The good, the bad and the ugly tubes

It is unusual that manufactures of tubing write any detail on their product so you often have to do your own technical research to get the right material for your tube flies

Tube fly-tying supplies

Fishmadman has tubes made especially for Nontoxic, PVC-free tube flies with all the right abilities. As we cut out the middlemen, tubes are inexpensive, and you get the best product, you can find on the market.

All tubes are made in Denmark.

Visit our shop here 

Dear Flyfisher: Welcome to yet another newsletter from Fishmadman – We have come to the beginning of a new season for Atlantic Salmon – and steelhead

Season 2014 was not a very god year for the Atlantic salmon – and many concerning words has been written about the problems this fantastic fish is facing.

We hope for a better year in 2015 and recommend that you follow the great achievements of NASF (North Atlantic Salmon Fund) and Native Fish Society that work to help Atlantic Salmon and steelhead.

We do also hope that you in 2015 might take the opportunity to make someone  interested in fishing  – We need more people to be passionate about our sport and the fish we fish for – we believe that passionate people will help to preserve our fantastic rivers and the fish that run them.
  
This time we have a winner for the annual Fishmadman competition – Stories about a good-bug that made the day – and a wooden card that will keep bad-bugs away.

Tight lines from Per and Jesper

FISHMADMAN COMPETITION 2014

One of several Taimen (Hucho taimen) that Rasmus Ovesen caught on Mice flies – was waked on the surface.

 The 2014 winner

Danish sports journalist Mr Rasmus Ovesen took our Tube Rat deep into Mongolia to catch big Taimen (Hucho taimen) – Mr Ovesen and friends caught some fine fish on our Tube-rodents with the biggest topwater fish at 90 centimetres (35.4 inches) and 15 lb – Rasmus also caught a monster fish of 125 centimetres (50 inches) on a Craft Fur Streamer… Rasmus is this year’s winner of the Fishmadman competition.

Congratulation from Fishmadman

See our NEW TUBE RATS

Top angler and photographer, The late Mr Ian Martin, wrote us: from the Gaspé rivers with a nice fish caught on the Monster Tube Caddis See more from Mr Ian Martin

Dedicated salmon angler and director of the famous Oresund Aquarium: Mr Jens Peder Jeppesen with an 85 centimetres September salmon from the Swedish Morrum River

Low-water specialist Mr Jerry Rothman with one of many October fish from Scotland – caught on a small Red Frances flies.

Photo with a curtsy of Tom Derry, Director of Wild Steelhead Funding Native Fish Society – Steelhead caught on the Flashback Bug

The Flashback Bug

Steelhead anglers have been fishing this new steelhead bug on different rivers in BC and Oregon this summer, and the results have been great. It was named The FlashBack Bug by steelheader Loren Irving from Oregon. We have tied it in 3 sizes like flies on 1 – 4 – 8 hooks. It features our Riffling Hitch tube system and wakes perfectly in rough and calm water.

Please take the opportunity now and get 2 of each size FlashBack Bugs + 6 hooks in our tube fly box.

NB. Offer last until the 5 of February 2015

Juniperus Virginiana, or Red Cedar, has been used for centuries as a product to keep moths away from your clothing – It is the strong smell of the Red Cedar that helps to cover up the smell of the things that the moth wants to lay their eggs on like fur and feathers –

A report from the University of California at Davis suggests that, over time, Red Cedar will kill the moth larvae that may have found their way to your cloth or fly-tying material.

Do what you can to keep the moth´s away… and keep our Red Cedar Bug-Cards alongside your fly-tying equipment – Keep things in plastic bags and change the Red Cedar Bug-Cards every  3 – 4 years.

We at Fishmadman have done so for decades and have (knock on wood) not had any problems with the moths.

How does the salmon see our fly ? – Learn about the psychical dynamics in the Atlantic salmon and why it might react to a particular colour salmon fly

During the life of a salmon it will travel between two very different worlds. Worlds with colours and images are so divergent that it has developed extraordinary abilities to cope with the change of scene.

The eye of the salmon changes physically so the fish can view different colours *  – best as possible (* colours being technically explained as different wavelengths of light)

When staying in the river as parr the eyes will be set on: light with a long wavelength. This would be colouring in the orange-brown tone.

In early spring, when the time has come for the salmon parr to journey to the feeding grounds at high sea, the endocrine system glands will produce a new pigment for the eye. This will enable the salmon to focus on light with short wavelengths like; green and bluish colours… Quite handy ! as these are the colours that prey like: sand-eels, sprat and herring have incorporated in their colouration to hide and blend into the sea world.

Upon returning to the river to spawn, the fresh silver salmon may still have their eye structure set to sea life setting – and often he will be interested in a salmon fly with blue & green colours… Some of them will be so greedy that they will hit any colour salmon fly, but that is another story… Nevertheless! The endocrine glands will gradually produce another pigment that will transform the eye back to its original freshwater setting – with abilities to focus on red, orange and brown colours – Something also reflected in the colours of the skin pigmentation. The many patterns in brown, orange and red seen on male salmon – are not just eye candy brought on for the sake of women – They are fully lit warning posters to rivalling male salmon.

Special thank you goes out to Kim Rasmussen from Salmonfly.dk for advice.

Sudden appearance

We, as anglers, can benefit from the knowledge of Snell`s Widow and place the fly as close to the window as possible. The sudden appearance of the fly in the area of decision may often be followed by an immediate strike… The edge or rim of Snell`s Window seems to be a hot area to put a fly – something worth calling to mind next time you see a salmon or trout on the river bed or visit a place where you usually would expect to find them.

Fishmadman angler Per Fischer precisely positioned the dry fly in Snell`s Window – on Atlantic salmon lying in shallow water. At this spot, the cone of Snell`s Window is tiny

Get into the groove!

