resembles Norway, or rather Switzerland, which precisely shares a latitude with both Newfoundland and the rivers where Atlantic salmon run in Canada.

The summer rivers in Newfoundland and Canada can quickly run both warm and shallow, and it is in such conditions that salmon anglers do their fly fishing. It is not without reason that fly fishing with micro wet flies, riffling hitch, and dry flies is popular in North America. Such flies are just better to trick salmon with than trying to deceive them with a traditional wet-fly fished below the surface – when the river temperature fluctuates past 16 – 19 degrees Celsius.

micro flies, riffling hitch and dry flies is popular among fly fishermen in North America, these types of flies are simply easier to trick salmon with than trying to deceive them with a traditional wet-fly fished below the surface

Learn more about riffling hitch technique and the tackle to use

Perhaps the larger salmon tube flies will be something anglers only need for a few days during the fishing season, and small flies and flies for surface fishing gets first position on your leader most of the season.

READ THE WHOLE STORY ON SALMON AND CLIMATE CHANGES 👈🏻

A new range of tiny patterns from Island

Rivers with clear water

Fly fishing in Iceland is quite extraordinary. In many cases, the rivers in Iceland work like rivers in the far north of Norway: clear, shallow rivers with relatively cold water.

Europeans and Americans travel to Iceland to experience the fantastic fishing opportunities for salmon, char and trout. Many of the fly patterns that are favourite patterns in Iceland are also favourite flies for the rivers in Finnmark and Troms.

The Undertaker – A famous salmon pattern from the 1970s

The Undertaker as a pattern comes from an unknown angler fishing the Nashwaak River, later the fly pattern was popularized by master fly tier Mr Warren Duncan in Sct John (New Brunswick)

Once you get to know the Undertaker, you know you can’t be without this fly in your box – We do this fly in two sizes: 8 -10 single low-water Partridge hooks.

Take me to the shop page

The Laxá Blá – A famous salmon pattern from Iceland

The Laxa Bla is a salmon fly pattern that is attributed to a Mr by Þórður Péturson.

A lightly dressed hair wing fly that makes an excellent presentation in fast glides and shallow clear water. We do it in sizes 10 – 12 on double Partridge low-water hooks.

Take me to the shop page

Black Bear Green Butt is a famous salmon pattern from the 1920s

The Black Bear Green butt is a variation of the famous 1920s Black Bear salmon fly pattern devised by Harry Smith of Cherryfield, Maine. Originally the Black Bear was tied with hair from a black bear, and we do it with hair from a natural black squirrel.

The Black Bear Green Butt is also known as the Conrad on the Miramichi River and is also a salmon fly pattern that relates to other fly patterns like the Preacher and Undertaker. We do it in sizes 10 – 12 on double Partridge low-water hooks.

Take me to the shop page

A famous salmon fly pattern from the 1880s

The Night Hawk is an 1880s salmon fly pattern that originates from Canada. This salmon fly pattern is credited to Mr Stanford White. Originally the Night Hawk was tied with black feathers from Turkey. We make this pattern in sizes: 8 -10, single low water Partridge hooks.

Take me to the shop page

Bright butts on salmon and steelhead fly – why?

Maybe the bright colours in crustation, like the Hymenodora and the krill, make some of these fly patterns with clear bright butts so efficient.

See our page on what salmon eat at sea.

A couple of old hooks

What must be the most oversized salmon fly hooks I have yet seen?

Photo kindly supplied to us by fishing friend Mr Aaron Day.

The hook is right out of the salmon hook scale and is probably size 11/0 – The hook below it is a 9/0 salmon fly hook.

And a really old one

6000 – 7000-year-old fishing hook found a few kilometres from where I live near the town Paarup, by a lucky archaeologist from Museum Nordsjælland

You know this could also be a fly fishing hook (:

New tippet material for your summer fishing...

Umpqua Perform X HD Umpqua tippet

Umpqua has a tippet material for every application … we tried them all and found the Perform X HD Umpqua tippet to be the best form of tippet material for salmon and trout fishing.

Take me to the Umpqua tippet page👈🏻

What are we working on?

