Brooks Sunray Shadow | Fishmadman.com http://www.fishmadman.com Dry fly fishing for salmon and steelhead with Bomber dry flies - Riffling Hitch and wake fly techniques Sun, 08 Dec 2024 11:26:45 +0000 en-US hourly 1 34674374 Info Popup http://www.fishmadman.com/info-popup Sun, 28 May 2017 21:17:43 +0000 http://www.fishmadman.com/?page_id=18725

Much much more information about riffling hitch, salmon dry fly and steelhead wake fly

Fishmadman.com is a pretty big site and we keep on adding information that we find interesting – We do our best to link the information together so you get the ideal experience when you visit our site – Here we have gathered a list of some of the pages salmon and steelhead anglers visit on a regular basis when they come to fishmadman.com
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Home http://www.fishmadman.com/ Wed, 29 Apr 2015 13:45:03 +0000 http://www.fishmadman.com/?page_id=14491

Welcome to Fishmadman and the world of fly fishing with wake, riffling hitch and dry flies

Fly fishing for salmon and steelhead on the surface is arguably one of the most thrilling pursuits in angling. While this captivating form of fly fishing has surged in popularity over the past 60 years, it’s likely that anglers have been targeting these incredible fish on the surface since the very origins of the sport.

At Fishmadman, we are dedicated to preserving and advancing this tradition. We gather insights and expertise from around the world and design some of the finest flies specifically crafted for surface fishing success.

READ MORE ABOUT OUR MISSION

THINGS WE WORK WITH

At Fishmadman, we celebrate the art and technique of surface fly fishing. Our goal is to share the craft through expert techniques, insights, and a showcase of captivating fly patterns designed for this incredible sport.


SURFACE FLY PATTERNS ON TUBES – OUR SPECIALTY

We specialize in creating Dry Flies, Wake Flies, Skaters, and Riffling Hitch Flies tied on tubes. These feather-light designs outperform traditional long-shank hook patterns, offering superior performance and buoyancy. Explore our in-depth pages for tips, tutorials, and inspiration for crafting your own tube flies.


THE WORLD OF THE BOMBER FLY

During the summer, we fish the salmon rivers of Norway. When the conditions align, we tie on a dry fly, often a Salmon Bomber. These unique patterns are meticulously shaped to suit specific river conditions, and you’ll find details on crafting them on our site.

Just as we tailor flies to our rivers, anglers worldwide refine their Bomber flies to suit their local waters—whether for trout, salmon, or distinct pools. We continuously gather and share these regional insights on our pages and blog.


BOMBER DRY FLIES ON TUBES

Our Bomber dry flies, first developed in 1995, are tied on tubes—a design we’ve refined for nearly three decades. These innovations provide unmatched durability and versatility. Visit our pages for detailed illustrations and guidance to craft your own surface tube flies.


RIFFLING HITCH & WAKE FLIES ON TUBES

The Riffling Hitch technique has roots in nearly a century of fly fishing traditions. Its origins trace back to Canadian anglers who, in Victorian times, salvaged damaged gut-eye flies, tying them directly to leaders with a series of hitches. This accidental innovation created the iconic surface wake we know today.

Like many European anglers, we tie Riffling Hitch flies on tubes. Our dedicated pages provide step-by-step instructions and unique designs using our proprietary Riffling Hitch tube system. Dive into our resources to master the art of surface tube flies.


THE TUBE FLY – YOUR SECRET WEAPON

Since the 1940s, tube flies have been a cornerstone of European fly fishing, evolving to suit diverse rivers, seasons, and species. These adaptable patterns can mimic classic salmon flies or redefine fly design with unparalleled functionality. Tap into our extensive knowledge base and add another ace to your angling arsenal.


SUPERIOR SALMON AND STEELHEAD FLIES

Our passion for fly fishing drives everything we do. On Fishmadman, we’ve curated a collection of remarkable patterns, including the General Practitioner, Brooks’ Sunray Shadow, Collie Dog, The Frances Fly, and the innovative Micro Conehead Kinnaber Killer.