Salmon dry fly pioneer: George M.L. La Branche wrote in his book The Salmon And The Dry Fly (1924) about his observations and thoughts on where in the river to hook up with dry fly salmon.

La Branche saw the salmon pools with the eye of a trout fisherman and advocated that the angler should seek out places in the river that would be similar to the area where the resident trout would take a position to intercept the flow of food. He named these places where the current would deliver the insects: grooves and was sure that one would only connect with salmon if one could accurately cast the fly in these grooves.

Years of fishing have shown me and other anglers that it is not merely down to a perfect cast to Snell’s Window ... to hook up with salmon on a dry fly – The salmon is not online all the time – as I would like to explain it.

Sometimes he will rise to a well-presented dry fly within a few casts – another day, he might rise unexpectedly to the fly presented in Snell`s Window the 50`th times…with the attitude of a starved trout rushing for the only meal of the day.

_{Read more about La Branche and his ideas and fishing here}

Pushing the fly in Snell`s Window

Rarely caught on film – The take of an Atlantic salmon on a dry fly – I was lucky to get it in the box last season and am happy to show you this particular video concerning our newsletter on Snell`s Window… The salmon in the film does not bite over the fly – it merely pushes the fly. You will see the fly surfing in front of the fish. Many of the dry fly caught I had this summer was hooked on the nose or forehead, as seen on some of the pictures in the slide section: Why? – Can`t tell you…some years, they work like that .. the spot I film: 3-foot leader out of guides…Wham!

What do fish see?

How do salmon and trout detect and see things underwater and in Snell`s Window? As regular anglers, we know very little about this. We often look at the roaring river and wonder if the fish will have any chance of seeing a tiny fly on the surface – Salmon and trout have no problems detecting prey sitting or moving on the surface; they have trained these skills for 100 million years and have become true experts.

Things like: contrast, light and colours will probably reveal the insect to the fish, and it will gather this information in its tiny brain and decide if it wants to move for the prey.

When the insect enters the Area of Snell`s Window, the fish will automatically know how much, or how little, it has to turn its fins to eclipse with the drifting insect… But the fish would often have noticed the insect or fly before it entered Snell`s Window – and one must assume that this information also will be part of the decisions on whether it should use precious energy to rise to the fly.

Salmon and trout have no problems detecting prey on the surface; they have trained these skills for 100 ↑ million years. Here absurdly small dry flies and flymf’s tied for selective trout in the Montana River system

Back to Basics with guide Bill Bryden

It has been said that dry fly Atlantic salmon fishing is the pinnacle of freshwater fly fishing. The shocks and warm rushes of adrenaline it provides are not easily had in any other form of fishing. The skill and patience required often prove too much for even seasoned fly anglers, but the rewards are truly breathtaking for those who persevere. I hope that some of this discourse will encourage those who have not tried this pursuit to pick up the torch while also helping to enlighten the way for those stumbling on the first hurdles. Perhaps even the most advanced dry fly salmon angling masters may find a morsel in these pages, as may the trout purist.

Stealth & Accuracy

We could summon it up this way: Leaders are part of the presentation, and one wants to present the fly with stealth and accuracy, especially near Snell`s Window – A leader that can transform the movement from the fly line to the fly is important.

Correcting the fly – and Snell’s Window.

Novice anglers can accomplish fundamental wet fly presentations by correcting a presentation after the fly lands. Similarly, correcting an inaccurately positioned dry fly can be done by dragging it to the exact inch it needs to be on to allow for the correct drift into Snell`s Window. However, this dragging of the fly must be done very slowly and ideally outside of Snell’s Window except in particular circumstances. Once the fly is near Snell’s Window, no quick movements should be done when attempting to coax a salmon from its lair. We d not want to convince our quarry that the fly could move quickly and thus escape any attempt it may make to capture it. We want to make a nice easy target.

Fish are experts at being fish.

Fish rarely “miss” anything they genuinely want to eat. Often they inspect a dry fly several times before committing to taking it into their mouth, engage further by closing their mouth completely, and finally abandon all worry while holding it for submersion to their lay. This bodes well for the dry fly neophyte as the most solid take is often the second to fourth rise when the adrenaline has the angler cocked and ready like a rattlesnake.

Accuracy required

The roughly 45-degree angle from the fish to the edge of Snell’s Window makes it relatively easy to work out where the edge of Snell’s Window is situated. For example, at a water depth of 6 feet, the edge is 6 feet upstream of where the fish is lying. One always wants to ensure one’s leader is long enough to keep the end of the fly line out of Snell`s Window, so fishing deep lays requires longer leaders.

Once some skill in casting accuracy is acquired, the first target is the edge of Snell’s window. Even in the rippled water, many salmon hide under, the fish will see larger dry flies travelling through the air and land precisely in their drift line for feeding. This is why many Newfoundland dry fly anglers make lazy, gentle casts. The fly is cast to have it flying along very close to the surface once in Snell’s window. Most Newfoundland dry fly anglers use an underpowered, slightly sidearm cast, with the fly within a foot or two or the surface for its entire travel within Snell’s window.

Keep Pushing the button.

This is the bog-standard approach for dry fly angling and has the best chance of working on all fish in any condition. Patience is the name of the game, and 20 minutes is not too long to work a fish. Imagine regularly catching a salmon every 20 minutes. The dry fly salmon angler often catches more salmon than a wet fly angler (by far).

Consistency

If casting accurately is the most critical part of dry fly fishing for Atlantic salmon, then consistency is the second.