TDF BUGS

We are working to make a series of the most wanted sunken bugs for sea trout fishing in Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego region. Strong hooks, girdle legs, bright and dull colours – Here are some we already do for anglers targeting sea trout (sea run brown trout) in the Gaula and Stjørdal Rivers in Mid Norway.

On that note… we would like to share this magnificent image of one of them, TDF sea run brown trout (sea trout ) caught by experienced sea trout angler Mr Robert Holt from the US …Smoke and Flies Robert Holt.

Foam bugs

Per Fischer, these days, spending his nights fishing for coastal sea trout, working on some foam flies (surface flies), which we hope to have made ready for next season.

Did you miss out on the last newsletter on a.o fluorocarbon versus nylon?

Is fluorocarbon line material necessary?

If you ask me as a sea angler fishing for tuna, mackerel and grey mullet, I would say yes! Fluorocarbon will get you more fish on the bank.

The tuna species and mullets are fish that see and avoid things like nylon, and in this way, they may also deter from taking your bait when you use nylon.

SEE PREVIOUS NEWSLETTER 👈🏻

Keep up the spirit - think positively.

It is hard keeping up the spirit when river systems and areas where salmon and their relatives live are in dire straits. When giant river systems like the Tana River in Nothern Norway close down for commercial and recreational fishing because of a lack of fish, everyone gets worried, but when Local anglers that have lived for generations at the Tana River tell me about the great river, how in the past they also have seen years with very few fish, and how the locals suffered from starvation due to the lack of salmon runs I know that stocks of Atlantic salmon are fluctuating.

When some river systems are doing very well while the neighbouring river is doing poorly, climate changes make it hard to zoom in and find a solid explanation for such strange events.

One thing is true the salmonoid species is quite good at adapting to the places where it lives and is widespread across our planet.

The thought of how trout eggs brought down from European river systems decades ago to southern places like Argentina, Chile, and New Zealand have formed into healthy strains of fish populations in so many river systems (with different spawning cycles) is mind-boggling stuff.

A positive attitude as anglers, fish, and river conservationists must be the best way forward as we try to navigate through new evidence and scientific data that forms in the wake of the changing climate on mother earth.

Remember to bring your kids and grandkids fishing because it is only by sharing the dreamy and glorious moments at the river and ponds that new generations would want to conserve the fragile world of trout and salmon.

The post Newsletter May 2023 first appeared on Fishmadman.com.

Nyhedsbrev maj 2023

Jesper Fohrmann — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 11:58:38 +0000

Kære overflade fisker Laksesæsonen er tæt på, og det er virkelig noget at blive begejstret over.

Denne gang vil vores nyhedsbrev handle om klimaændringer, hvordan det kan påvirke dit fiskeri, og hvordan du måske kan bruge ændringerne progressivt.

Skittfiske fra os på Fishmadman:

Las, Per & Jesper

Nyhedsbrev denne gang

Klimaet ændrer sig – det samme gør fiskeriet efter laks
En ny serie af små islandske favoritfluer
Et par gamle kroge
Nyt tippet materiale til din sommer
Nye Fishmadman-planer for 2023

SOMMER DISCOUNT I FISHMADMAN SHOPPEN

BRUG PROMOTION KODE: FLY2023 ved checkout og få

15 % rabat 🎁

Tag my til butiiken med Nyhedsbrev sommer discount

Frisk fra havet… fanget på en hitch flue på lavt vand i begyndelsen af juli. Laksefluefiskerne skal tilpasse sig de nye udfordringer og fangstmetoder for at være effektive gennem hele sæsonen.

Klimaet ændrer sig, og det samme gør fiskeriet efter laks. Det sidste årti har været usædvanligt med radikale vejrændringer, og tørt og varmt sommervejr har været dominerende i store dele af norden – 2022 var ingen undtagelse og elve i nord oplevede uger uden regn – og igen bragte sæsonen nye udfordringer – eller muligheder.

Fiskeforholdene i Nordeuropa begynder at ligne dem du kan opleve i Newfoundland.