Tight lines and dry fly regards,

The Fishmadman Team

Our 4 main pages on Fishmadman...

A SPECIAL WAY TO CATCH SALMON AND STEELHEAD IN THE SURFACE

GO…

THE GREATEST WAY TO CATCH SALMON & STEELHEAD DEADDRIFT A DRY FLY
GO…

THE FLY FOR SALMON AND TROUT BELOW THE TOP

 

SOME INTERESTING ASPECTS OF THE WORLD BELOW
GO…

TOP WATER FLY WITH A ATTITUDE

 

STEELHEAD, CHAR & SEA TROUT – LOVE WAKE FLIES
GO…

The Fishmadman shop

As an extension to the Fishmadman pages we also have an exclusive fly shop – In the Fishmadman Fly Shop you will find steelhead wake flies, salmon dry flies made for dead drift, riffling hitch tube flies, shrimp flies, and a large series of Sunray Shadow tube flies
Visit the Fly Shop

Some selected pages from our blog

Things to also see on Fishmadman

Much more information about riffling hitch, salmon dry fly, and steelhead wake fly.

Fishmadman.com is a pretty big site and we keep on adding information that we find interesting – We do our best to link the information together so you get the ideal experience when you visit our site – Here we have gathered a list of some of the pages salmon and steelhead anglers visit regularly when they come to fishmadman.com

Fishmadman videos... details in film

We don’t have film crews following us around on Fishmadman…but we do put some of the special things we do on film… we hope you will enjoy these highly specialised videos on our sport and the flies you could make

A steelhead wake fly tied on tube - using iridescent foam

The Grantham Sedge - Tied on riffling hitch tube

How to tie the Monster Tube Caddis salmon dry fly

How to add iridescent material to heads on flies

See top angler Mr Alan Vang deploye one of our Hitchman flies to hook up with a big salmon

A short video of a salmon rising to a dry fly

Fishmadman Newsletter - something special

Fishmadman Newsletter is a publication on surface fishing for Atlantic salmon steelhead and various trout, read by many 100 ́s anglers across the Northern Hemisphere, Tierra del Fuego, Novaya Zemlya – Australia and Japan… We try to make a letter worth your time – and our interest in topwater fishing is what determines the editorial tendency`s
Our newsletter will arrive in your mailbox 3 – 6 times during the season depending much on what interesting stuff we can find for you…


Join our Newsletter

Salmon dry fly - steelhead wake fly - riffling hitch

Newsletter libary

See some previous issues of the newsletter here… or go to the entire newsletter library here

What customers told us....

The post Home first appeared on Fishmadman.com.]]>
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FISHMADMAN 2012 competition http://www.fishmadman.com/newsletter/fishmadman-2012-competition Sat, 02 Feb 2013 13:13:08 +0000 http://www.fishmadman.com/pages/?page_id=10276
  • Fishmadman competition winner 2012

  • Salmon tube fly:  Sunray Shadow

Some of the featuring material in this Newsletter might also be found on other pages on this site

Photo and Coppyright Ian D Martin

Yet another season has gone by and we would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone participating with words and images to our annual sporting event. This beautiful picture was sent to us by Fly Fishing writer & photographer; Mr. Ian D. Martin, The Usual Press, who during the season has mailed us pictures from various fantastic fishing spots in Canada. Ian wrote us:

” You’ve encouraged me to submit for the FISHMADMAN contest for this year, and I have done so. Rather than a photo of one of the fish I caught on your flies, I thought it might be nice to send in a photo of a fishing scene instead”
See more pictures from Ian belove

The winner of the 2012 Fishmadman Competition

Caught on salmon tube fly - Tube Bomber

Norwegian angler Mr. Jan Harry Årsen wins this years FISHMADMAN competition with a + 14 kilo (+ 30 lbs) Atlantic salmon Jan Harry wrote us:

“Fish jumped out of the water to grab the big Bright Green Tube Bomber ™ from above” The salmon was caught in the fantastic Lakselv River in the very north of Norway August 2012. Cloudy conditions. water temperature 11 degrees Celsius (51.8 degrees Fahrenheit)  Hook used: Owner STN-36BC Treble #8 