Often, in deep water with variable current speeds between the river bottom and the surface, a lazy relaxed salmon will rise towards Snell’s Window before the fly even touches the surface. Consistently timed presentations accomplish this. If an angler convinces a salmon that a hatch has started by repeated casting, they have a much better chance of inducing a feeding response. Timing the presentations consistently will allow fish to get excited about anticipating the next offering. Those inlays with faster surface currents must rise up closer to the surface and stay suspended or use their tail power to reach the fast-moving target in Snell`s Window. This is because the water speed they are lying in is not enough to naturally lift them to the surface by using only their pectoral fins. An angle that presents their dry fly consistently will take more of these fish than one that makes inconsistently timed casts. This can be observed in clear rivers with fish laying in the slack water behind ledges, rocks, and quickly deepening pools.

Often, these two reasons, accuracy and consistency, hamper the beginner’s effort.

Low water on the Majestic Repparfjord River in the far North of Norway, 1000’s of opportunity on Snell’s Window waits below.

Delivery to the door

Lazy fish such as stale fish, large fish, and those in warm water will want the fly to drift to where the current will naturally lift them without any sideways body movement or trusting from their tail. They will want to bob up like a waterlogged deadhead to take the fly with a lazy head and tail rise in Snell’s Window. With this approach of super-accurate casting and perfectly lined-up dead drifting, the angler tries to induce a natural, relaxed feeding response.

Tight lines Bill Bryden: To contact Bill Bryden, Click here.

 Sunray Shadow : Fly tying at it`s best

The Sunray Shadow ones tied with hair from monkey – Today anglers will substitute monkey hair with material like goat (like the Sunray Shadow shown on picture) Goat will work just as well – Here tied with Kashmir goat dyed black – Numerous + 20 kilo salmon has been caught on the Sunray Shadow a.o a; 25 kilo (55 lbs.) giant from the Alta River – and a 21 kilo (46 lbs.) fish caught in the Lærdal River by Mark Brooks the son of Margit and Ray [hr]Buy flies 

Almost half a century has gone by and still today the Sunray Shadow fly stands as a unique example of fly tying at it´s best – simple and efficient – And a fishing tribute to the angler Raymond Brooks

The Collie Dog fly

Collie Dog and Sunray Shadow is names closely linked with long winged flies, and you will find variations of these famous salmon tube flies in fly fishing shops around the world.

The Collie Dog fly is a old Scottish fly pattern designed in the late 18´century.  It was probably one of the very first, if not the first hair-wing salmon fly ever, to be deployed on a salmon river.

Still today it`s argued whether or not it is UK or US anglers who rightfully can take the claim for the salmon hair-fly project ?

The Collie Dog was originally designed to be tied on double or single hook`s – Today most Collie Dogs is tied on tube – with or without the silver body. As hair from Collie (Border Collie) can be hard to obtain, most anglers will settle for quality hair from goat like the Kashmir Goat

Fishing tube flies with long hair

These flies with their long wavy wing can have a hypnotic grip on salmon. Presented correctly the salmon will go to great length to intercept a fly like the Sunray Shadow or Collie Dog, often chasing the fly across the river – hitting it in a spectacular manner much in the way they attack a wobble, spoon or spinner – When fishing keep your eye on the fly and bring it all the way in to the bank…this is one fly that salmon will stay with all the way – and it might hit it the last second.

When fishing close to the surface with long-winged flies anglers often see the salmon reacting to the fly by splashing or waking, something that can be quite useful – when you actually want to determine if the pool holds fish or not. Flies like these are also named: lifters or Reaction flies…

Here a Small Pearl and Green Sunray Shadow Buy fly 

In Iceland the Sunray Shadow will also be used as a Attention fly, fished over lies that might be unproductive or over-fished – The Sunray Shadow is then replace with a much smaller pattern and salmon will very often come to the surface.

Speed kills

When fishing in colder water it is advisable to fish the Sunray Shadow or Collie Dog fly slow and make sure to present it to the fish for a longer period. Use intermediate lines with sink tip or even full sinking lines to fish productive fast water.

Working with size

Big is not always better and particularly not when it comes to salmon. In relation to this it is well worth keeping different sizes of these special flies in the box – Although a 2 inch Collie Dog or Sunray Shadow might seem big when other anglers work with tiny # 10`s – 12´s in hot water – it can still be surprisingly efficient to use these flies fished very close to the surface.

We use a selection of flies in the range from 2 to + 6 inches. The 3 1/2 inch version being the regular fly on most rivers, and the smaller versions for low water summer conditions – The bigger flies are made for early season fishing and even in low temperature; 5 – 6 degrees Celsius (41 – 43 degrees Fahrenheit) – salmon will come right to the top to grab them

We also bring out the big Sunray Shadow flies when summer turns into autumn, in those precious hours when everything starts turning dark… Here the big Sunray Shadow might be the best choice for those local salmon becoming restless and agitated in the dark See other big Sunray Shadows in the E-shop 

What does these big flies represent ?

Anglers often wonder why such and such fly is efficient ? – Some flies like; prawn-flies and nymphs are more obvious than others.

Long winged flies like the Collie Dog and the Sunray Shadow is often mentioned  in relationship with glass eels or juvenile eels – a food sours that the Atlantic salmon could meet in the sea on its way to and from the river (in European waters often in size 40 – 45 millimeters  – 1.6 – 1.8 inches)

In terms of food look-alike`s we believe that these big flies could represent a broad spectra of critters that the salmon could meet throughout it´s entire life at sea,  like; sand eels, herring, sprats, prawns and juvenile eels – All erratic moving food that the salmon will have to react to very decisively.

[approved]It is also with these – straight in from the sea aggressive salmon, that the Sunray Shadow and Collie Dog is most productive. It is like their recent feeding behavior at sea still is set to full speed when they enter the river. See Brooks Zebra Shadow in shop 

The parr fly

Another big wing fly we have had success with throughout the years is a version of the classic Blue Charm. The wing of the fly is tied up of sections of silver tippet squirrel – with its contrast marked body it is to give the impression of a salmon parr – Fly is fished slowly over freshly arrived salmon that often will attack it ferociously.