Vejrforholdene i de nordiske lande, Irland og Skotland, er ved at være lig dem, vi kan opleve i områder af Nordamerika, hvor østvendte elve løber i et landskab, der på mange måder minder om Norge, eller rettere sagt Schweiz, der netop deler en breddegrad, med både Newfoundland og elvene, hvor Atlanterhavslaks svømmer i Canada.

Sommer-elven i Newfoundland og Canada kan hurtigt løbe både varme og lave, og det er under sådanne forhold, at laksefiskere dyrker deres fluefiskeri. Det er ikke uden grund, at fluefiskeri med; mikro-vådefluer, riffling hitch og tørfluer er populært i Nordamerika. Sådanne fluer er bare nemmere at narre laks med, end at forsøge at fange dem på en traditionel vådflue fisket under overfladen – når elven temperatur svinger sig op over 16 – 19 grader celsius.

Mikrofluer, riffling hitch og tørfluer er populære blandt fluefiskere i Nordamerika. Sådanne fluer er bare nemmere at narre laks med end at forsøge at fange dem på en traditionel vådflue fisket under overfladen.

Lær mere om riffling hitch-teknikken og det udstyr, der skal bruges

Måske vil de større lakserørfluer være noget lystfiskere kun har brug for i få dage i fiskesæsonen, og små fluer og fluer til overfladefiskeri får førstepladsen på dit forfang det meste af sæsonen.

LÆS HELE HISTORIEN OM LAKS OG KLIMAÆNDRINGER 👈🏻

En ny serie af små laksemønstre fra Island

Elve med klart vand

Fluefiskeri i Island er fantastisk. I mange tilfælde minder elvene i Island om elvene i det nordlige Norge: klare, lavvandede elve med relativt koldt vand.

Europæere og amerikanere rejser til Island for at opleve de fantastiske fiskemuligheder efter laks, ørred og rødding. Mange af de fluemønstre, der er yndlingsmønstre på Island, er også favoritfluer til elvene i Finnmark og Troms.

Undertaker – Et berømt fluemønstre fra 1970´r

Undertaker Et berømt laksemønster fra 1970’erne

Undertaker er et fluemønster skabt af en ukendt lystfisker, der fiskede i Nashwaak-elven, senere blev fluemønsteret populariseret af mesterfluebinderen Warren Duncan fra Sct John (New Brunswick)

Når du først har lært Undertakeren at kende, ved du, at du ikke kan undvære denne flue i din æske – Vi laver dette mønster i to størrelser: 8 -10 enkelt LOW-WATER Partridge krog.

Tag mig til butikken

Laxá Blá – Et berømt fluemønstre fra Island

Laxa Bla – Et berømt laksemønster fra Island

Laxa Blá er et laksefluemønster, der tilskrives Þórður Péturson.

En let klædt hårvingeflue, der fisker super i hurtige stryg og lavt klart vand. Vi laver denne flue i størrelserne 10 – 12 på dobbelte Partridge LOW-WATER kroge.

Tag mig til butikken

Black Bear Green Butt er et berømt laksemønster fra 1920'erne

Black Bear Green butt er en variation af det berømte 1920’er Black Bear laksefluemønster skabt af Harry Smith fra Cherryfield, Maine. Oprindeligt blev Black Bear bundet med hår fra en sort bjørn, og vi binder vingen med hår fra et naturligt sort egern.

Black Bear Green Butt er også kendt som Conrad på Miramichi-elven og er også et laksefluemønster, der relaterer til andre fluemønstre som; Preacher og Undertaker. Vi binder dem i størrelserne 10 – 12 på dobbelte Partridge LOW WATER kroge

Take me to the shop page

Night Hawk et berømt laksefluemønster fra 1880'erne

Night Hawk et berømt laksefluemønster fra 1880’erne, der stammer fra Canada.

Dette laksefluemønster er krediteret til Mr. Stanford White. Oprindeligt blev Night Hawk bundet med sorte fjer fra kalkun. Vi binder dette mønster i størrelserne: 8 – 10, på enkelt LOW-WATER Partridge kroge.

Tag mig til butikken

Skarpt farvede butt´s på laks og steelheadflue – hvorfor?