See fly in shop

Tube Bomber salmon tube fly

High VIZ. Green Tube Bomber ™ In big… A efficient pattern for Lakselv River salmon

Large salmon caught salmon tube fly Zebra Shadow

Sunray shadow salmon tube fly

Danish super salmon angler Mr. Hotho Vestergård mailed us this photo from Northern Norway of a cracking 10 kilo Atlantic salmon (22 lb.) Hotho used our salmon tube fly:  Zebra Sunray  Shadow ™ in # big to catch one of several salmon during his weeks fishing in Northern Norway

Sunray Shadow salmon tube fly

Mr. Hotho Vestergård used Fishmadman version of the famous salmon tube fly: Sunray Shadow by Raymond Brooks: Zebra Sunray Shadow ™

See fly in shop

Another Big salmon on Black & Green Zebra Shadow

Fish caught on salmon tube fly sunray Shadow

Sunray shadow a super salmon tube fly

Norwegian angler Mr. Jens Olav Flekke entered this beautiful salmon from Northern Norway: 108 centimeters (42,5 inches) caught on a Black & Green Zebra Sunray Shadow ™. Jens wrote us that his wife Mrs. Ellen Svendsen had a similar size salmon during their fishing session. This one on a smaller salmon tube fly with wing of black and green hair

Both fish released back in to the river after quick photo session

 

 

 

 

Sunray Shadow salmon tube fly from Fishmadman

 

 

 

Here a version of the Black and Green Zebra Sunray Shadow ™ rigged with a small salmon tube fly double hook – Jens Olav used a barbless single hook rigged in a hanging loop .

See Green and Black Sunray Zebra Shadow in our shop

 

Salmon from Gaspè Peninsula on Pearl Sunray Shadow

Gaspe salmon caught on Sunray Shadow salmon tube fly

Mr. Raynald Ménard mailed us this classic picture with father and son and a super fresh summer salmon in the 10 – 12 lb. range. Fish caught on a Pearl Sunray Shadow at the famous Gaspè Peninsula in  Matane River – Rod 12`# 5 Spey rod

A salmon tube fly for big greedy fish

Sunray shadow salmon tube fly from Fishmadman

The Pearl Sunray Shadow

See fly in our shop

XXL arctic char on wake-foam flies

Artic char saught on Chernoby Ant

Fjeldørred på Chernobyl Ant røye på chernobyl ant

Mr. Bo Jensen from Denmark enjoyed super fishing for XXL Arctic Char in Greenland this summer. Fishing gin clear rivers using our Tube Chernobyl Ants. Bo wrote us that that average arctic char is in the 2 kilo range (4,4 lb.) with bigger fish being 7 kilo (+ 15 lb.) The flies where fished active cast at an 60 degree angle downstream and brought back with wake and stop & go motion.

See our range of Tube Chernobyl Ants

 

Foam flies for char fishing

Tube foam flies are killers for big arctic char that like its cousins the Steelhead and sea trout is attracted to waked flies.

See flies in shop

Big steelheads from the West Coast of Canada

Steelhead on tube fly

Photo courtesy of Mr. Chad Black Nicholas Dean Lodge

 

As the top water season was firing up on the West coast of Canada we got pictures of super steelhead caught on our Riffling hitch tube wake flies: This one caught on a  The Tube Grantham Sedge by Mr. Chad Black  in a Skeena River Tributary- Fish was 34,5” long by 16.5” girth (87,63 X 41,91 centimeters) – approximately 12 lbs (5,44 kilo)  based on Sturdy’s formula. we will return to some of these stunning fish in our next newsletter

 

Grantham Sedge Riffling Hitch

The Tube Grantham Sedge – See this and the other in the wake series 

Salmon fishing on the Upper Moisie River in Quebec

Salmon on the Upper Moisie

upper Moisie River in Quebec salmon

Photo`s courtesy of Mr. Jocelin LeBlanc, Le Repère Des Moucheurs – Landmark Flyshop

Mr. Ian D. Martin is Fly Fishing writer & photographer get around to see many different and desirable placesThis summer we got some nice reports from his fishing. Ian wrote us; “Pictures above is from the Trinity River. I caught two fish,  one was really fresh!  The other one took a green squirrel V-tube, but it was not rigged for riffling but fished as a conventional micro tube fly”

” Moisie fishing this morning was canceled because of excessive wind and rain and fog 🙁  We hope this afternoon will work out, and that the helicopter can fly tomorrow to get us to Mile 12 Pool !”