Actually the salmon parr know quite well that it will have to keep clear of these fresh aggressive salmon – Ones giants arrive from the sea…all salmon parr have gone into hiding.

Here we have designed a big Sunray Shadow in a contrast marked version – We have humbly named it the Sunray Zebra Shadow

Buy Sunray Zebra Shadow  

The recipe to success

We have all our long-winged Sunray Shadow and Collie Dog flies tied on our Flexible plastic tube   with the exception of the occasional fly tied on an aluminum tube. If we need to fish further below the surface we rather use a sink tip or full sinking line, than use weight on the fly – It is as the fly looses some of it´s fish catching abilities when weighted down to much.

Hooks for long wing flies

Fishing with these special flies is an action filled sport and you will feel fish hitting and pulling the fly during a fishing session – Ever so often these same fish will have a go at the fly more than one time – as long as they haven’t touched the hook.

We use both single, double and treble hooks on these flies and recommend that you set a small blob of glue in the fork of the double and treble hooks. This will to some extend, prevent the hairs from getting seriously entangle in the construction of the hook. Getting the wing caught up in the bend of the hook is an inevitable part of fishing flies with long soft hair and to make sure everything is working as intended, one has to check the fly on a regular basis – Obviously an annoying hassle – but it is well worth the effort to put the time into the long wing project. See our range of hooks 

Good things for big flies

See our NEW fly tying material for Sunray Shadow flies: Sunray Zebra Shadow ™ 

NEW Sunray Shadow box

The perfect dimensions – strong and inexpensive

☛ Support Mr. Orri Vigfússon and NASF in rescuing the Atlantic salmon – Go to NASF page ! ☚

Tubes designed for the purpose

The flies were tied on tubes designed exclusively for the purpose, consisting of an inner and outer tube, allowing a tube fly hook to rest in the rear part of the tube.  Hair from a monkey was used in the design of the wing. The monkey hair came from a carpet a friend and fellow angler had in his living room. Later Ray found a supplier of the hair needed and finally also made a registered pattern on the fly that he named: The Sunray Shadow.

The Sunray Shadow fly was tied commercially for the Brooks family by Danish company Lawcock and later with fly tiers in Singapore.

The Sunray Shadow – Big fish fly

The Sunray Shadow: Ones made with hair from Colobus monkey, today anglers will substitute monkey hair with material like; goat that will work just as well.

Left: Fly shown is made with Kashmir goat hair. 

Numerous + 20-kilo salmon has been caught on the Sunray Shadow, among other, a 25 kilo (55 lbs.) giant from the Alta River – A 21 kilo (46 lbs.) fish caught in the Lærdal River by Mark Brooks, the son of Margit and Ray.

Right: The list of big fish caught on the Sunray Shadow fly is long – Here is a photo of another serious giant of an Atlantic salmon caught in Northern Norway by Mr Jens Olav Flekke

Almost half a century has gone by and still today the Sunray Shadow fly stands out as a unique example of fly tying at it´s best – simple and efficient

Hair from dogs can defiantly be top-notch fly tying material. Still, it is illegal to sell hair from dogs or cats in Europa – so if you can get your hands on some long-haired canines, it is worth your while sweet talking the owner into a bit of trimming. The Collie dog breed comes in many shapes and colours. I prefer to be friendly with these two critters: Border Collie or Rough Collie

Collie Dog and Sunray Shadow are fly patterns closely linked with long-winged flies, and you will find variations of this famous salmon tube fly in fly fishing shops around the world.

The Collie Dog fly is an old Scottish fly pattern designed in the late 19th century.  It was probably one of the first, if not the first hair-wing salmon fly ever, to be deployed on a salmon river.

Still today it`s argued whether it is UK or US anglers who rightfully can take the claim for the salmon hair-fly project?

Above a version of the Collie Dog fly tied with hair from a Border Collie

The Collie Dog was originally designed to be tied on double or single hooks – Today, most are tied on tubes – with or without the silver body. As hair from Collie (Border Collie) can be hard to get, most anglers will settle for quality hair from goats like the Kashmir Goat or Artic runner

See hair for Sunray Shadow and Collie Dog Flies in our shop  

Tube flies with a long wing like the Sunray Shadow and Collie Dog is unique flies in the world of salmon flies. Flies with a simple expression are favoured on many rivers across the Northern Hemisphere.

With their wavy wing, these flies can have a hypnotic grip on salmon. Presented correctly, the salmon will go to great lengths to intercept a fly like the Sunray Shadow or Collie Dog, often chasing the fly across the river – hitting it in a spectacular manner much in the way they attack a wobbler, spoon or spinner – When fishing keeps your eye on the fly and bring it into the bank…this is one fly that salmon will stay with all the way – and it might hit it the last second.

When fishing close to the surface with long-winged flies, anglers often see the salmon reacting to the fly by splashing or waking, something that can be pretty useful – when you want to find out if the pool holds fish or not. Flies like these are also named: lifters or Reaction flies…

In Iceland, the Sunray Shadow will also be used as an Attention fly, fished over lies that might be unproductive or over-fished – The Sunray Shadow is then replaced with a much smaller pattern and salmon will very often come to the surface.

Right: Nice salmon from Iceland caught by Mr Rasmus Ovesen using Fishmadman Collie Dog tube fly

When summer arrives, and water starts heating – speed seems to be a key element with these long wing flies, and anglers will fish it in different ways to generate speed – This could be done with floating or intermediate line fished straight across the river. By hand-lining the fly back, fast – in long pulls. By mending the fly line downstream to generate a belly, increasing the pull on the fly line and so the speed of the fly.
I have often used this technique during summer/autumn and seen how it may work wonders for a short time – then suddenly lose its effect entirely.