Måske er det de skarpt konstaterende farver i krebsdyr, som Hymenodora og krillen, der gør fluemønstre med klare lysende butt´s så effektive.

Se vores side om, hvad laks spiser i havet. what salmon eat at sea.

Hymenodora glacialis Strålende blodrøde rejer, der vokser; til 19 – 20 millimeter. Foto Russ Hopcroft, World Register Of Marine Species

Et par ældre kroge

Hvad må være de største laksefluekroge, jeg endnu har set? – Dateres til 1910 – 1925

Foto venligt leveret til os af fiskeven Mr Aaron Day.

Krogen falder ud af laksekrogsskalaen og er formentlig størrelse 11/0 – Krogen under er en 9/0 laksekrog.

Og en virkeligt gamle krog

6000 – 7000 år gammel fiskekrog fundet få kilometer fra hvor jeg bor ved byen Pårup, af en heldig arkæolog fra Museum Nordsjælland

Du ved, dette kunne faktisk også være en fluefiskekrog (:

Nyt tippet materiale til dit sommerfiskeri

Umpqua Perform X HD Umpqua tippet

Umpqua har et tippet-materiale til enhver applikation, vi prøvede dem alle og fandt, at Perform X HD Umpqua tippet er den type tippet-materiale til vores former for lakse og ørredfiskeri.

Vi har det fra 0.56 mm til 0.25 mm (30 til 8 lb)

Tag mig til siden med Umpqua tippet materiale👈🏻

Hvad arbejder vi på?

TDF Bug´s

Lige nu arbejder på at lave en serie af de mest brugte bugs’ til havørredfiskeri i Argentinas Tierra del Fuego-region. Stærke kroge, gummiben, fluer med skarpe og kedelige farver. Her er nogle, vi allerede laver for fluefiskere, der fisker havørreder i Gaula og Stjørdal elvene i midt Norge.

Med den beretning… vil vi gerne dele dette storslåede billede af en af de, TDF havørred fanget af den skrappe havørredfisker Robert Holt fra USA. Smoke & Flies Robert Holt.

Skum bug´s

Per Fischer bruger i disse dage sine nætter på at fiske efter kysthavørreder og arbejder på nogle skumfluer (overfladefluer), som vi håber at have gjort klar til næste sæson.

Gik du glip af det sidste nyhedsbrev om bl.a. fluorcarbon versus nylon?

Er fluorcarbon forfangsmateriale nødvendigt?

Se forrige nyhedsbrev 👈🏻

Hold humøret oppe - tænk positivt.

Klimaforandringer og laksefiskeri – Hold humøret oppe – tænk positivt.

Det er svært at holde humøret oppe, når elvsystemer og områder, hvor laks og deres slægtninge lever, er i hårde vanskeligheder. Når gigantiske elvsystemer som Tana elven i Nordnorge lukker ned for kommercielt og rekreativt fiskeri på grund af mangel på fisk, bliver alle bekymrede, men når lokale lystfiskere, der har boet i generationer ved Tana-elven, fortæller mig om den store elv, hvordan der tidligere også har været år med meget få fisk, og hvordan de lokale sultede på grund af manglen på laks, så ved jeg at bestandene af atlantisk laks er svingende.

Når nogle elvsystemer klarer sig meget godt, mens naboelven klarer sig dårligt, gør klimaændringer det svært at zoome ind og finde en solid forklaring på sådanne mærkelige begivenheder.

Én ting er sandt, at laksearten er ret god til at tilpasse sig de steder, hvor den lever og er udbredt over hele vores planet.

Tanken om, hvordan ørredæg bragt ned fra europæiske elve og åer, for årtier siden til sydlige steder som Argentina, Chile og New Zealand, er blevet til sunde stammer af ørred i så mange elvsystemer (med forskellige gydecyklusser) er forbløffende tankegods.

En positiv holdning som lystfiskere og naturfredningsmeneske må være den bedste vej frem, når vi forsøger at navigere gennem nye beviser og videnskabelige data, der dannes i kølvandet på det skiftende klima på vores jord.