” Hello Fishmadman : A little fish story – On the upper Moisie River in Quebec, the access is by helicopter. After no fish hooked for the whole day, and the weather getting worse, we had only 30 minutes until the helicopter was grounded. That’s when I saw this salmon roll, near a big rock well out in the pool. I ran down and quickly waded into position and managed to work out a long cast to cover the fish with a Green Squirrel hitch tube, and it took on the first swing. The helicopter arrived just as I was landing the fish, and we had to quickly release a beautiful Moisie salmon and race to pack up our gear as the impatient pilot waited with the rotors turning!

 

Coppyright Ian D Martin

Photo`s courtesy of Mr Ian D Martin Fly Fishing writer/photographer The Usual Press

wake fly for sea trout

Top water sea trout

Danish top water angler Mikkel Hemmeshøj with one of several sea trout caught during top water fishing with the Mad Dog Wake fly – Denmark probably has some of the greatest sea trout fishing in the world and famous rivers yields 100`s of trophy fish in the 10 – 20 lbs range. Many of these fish are caught on wake flies like the Mad Dog from Fishmadman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sea trout surface fly - danish sea trout flyMad Dog Tube Wake fly from Fishmadman. A superior wake fly designed by Danish sea trout angler Mr. Dan Karby for fishing in the Vejle River system. In Vejle river sea trout is fished at day and at night time with wake flies. Fly is fished in or close to the surface. See fly in our E-shop

See you next year – for 2013 Fishmadman competition

Photo Ian D Martin

Photo`s courtesy of Mr Ian D Martin Fly Fishing writer/photographer The Usual Press: Fly Fishing Publishers

With this beautiful late season picture from Canada we thank everybody participating and hope that we have inspired you to join our small sporting event  in 2013 By the way note the small cabin on top of the hill in the right corner of Ian`s picture…What a place..

The post FISHMADMAN 2012 competition first appeared on Fishmadman.com.]]>
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Long wing tube flies June 2012 Newsletter http://www.fishmadman.com/newsletter/newsletter-may-june-2012 Tue, 05 Jun 2012 19:43:47 +0000 http://www.fishmadman.com/pages/?page_id=5811
  • Sunray Shadow
  • The Collie Dog
  • ZEBRA GOAT ™

Most of the featuring Newsletter material on this page is also be printed elsewhere on our site.

Sunray Shadow salmon fly

Sunray Shadow one of the most famous tube flies ever. Designed by UK angler Raymond Brooks in the 60´s – Sunray Shadow is A must-have fly in the fly box for anglers pursuing fresh giant salmon on big river systems.

Tube flies with a long wing like the Sunray Shadow is part of a unique group of salmon flies. These flies with their simple expression is favored on many rivers across the Northern hemisphere, and they are often associate with salmon fishing in the witching hour … but they can be used in all kinds of fishing situations and is a valuable asset in the fly box

 

Sunray Shadow tube fly

The Sunray shadow story

 

The Sunray Shadow or; Brooks Sunray Shadow is yet another mythical fly and a must-have in the salmon fly box. Originally designed by late British salmon angler Mr. Raymond Brooks (Ray Brooks)

In the early 60´s Ray traveled through Norway to find the perfect salmon river. He did so with his wife Margit, and they found the rivers in the districts of Møre & Romsdal where they fished for many years.

Ray and Margit had a timber log cabin build at Hellesylt by the Korsbrekke River. To let the salmon reach further into the river system Ray had three different salmon ladders made. Sadly the log cabin was taken by a snow avalanche in the spring of 1985.