Right: Fish the Sunray Shadow or collie dog fly on a 90 ° angle and pull the fly – in jerks – as fast as you can across the salmon lie – Don´t worry about overdoing speed – the salmon is much faster than you. A good trick is to stop and leave the fly motionless altogether – when you come close to your rod tip – the salmon will often take the fly in a big splash or jump.

Strike when it jumps.

If you see fish jumping in the path of your fly – it will most certainly be the salmon that has grabbed the fly – I always strike when I see the fish jumping – 9 – out of 10 times I hook the fish..and it will go ballistic after such a hooking …so be prepared to clear the line fast out the guides after hooking-up

Pulling the Sunray or other long wing salmon tube flies fast across the river – even having the fly jump through the surface is a highly efficient way of connecting with salmon – And big and small fish may follow the fly trying to grab it in high jumps.

Sometimes I stop pulling in line when salmon chase the fly – I leave it still in the water’s surface – and wait for the salmon to grab it.

My all-time favourite fly for this sport the Speed Sunray Shadow – See the fly in the shop here

Stripping an Iridescent Sunray Shadow… fast as you can… across the river can in times of fresh running fish be one of the most productive methods you can use – but take care it is yet another all-absorbing form of fly fishing that may take up your time and ruin your sleep.
See flies in our shop

Cold and slow

When fishing in colder water, it is advisable to fish the Sunray Shadow or Collie Dog fly slowly and present it to the fish for a longer time. Use intermediate lines with sink-tip or even full sinking lines to fish productive fast water.

Working with size

Big is not always better and particularly not when it comes to salmon. Concerning this, it is well worth keeping different sizes of these special flies in the box – Although a 2-inch Collie Dog or Sunray Shadow might seem big when other anglers work with tiny #10s – 12s in hot water – it can still be surprisingly efficient to use these flies fished very close to the surface.

We also bring out the big Sunray Shadow flies when summer turns into autumn, in those precious hours when everything starts turning dark… The big Sunray Shadow might be the best choice for those local salmon becoming restless and agitated in the dark.

See other big Sunray Shadows in the E-shop 

We do a line of very small Sunray Shadow flies that we recommend anglers bring for summer conditions and difficult fish – small, simple interpretations of the original tube fly suited for floating lines and light gear.

This is what fly angler Bill (Beatle) Abshagen from Colorado used when fishing Despedida Lodge in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina Fish was eating small Skuds (14 & 16’s), but this fish was hungry and couldn’t resist an appetizing smaller Sun-Ray.

Dwarf-like Sunray Shadow tube flies – Perfect for summer conditions – low water and finicky trout and salmon – Our small Sunrays are also designed to be used as riffling hitch flies. See the small Sunray Shadows in the E-shop 

Hooks for long-wing flies

Fishing with these special flies is an action-filled sport, and you will feel fish pulling and hitting the fly during a fishing session – Ever so often, these same fish will have a go at the fly more than one time – as long as they haven’t touched the hook.

We use single, double and treble hooks on these flies and recommend that you set a small blob of glue in the fork of the double and treble hooks. This will to some extent, prevent the hairs from getting seriously entangled in the construction of the hook.

Getting the wing caught up in the bend of the hook is an inevitable part of fishing flies with long soft hair, and to make sure everything is working as intended, one has to check the fly regularly – An annoying hassle -. Still, putting the time into the long-wing project is well worth the effort.

See our range of hooks 

Superior hair for Sunray Shadow and Collie Dog Flies

A fantastic horse

We are constantly on the lookout for great fly-tying material, and we were not late to say yes to this fabulous hide deriving from the animal the fly-tying business call; Arctic Runner. An arctic runner is, in fact, a euphemism for the Icelandic horse…
Icelandic horse comes in all kinds of quality and can be bought in well-assorted shops – It’s 2 – 4-inch long hair stacked in a significant way that forms the perfect wing for salmon and steelhead flies.

Special Abilities

Arctic Runner is prime material wings on salmon and steelhead flies – The material ability to be shaped and cheat fish is well-known. We use it on many of our flies, including Collie Dog flies.

See it in our shop

Perfect Sunray Shadow hair

Top quality Kashmir goat with long shiny hair dyed jet black – Perfect for Sunray Shadow and Collie Dog Flies
The length of the hair can vary from batch to batch – But we will try to keep our promise and get you what you see in the picture.
 See it in our shop

Special edition Sunray Shadow hair

See our material for Sunray Shadow flies: Sunray Zebra Shadow ™ 

See all 11 colours

NEW Sunray Shadow box

The perfect dimensions – strong and inexpensive

We tie our Killer whisker on tube – We don’t think big dry flies should be tied on hooks

Killer Whisker is

A pattern that eats lots of material and makes a swooshing noise when it flies by your head…We have tied quite a few of these big dry flies for people fishing the Lower Humber in Newfoundland, where it is cast on big salmon lying in relatively slow water.

Killer Whisker 1982 – 83 Comes from mainland Canada. An alternative to the sparsely dressed Bomber – Killer Whisker is a fly I would use to fish the Alta River.

Don’t tie your Killer Whisker on a long shank hook

A fly like the killer Whisker with it’s long bulky body is a first-class case of a fly that – NEWER – should be tied on a long shank hook – but ideally on a plastic tube – The Leverage factor – The weight issue – The missing exposure of the hook

See them in the shop

Doing the Tube Killer Whisker Here I have fixed a 1,8 mm. tube on a tube fly needle. As this Tube Killer Whisker is big I will need to apply extra force when tying it,  therefore I have put a piece of mono in the eye of the needle. This will help to wedge the tube on the needle.