Husk at tage dine børn og børnebørn med på fiskeri, for det er kun ved at dele de drømmende og herlige øjeblikke ved felten, åer og søer, at nye generationer ønsker at bevare den skrøbelige verden laks og ørred svømmer i.

The post Nyhedsbrev maj 2023 first appeared on Fishmadman.com.

Newsletter November 2023 – salmon bugs

Jesper Fohrmann — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 11:58:38 +0000

Discovering the fascinating world of salmon bugs

In 2020, we did a Fishmadman blog page on Salmon bugs Called The Missing Link Salmon Bugs, covering a few fine points on the bugs used for salmon fishing. In this newsletter, we wish to further the details on salmon bugs and give you some first-hand usage tips based on my experiences with

What are Salmon bugs?

Bugs are small miniature salmon flies, mostly made with a deer hair body, tied on # 8 – 12 single hooks. Either low-water salmon hooks with an up-eye or stronger down-eye trout fly hooks. It is a fly designed to be fished as a so-called dead-drifting fly on the surface. Just below the surface or across the river as a form of hitch/commotion fly, bugs may be fished below the surface as a traditional wet fly.

The Glitter Bug with a brown-orange hackle is the author’s favourite for green-tinted forest rivers.

Body like a segment of an insect

The deer-hair body on bug flies is often shaped like an insect thorax. (in entomology, the thorax is the middle section of an insect’s body, between the head and the abdomen, bearing the legs and wings.)

READ THE LONGER VERSION ON SALMON BUGS WITH IDEAS AND TRICKS ON THIS PAGE 👈🏻

Going somewhere soon?

Bringing hooks on a flight could be a problem.

Most airlines do not allow you to bring your flies with hooks on board. Do instead as we do: use tube flies and get them on board in your hand luggage (alongside your favourite fly reels); this way, you won’t be without flies when you arrive at your fishing destination.

Southern sea trout

The sea trout’s elusive nature and the thrill of the catch of a monster-size trout make Argentina and the Rio Grande River in Tierra del Fuego a dream destination for sea trout enthusiasts.

Anglers often use a variety of streamer patterns and nymphs to mimic the prey that sea trout feed on in both freshwater and marine environments. Still, anglers visiting Argentina have also learned that sea trout are eager surface feeders who will go to great lengths to intercept wake, riffling hitch, and dry flies.

For many years, we have made such surface flies for people fishing for sea trout in Argentina, but for this season, we also sell some of the most favoured nymph and streamer patterns.

In the photo: TDF sea run brown trout (sea trout ) caught by experienced sea trout angler Mr Robert Holt from the US …Smoke and Flies Robert Holt.

Here is a compilation of some of the flies chosen for our shop by some of the Tierra del Fuego anglers we know –

Where is the Tierra del Fuego region

Take me to the shop page with the TDF flies

Did you miss the previous climate change and salmon fishing newsletter?

The climate is changing

The climate is changing, and so is fishing for salmon. The last decade has been unusual with radical weather changes, and dry and hot summer weather has been dominant in large parts of the north – 2022 was no exception and rivers in the north saw weeks without rain – and again, the season brought new challenges – or opportunities.

The post Newsletter November 2023 – salmon bugs first appeared on Fishmadman.com.

Nyhedsbrev November 2023 – lakse bug fluer

Jesper Fohrmann — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 11:58:38 +0000

Opdag den fascinerende verden af lakse bugs

I 2020 lavede vi en Fishmadman blogside om Salmon bugs som hed “The missing link salmon bugs” Her beskrev vi nogle måder, hvor på man kunne benytte bugs i sit laksefiskeri. I dette nyhedsbrev ønsker vi at uddybe detaljerne om laksebugs og give dig nogle førstehånds brugertips baseret på mine erfaringer med disse fluer.

Hvad er laksebugs

Bugs er små miniature laksefluer, for det meste lavet med en hjortehårskrop. Bundet på #8 – 12 enkeltkroge. Enten low-water laksekroge med up eye eller stærkere down-eye ørredfluekroge. Det er en flue designet til at blive fisket som en såkaldt deaddrift flue på overfladen (uden bevægelse). Lige under overfladen eller på tværs af elven som en form for hitch/commotion-flue, bugs kan også fiskes under overfladen som en traditionel vådflue.

Glitter Bug

Glitter bug med et brun-orange hackle er forfatterens favorit til grøntonede elve i skovlandskaber.

Kroppen som et segment af et insekt

Hjortehårkroppen på bugs er ofte formet som en insekt-thorax. I entomologi er thorax den midterste del af et insekts krop, mellem hovedet og maven. Den del af insekters krop bærer ben og vinger.

LÆS DEN LANGE VERSION MED MANGE TIPS OG FOTOS PÅ DENNE BLOG SIDE KLIK HER 👈🏻

Skal du snart på tur?

Det kan være et problem at medbringe kroge på en flyvning.

De fleste flyselskaber tillader ikke, at du medbringer dine fluer med kroge om bord. Gør i stedet som vi gør: brug rørfluer og tag dem med ombord i din håndbagage (sammen med dine yndlingsfluehjul). På denne måde vil du ikke være uden fluer, når du ankommer til din fiskedestination.

LÆS MERE OM REGLER OG BESTEMMELSER HER👈🏻

Sydlige havørreder

Havørredens spændende adfærd og tanken om at fange en monste ørred gør Argentina og Rio Grande-elven i Tierra del Fuego til en drømmedestination for havørredentusiaster.

Fluefiskere i Argentina bruger ofte en række streamermønstre og nymfer til at efterligne byttet, som havørreden lever af både i ferskvand og havet. Fluefiskere, der besøger Argentina, har også erfaret, at havørreder er ivrige overfladejægere, som vil svømme langt for at, fange wake, hitch og tørfluer.

I mange år har vi lavet sådanne overfladefluer til folk, der fisker efter havørreder i Argentina, men fra sæson 2023 sælger vi også nogle af de mest foretrukne nymfe- og streamermønstre.

Se om der er nogle, der passer til dit hjemmelige vandsystem.

På billedet: TDF-havørred fanget af den erfarne havørredfisker, Mr. Robert Holt, fra USA… Røg og fluer Robert Holt.

Her er en samling af fluerne valgt til vores butik af fluefiskere fra Tierra del Fuego som vi kender

Hvor er Tierra del Fuego-regionen?

Tag mig til butikssiden med TDF-fluerne

Gik du glip af det tidligere nyhedsbrev om klimaændringer og laksefiskeri?

Klimaet ændre sig

Klimaet ændrer sig, og det samme gør fiskeriet efter laks. Det sidste årti har været usædvanligt med radikale vejrændringer, og tørt og varmt sommervejr har været dominerende i nogle dele af Norden – 2022 var ingen undtagelse, og elve i nord oplevede uger uden regn – og igen bragte sæsonen nye udfordringer – eller muligheder.

Se tidligere nyhedsbrev

The post Nyhedsbrev November 2023 – lakse bug fluer first appeared on Fishmadman.com.

Newsletter Summer 2024- New steelhead wake flies and Bombers on hooks

Jesper Fohrmann — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 11:58:38 +0000

Photo courtesy of Ryota Oki

We are fortunate to know some dedicated steelhead anglers in Northwest America who help us design steelhead patterns on tubes. One such angler is Ms. Hannah Chloë Thorne Belford, owner of the Damdochax River Lodge in northern British Columbia, Canada. Hannah requested the Fall Caddis. She noted, “Hatches happen all fall, but I really notice them in October. Steelhead loves them, and you’ll see big ‘trout’ sipping them on foam lines, but it’s not trout 😃 A version of the Fall Caddis on your riffling hitch tube would be a great fly to use.”

The Fall Caddis fly pattern, also known as the October Caddis, gained popularity among fly tiers and anglers who recognised the importance of imitating this significant fall hatch. Fly tyer and author Randall Kaufmann, an influential figure in the fly fishing community, developed several effective patterns for this hatch. Although the exact origin of the Fall Caddis fly cannot be attributed to a single individual, it has evolved through various adaptations and improvements by different anglers over the years.rivers.