Buy the right tube & needle

Add fly tying cement, super glue or lacquer to fixate the tie-down on the hookguard.

The Tube Killer Whisker has a split wing

Wings of calf´s tail is tied in – split and set to tilt slightly forward. Strands of Mylar is added. The Mylare will aide you to see the fly out on the river. Add drops of lacquer to the tie down

Ad a section of green deer hair. The Tube Killer Whisker can also be done with a all-natural brown body. We use Crystal Fireline 0,04 millimetre as tying thread. We also use a length of this particular thread as rib.

Cut body into shape. Tie in hackles: The body hackle – We strip of one side to get a palmer hackle that is not to dense. We need a heavy  front hackle section so we tie in 3 – 5 depending on the quality. We use a light brown coch-y-bonddu feathers

We also do more dens versions of the Tube Killer Whisker

I have heated the end of the tube to form a collar (see other tying instructions on our webpage) – I have pushed a hook guard over the collar, leaving 5 – 6 millimetre of hook guard outside the tube (this is going to be a big Tube Killer Whisker) so I have used our 3,0 mm. hook guard Note how the hook guard tubing is cut at an angle. This is a good way to secure the soft tubing without ending up making the tie-down to bulky

The tail of The Tube Killer Whisker is white → calf’s hair equally distributed around the tube – Note! The tie-down of the tail is done in front of the tie-down of the hook guard, to prevent material clumping up in the rear part of the fly – Material that eventually could make it difficult to create a well proportioned deer hair body. Add a few strands of Mylar – A few drops of lacquer to the tie down

Adding masking tape to wing and tail is a good idea if your tiered of cutting of those precious Mylar strands and calf tail hairs. Don’t use to sticky tape…It will just end in tears later

Add further 3/4 sections of natural brown deer hair.

The freshly spawned Tube Killer Whisker

Run body hackle down through the deer hair. Run the Fireline rib up through the palmer hackle. Wind front hackles and fix everyone securely, before cutting off any excess tubing. End the project with a drop of super-glue to the head of the fly – Add a short shank quality hook like the Owner Chinu 1/0 single hook fitted on this Tube Killer Whisker.

See hook in our E-SHOP 

Chernobyl Ant !

Neither ant – nor beast

Tube Chernobyl Ant from Fishmadman. Obviously we tie our big Chernobyl Ant wake flies on tube.. Buy tube & an extra long tube fly needle to tie them on here

Chernobyl Ant One of the greatest wake fly patterns in the world of fly tying. Designed in 1995 By Allan Woolley and Mark Forslund, from the Green River system in Utah…The Chernobyl Ant was intended as an imitation of a Mormon cricket

“Often the salmon will just grab the Chernobyl Ant and hook it self …Wham bam! — Bend rod and all is well. But just as often we see the salmon rises to the Chernobyl Ant without taking it. They can pursue the fly for many meters, roll over it, go right under it or jump high in the air — but without touching the fly. Then it becomes really exciting. It is important to keep the “pot boiling”. Try the same fly 1 or 2 more times. Swing it at different speeds. If the fish comes back without taking it, try switching to a different colour, size or shape. Jerking the fly back can some times be the trick Sometimes you may succeed tying on a completely different fly like Sunray Shadow, or a small sunken fly – But getting the fish on the surface is what’s really interesting”

Tight lines Anders

Top water angler Mr. Jansson from Sweden wrote us in November 2011

“In the rivers where I do my fishing, dry-fly fishing is almost unknown. My regular Norwegian River is the Surna River that always is very cold, even in the hottest summer the river temperature never rises above ten degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit)

In July summer of 2011 we had a week of fine sunny weather, so I thought I would give the Chernobyl Ant a go. One of the pools on our beat: the Talgöy pool almost always hold fish. It is a grand pool to fish that ends in a long smooth glide, I thought it could be a suitable place to test a stripped Chernobyl Ant.

The Chernobyl Ant striped perfect with a nice v-plow — and on my way down the pool a salmon tried to grab the fly on several occasions – When it finally got hold of the fly I let it turn and the fish was hooked instantaneously. Ten minutes later I could  beach my first “dry fly salmon” about 6.5 kilo- Later in the week, I did more experiments with The Chernobyl Ant. – Connected with one big salmon and lost two grills as well. Flooding and high water started and we had to change tactics…

I will certainly be back to the Surna River this summer with more Chernobyl Ant`s and Tube Bombers in my box – Tight lines Pär

Mr.  Pär Jansson from Gothenburg with a beautiful fresh Surna fish caught on double hand rod and a Chernobyl Ant waked across the river

See new barbless tube-fly hooks  – for the Chernobyl Ant and our other foam flies  Go to shop

See our new series of Tube Chernobyl Ant

Modern Atlantic Salmon Flies

Book review on: Modern Atlantic Salmon Flies

Book by Mr. Paul C. Marriner Read more on Paul

Every year we see a number of books on fly fishing and the flies we use. Some will be remembered others won`t. Here is a book you definitely will enjoy throughout your life as salmon angler.

As the name suggests, the book Modern Atlantic Salmon Flies, is a book about salmon flies – But it’s not quite a book as we know them here in Scandinavia.

Most of the flies in this book are of Canadian origin – more precise the East coast of Canada. It is particularly interesting to read about and not least to see these fly patterns, because Canadians do not fish in exactly the same way as we do, and will be looking at salmon flies in a slightly different way. Most Canadians fishing is done with single hooks without barbs. This obviously makes Canadian anglers connoisseurs in this chapter of fly design, and this book is on single hook flies more than anything els – you will find a wealth of fly patterns and ideas for the single hook angler.

Here in Scandinavia we have almost forgotten the single hook fly – and we seems to have traded all the single hook salmon flies for flies tied on tube – A little unfortunate as the single hook fly patterns allows the salmon fisherman to be, fishing in unique ways and places.