Fall Caddis tube Wake fly # 6 This is a 40-millimetre fly (from front to end of tail). The body is 27 millimetres long, equivalent to a # 6 fly. (the fly is here seen with a Partridge Patriot Barbless Stinger # 6 tied on our incomparable riffling hitch tube 3.2 millimetres

The Grease Liner is a classic steelhead wake fly pattern designed by Mr. Harry Lemire in the early ’60s. Once a favorite and a “must-have” wake fly, it was gradually replaced by flies that wake more easily. We now tie the Grease Liner on our Riffling Hitch tube, ensuring it wakes just as well as our modern wake fly patterns. This blend of tradition and innovation makes the Grease Liner a valuable addition to any angler’s fly box.

Tube Grease Liner – Wake fly – Medium # 4 Black This is a 45-millimetre fly (from front to end of tail). The body is 27 millimetres long, equivalent to a # 4 fly. (the fly is here seen with a Partridge Patriot Barbless Stinger # 6

New in the shop: Partridge NTD Nordic Tube Single #8

Due to popular demand, we now offer a smaller version of the Partridge NTD Nordic Tube Single, size #8. This hook in # 6 is featured in photos with the Fall Caddis and Grease Liner steelhead wake flies.

This high-quality, wide-gaped single hook has needle-sharp points and a special barb system. It’s strong and durable, perfect for small to medium tube flies.

Partridge NTD Nordic Tube Single #8

This hook is not just for one type of fly. It’s suited to our medium tube flies like Sunray Shadow, Garry Alley Scrimp, and even bigger steelhead wake flies. Designed to be large enough to hold a leaping fish and small enough to quickly de-hook a fish with minimum effort, it’s ideal for salmon, steelhead, and sea trout tube patterns.

Black Nickel Finish / Straight-Eye

A hook that is termed as one of the best single tube fly hooks in the world of fly fishing ten hooks pr. pack

We’ve curated a selection of classic Bombers tied on Partridge CS42/R Bomber Dry Fly Hooks. Available in three colours and sizes 6, 8, and 10, flies crafted to meet your angling needs. See them in the shop

The post Newsletter Summer 2024- New steelhead wake flies and Bombers on hooks first appeared on Fishmadman.com.

The missing link salmon Bugs made for dry and wet

Jesper Fohrmann — Sat, 06 Jun 2020 14:28:00 +0000

When the salmon river gets hot – think trout…

The missing link – Bugs made for dry and wet

No, advice on riffling hitch technique goes without mentioning the salmon Bugs so popular with North American anglers. Salmon Bug patterns have their practices and special details worth spending time and effort into learning and putting the bug´s family of flies into a short frame on riffling hitch fishing know-how is, in fact, a bit sketchy… but bugs are, to some extent, the fly patterns that I find to be very well connected with the riffling hitch technique.

My observations over the years have led me to conclude that there is a fishable layer… just below the surface, where a well-presented deer hair bug can do wonders just before the riffling hitch season picks up.

there is a fishable layer… just below the surface, where a well-presented deer hair bug can do wonders just before the riffling hitch season picks up

I fish the bugs wet and close to the surface as possible. I like to add a tiny amount of flotant to the flies. As you can see from the images, these salmon were hooked close to the snout, a familiar spot to hook Atlantic salmon on small bugs – Why is it so? I don’t know…but make sure to tie your bugs on solid hooks, as hooking salmon in this spot often leads to hard-fighting fish.

At Fishmadman, you will find the perfect collection of small bugs to catch finicky salmon and trout in warm water, some designed by us – Others classic bug´s from around the world – Don´t leave without them… the angler that thinks trout…when he goes salmon fishing… is often the most successful.

We have chosen a small selection of heavy-duty bugs tied on heavier hooks than we do our normal bugs.

Glitter Bug Green and Orange # 10 A Bug explicitly made to be fished both wet and dry. A slightly stronger salmon hook enables this fly to be fished just below the surface in fast glides – A missing link pattern in our fabulous collection of small dry flies for steelhead and Atlantic salmon, generally termed bugs.

Learn to fight them

Fighting big fish on small hooks doesn’t have to be so dramatic – it can be – but if you are careful and take it easy, the fish will often be compliant and finally come to you. You will need to prepare a bit for this kind of fishing, and here are some things you can do to make things work.

Use a fly reel that has a light ratchet or an adjustable brake that will allow you to control a decisive run where you have to admit line out quickly.

Use (as we do) a soft tippet material on your leader…We prefer soft nylon-like: Maxima Chameleon or Original Streen. These nylon brands will stretch when under strain…something quite valuable when the fish jumps or shakes its head.

To read much more about bugs…go to this blog page.

The post The missing link salmon Bugs made for dry and wet first appeared on Fishmadman.com.

Sub Flies | Fishmadman.com

The Mystery of Colours in Salmon Flies

The Iconic Jock Scott Salmon Fly

Design of the Centuries

Bridging Tradition and Innovation

The Role of Colour in Salmon and Steelhead Flies

Golden Rules in Salmon Fly Tying

Yearly Variations in Fly Colours

The Red Fly and Changes in Salmon Vision

Conclusion

What do sea trout eat in the sea?

Three forms – one fish

Three significant Sea Trout Habitats

Here, we present three different trout caught in the northwestern part of Zealand, Denmark. The three fish are pinned on a Google Maps image for reference.

Living inside fjords and easturies

Living on the open coast

Sea trout living at sea

Migrations along coastlines up to 580 km (360 miles) away from the natal river were observed in the Geo-Tag survey conducted in 2019.

Sea Trout: Investigating Their Diet

How did we determine what sea trout was eating at sea?

We will focused on five groups of prey that sea trout feed on

Fish

Worms

Crustaceans

Insects

Molluscs

The fish sea trout eat

Herring and sprat: Key food sources for bigger sea trout

Baltic sea trout thrives on protein-rich diett

Herring is a staple on the menu for sea trout

Matching the hatch

Arctic charr and sea trout were seen feeding on small herrings in the high seas

Sand eels: another crucial food source for sea trout

Sea trout feed on eels

Sea trout feed on smelt

The fish sea trout eat

The fish sea trout eat

The fish sea trout eat

The fish sea trout eat

Sea trout are surface-oriented, greedy fish

Some sea trout eat in the river

Sea Trout: A Study in Greed and Discernment

What do salmon eat in the sea?

What do salmon eat in the sea

Important crustaceans from the Jacobsen and Hansen survey

Studies into salmon feeding at high seas in the North-East Atlantic show that shrimps accounted for 95% of the food in number, but only about 30% by weight

Important fish and squid from the Jacobsen and Hansen survey

By weight, 66% of the stomach content was fish, particularly mesopelagic fish. Some larger pelagic fish such as herring, blue whiting and mackerel were also part of the diet.

Curious? - Read the report!

What do salmon eat in the sea? - Facts from other surveys on salmon feeding

Science will tell us that adult salmon will prey on whatever organisms are present

86 % of the food was Caplin

Salmon inhabiting the coastal waters of Greenland predominantly feed on fish.

Salmon in the Grand Banks region predominantly feed on Capelin and sand eels.

Young cod is on the menu in Labrador.

Caught on sprats, but their primary food sources were small krill and tiny crustaceans.

Squid served as a significant food source in the deep sea.

Fantastic video of one type of squid the Atlantic salmon prey on - gonatus fabricii

Scottish salmon have been observed feeding on ragworms.

How do salmon get to the food out at sea ?

Flowing with the currents

Spanning the oceans

Climate changes may alter the life at sea – and stocks of Atlantic salmon

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Micro stinger og hitch i Skotland

Skotsk know-how

Lokal indsigt

Micro fluer …En essentiel nødvendighed.

Hitch fluen som et fartøj

How To

Fluer bundet på micro outoint trekroge

Opsætningen

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Den efterhængende flue… hvorfor er den så effektiv?

Besværlige laks - se mere

Fluorocarbon versus nylon

Hvad er fluorcarbon?

Den første fluorcarbon-line blev produceret i 1972

Fluorcarbon bliver mere og mere populær blandt fluefiskere

Micro stinger og hitch

i Skotland