Their is not many tube-flies to be found in Modern Atlantic Salmon Flies – But we may (with some pride) add that flies from Fishmadman is part of this volume – hopefully it will spur more Canadians to try tube flies…… Last but not least I will recommend this book just to see the many wonderful salmon dry flies…like all other flies in this book they are tied by the guides and anglers using them – This gives the reader a valuable insight into the styling and design.

Good reading Jesper Fohrmann 2012

Buy book from Paul Marriner

☛ Support Mr. Orri Vigfússon and NASF in rescuing the Atlantic salmon – Go to NASF page ! ☚

Chernobyl Ant One of the greatest fly patterns in the world of fly tying. Designed in 1995 By Allan Woolley and Mark Forslund from the Green River system in Utah… The Chernobyl Ant with its rubber legs has a hypnotic grip on many Salmonidae – a.o also Atlantic Salmon.

Try it

We do not know what it exactly is within the Chernobyl Ant that is so alluring – but if you haven’t tried them on salmon and trout – maybe 2013 is the time to try. See how we have done them on tube – We also have a couple of super hooks for them.. They are exclusive for Fishmadman:  ICHIBAN hooks Japanese hooks at their best. Go to Ishiban # 1 or Ichiban # 3 See the flies in our shop

Chernobyl Ant: a wake fly with a subtle attitude

The Atlantic salmon is not overly attracted to flies making big wakes – but will happily rise to slowly moving surface flies making diminutive wakes – A fly like the Chernobyl Ant, with its rubber legs and low-key wake, can have a powerful effect on Atlantic salmon. Read more

Pulling flies in the surface is foremost about creating wakes – In some cases the wake will be the main attraction and the fly could literally be secondary

A squirrel in Western Europa could very well look like this guy …very bright red in its colouration – Here is one from my garden in Denmark, where this colour of the squirrel is the dominant genetic line of the Sciurus vulgaris (Eurasian red squirrel) – once black squirrels were the dominant genetic version in Denmark …now it is rare to see all black squirrels in my part of Scandinavia.

Finding the right material for Riffling Hitch flies is important. The wake of the Riffling Hitch fly might be the key point – But the fly and the way it is built is what generate the wake.

Take time to select the perfect squirrel tail

We buy many tails to select the best possible tails for our V-FLY; we want a squirrel tail with thin hair, as we have found that flies tied from this hair have superior fishing abilities when hitching for Atlantic salmon…

We are proud to offer specially selected Silver tip squirrel tails (Eastern Grey squirrel)

We have been scouting for a supplier of silver tip tails that we could trust to harvest the tails when the hairs had the right texture.

We managed to find a Game Warden in the UK that knew what we were looking for –

Richard, a salmon and trout angler, promised to help us with our extraordinary project.

Setting traps for squirrels is part of Richards’s daytime job – and by doing so at the right time of year, we have secured a small stock of these first-rate Riffling Hitch tails.

Buy tails from us

Barred Brown Squirrel tail – Small Pine Squirrel

We occasionally carry these tiny Pine Squirrel tails in our shop – Take the rare opportunity to buy a perfect squirrel tail for your riffling hitch and other micro tube flies.

Find them here

Russian Flying Squirrel

A tiny squirrel tail – and very hard to find – Some of the finest fly-tying material we have ever seen.

Siberian Pygmy Squirrel

The smallest squirrel we have ever seen – and some of the finest hair we have ever come across – Most  likely not your everyday roadkill fly-tying material

Himalayan  Squirrel

Rare squirrel material quite close to its cousin, the small pine squirrel

Chinese Pine Squirrel

Similar to its US cousin but much softer – A nice tail for small and medium salmon flies

Eurasian red squirrel – the black version

Eurasian red squirrel, as they formally are known (Scientific Name: Sciurus vulgaris), is a squirrel species widespread across Northern Europa and the vast forest land of Russia where some squirrels are caught in traps and their pelt is used for various garments – Truly great material. Super quality and perfect for miniature patterns like riffling hitch flies and any other fly pattern designed to lure trout, salmon and char. The Eurasian red squirrel is found in colour variations ranging from jet-black to almost ginger red Buy it from us

Eurasian red squirrel

Here in a black coloured version

– Buy it from us

Eurasian red squirrel

Here is a browner coloured version

– Buy it from us

Fox squirrel

The fox squirrel (Sciurus niger), the eastern fox squirrel or Bryant’s fox squirrel, is the largest tree squirrel native to North America. Great material for bigger or very bushy flies – less efficient for smaller patterns.

Salmon easily get bored

Salmon entering the river only have a very limited attention span and the angler may easily drain their sparse awareness. Obviously, it is important to manage ones fishing with some prudence. If the river becomes low, slow or warm the angler will have to make the down & across fly work absolutely perfectly to deceive the salmon. This is actually such a difficult job that even the old hand at the river will have to work hard to accomplish. In such cases, alternative tools will come in handy. Tools like; Rifling Hitch, Skating, Dibbling, Dapping; all names for techniques where the fly is moving in the surface.

The surface hunter

The surface is an all-important hunting ground to the salmon parr, who more than any other salmonids will focus on surface hunting as soon as insects start to fly

The insect will try to leave the treacherous surface as quickly as possible, but 100 million years of practice have made salmon specialists, and they know what to look for. It is these fantastic hunting abilities that we will try to tap into when fishing the Riffling Hitch

Salmon flies are not equally good to use for Riffling Hitch. To the left, our favourite Riffling Hitch fly: V-FLY ™  Read more  Buy fly  

Surface fishing tricks

All salmon flies are not equally good to use as Riffling Hitch flies – There will be fly patterns that work much better than other

Use thin hair – We have through the years noticed how Riffling Hitch flies tied with squirrels hair has a special alluring ability… The best hairs seem to be fine hair found on tails from small squirrels. Therefore we recommend you hand-pick the squirrel tails for the purpose.

Buy riffling hitch squirrel tails from us

If you tie your Riffling Hitch patterns on a single or double hook you should leave enough room in front of the hook so you will be able to fit in the hitch knots

Riffling Hitch flies will fish difficult waters. The Riffling Hitch fly will more or less fish the places you normally would want to fish with the sub-surface fly – But a small hitched fly will also fish slow water which could be otherwise very difficult to fish with a sub-surface fly.

Time to use the Riffling Hitch

Through summer there will be days when the Riffling Hitch fly will out-fish

all other methods. Some years the Riffling Hitch will work excellent during intervals of days or weeks. Exactly what period works best can vary from season to season…. In Norway, the technique may work well from the first day to the last day of the season… but the weeks of mid-August could be the top weeks… In Scotland, the hitched fly could work at it´s best in the last weeks of June – and be less effective in August.

High & brown river

Fishing a tiny Riffling Hitch fly during periods with a rising river – going muddy – might not be the first thing that comes into mind… never the less… Riffling Hitch can be an extremely efficient technique under such circumstances. Salmon will be travelling close to shore and the surface… keep the fly on a short line  – working downstream with short casting and a high rod. Be ready for a pounding heart when Mr. salmon comes hammering out of the surface. In case you hook up on such a fish strike immediately

See our range of small Riffling Hitch flies 

A bright head

When fishing Riffling Hitch it is important to be able to follow your fly on the river. When it gets dark or grey this can sometimes become an impossible task. Use a Riffling Hitch fly with a fluorescent green head – this way the fly will be slightly more visible

Too thick a leader!

Try to avoid the use of too thick tippet material when fishing Riffling Hitch. The thick leader will quickly take out the magic of your fly. Use a thinner tippet like 0.30 mm (12 lb..) and a long soft rod that can absorb some of the fast movements of the hooked salmon

The Portland Hitch – Riffle hitch knot

The Portland Hitch populated by fly fishing icon Lee Wulff is the traditional way of fishing Riffling Hitch, done by tying on a single or double fly so it will drag sideways in the surface.

See how to tie on a conventional single hook fly with a hitch knot Buy single hook Riffling Hitch flies 

The Caddisfly and riffle hitch and waking fly

We would like to think that the adult caddisfly and the ways of this insect is closely linked with the effect the Riffling Hitch fly has on salmon

Above: The much erratic behaviour of the adult caddisfly – could very well be an element in the effect that Riffling Hitch flies has on Atlantic salmon

In fishing literature, the Caddisfly live in the shadow of the more exquisite May fly – and in much the same way it also plays a less interesting part in the fly box of salmon anglers – who often fancy more elaborate and colourful patterns than dull caddisfly imitations.

The caddisfly is in fact well represent in salmon rivers both as – adult, pupae, and larva – and the salmon parr might encounter it every day from the beginning to the end of the season.

As an adult insect, the caddisfly lives 6 – 14 days. Staying close to the edge of the river. They come out from their place of hiding and flutter around the river with erratic movements…. hitting – diving straight into – or scooting on top of the water, to lay their eggs…or to get to shore.

We believe that understanding and learning about the way of the caddisfly is part of the overall understanding of the Riffling Hitch fishing technique

Read more about the life circle of the caddisfly

Fine tune your Riffling Hitch – tube

Most Scandinavians tie their Riffling Hitch fly on a tube. It is a simple and very effective way to make small and very light surface flies. It is important to use a type of tube that will support the hook. Chose a flexible type of tube that will be able to keep your hook in place. If hook and tube fit perfect you should be able to adjust the position of the hook – thereby changing the movements of the fly – a bit like the Rapala-angler that fine-tune his bait with a set of pliers.

When using a small treble hook, we would have one hook pointing down with the remaining hooks in a horizontal position. If we use a single hook we keep this pointing straight down or up.

If you tie your own Riffling Hitch flies and would like to buy perfect tubes for the job – we make them !… We could not find any tubes that were good enough to suit our Riffling Hitch system so we designed the right tube and made a production – The tube comes in two dimensions to suit either small or bigger hooks Go to the shop 

New stuff in the Fishmadman shop

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 a problem getting the right sowing needles for the tubing we sell, so we decided to produce our own design of tube fly tying needles. See the smart designs in our shop here

Superior fly lines for riffling hitch fishing

We are happy to tell you that we from 2011 have been able to sell the two best riffling hitch and dry fly lines on the market…

It is the famed Triangle Taper from Lee Wulff (Royal Wulff Products) – The fly line that is the most copied line in the world…We only carry the Lee Wulff lines it in a few # weights that we think is suitable for hitch and dry fly fishing – All lines are with the fantastic J3 surface coating – that just makes these lines so much better than the competitor line.

We have the Classic Triangle taper in 7 – 8 – 9 It is 90 foot (27.4 meters) long – A 40 foot (12.2 meters) progressive taper – A 50  foot (15.25 meter)  shooting line…the line is ivory-white (the absolute best colour for surface fishing)

See the line at a good price in our shop 

the ‘2 line is the extremely long casting TTSTF

The favourite distance line with us at FISHMADMAN – developed by Steelhead Pro, Al Buhr, The TTSTF is 105 foot long (32 meters)  – It has a 55 foot (16.7 meters) running line  – A 50 foot (15.25 meter) progressive taper The TTSTF also has the super J3 coating. It is of course ivory coloured and has a lightly green shooting line

See the line at a good price in the shop 

☛ Support NASF in rescuing the Atlantic salmon – Go to NASF page! ☚