Every summer Margit and Ray would fish the fantastic Årøy (Aaroy) River that yield the biggest average weight of salmon on earth, but their favorite of rivers was the majestic lærdal (Laerdal) River that runs to the Sognefjord. A river that had a historic run of big Atlantic salmon and a sea-trout.

The lærdal (Laerdal) River was known as the Queen of salmon rivers and Ray and Margit held the lease for the river from 1966 until the mid 90´s when this and other rivers in the region saw a devastating outbreak and infestation of the salmon parasite Gyrodactylus salaris

The Lærdal River is gin clear and of medium size which made it possible to reach  the river from the bank. It is in these fabulous surroundings that Ray Brooks creates the Sunray Shadow fly.  The first fly was done in the early 60´s – and the Sunray Shadow soon proved so good that Ray and Margit started a production of the flies.

The flies were tied on tubes designed exclusively for the purpose, consisting of a inner and outer tube, allowing a tube fly hook to rest in the back end of the tube.  Hair from monkey was used in the design of the wing. The monkey hair came out of a carpet that friend and fellow angler from Switzerland had in his living room. Later Ray found a supplier of the hairs 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.

 Sunray Shadow : Fly tying at it`s best

 

Long wing sunray shadow tube fly

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  Buy salmon & steelhead 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

 

+ 50 lbs Atlantic salmon on big tube fly

Another Giant on the Sunray Shadow

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

The Collie Dog Here the Border Collie. Excelent fly tying material

The Collie Dog fly

Hair from dogs can defiantly be top-notch fly tying material but 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 colors I prefer to be sociable with these two critters: Border Collie  or Rough Collie
 

Collie Dog fly tied on tubeCollie 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.

Here a 1 inch Collie Dog pearl version with a 3 inch wing

 

Collie Dog fly tied on tubeThe 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

 
Here a version of the Collie Dog actually tied with hair from a Border Collie

 

 

Fishing tube flies with long hair

Atlantic salmon on big collie dog flyThese 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.

Fishmadman tube Sunray Shadow greenWhen 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  Buy salmon & steelhead flies
 

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.

Top water tube fly Collie Dog

Speed kills

When summer arrives and water starts heating up – speed seems to be a key word with these flies, and anglers will fish it in ways to generate speed – this could be done with floating or intermediate line fished straight across the river. By hand-lining the fly back, in long pulls. By mending the fly line downstream to generate a belly, hereby increasing the pull on the fly line and so the speed of the fly.[hr]

 

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

Riffling Hitch tube fly

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.

Here a Riffling Hitch version of the Sunray Shadow tied with hair from Sunray Zebra Shadow ™

 

Big black sunray shadow tube fly for salmonWe 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  Buy salmon & steelhead flies

Sunray Zebra Shadow - Big fly from Fishmadman

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  Buy salmon & steelhead flies

Blue Charm on tube

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.

The big Blue Charm Parr fly – A tube fly for super fresh salmon …especially from the beginning of August
 

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.

 
Sunray shadow Zebra tied on tubeHere 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  Buy salmon & steelhead flies

 

 

 

 

The recipe to success

We have all our long-winged Sunray Shadow and Collie Dog flies tied on our Flexible plastic tube Buy salmon & steelhead flies  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.

Blue Sunray Shadow

UV FLY PAINT from Loon on tube fly hooks

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 Lonn UV-FLY paint for hooksconstruction 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  Buy salmon & steelhead flies

Sunray Zebra Shadow fly tying material for sunray shadow

fly box for big sunray shadow tube flies

Good things for big flies

See our NEW fly tying material for Sunray Shadow flies: Sunray Zebra Shadow ™  Buy salmon & steelhead flies

 

NEW Sunray Shadow box Buy salmon & steelhead flies

The perfect dimensions – strong and inexpensive

 

 

 

NASF

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

The post Long wing tube flies June 2012 Newsletter first appeared on Fishmadman.com.]]>
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The Sunray Shadow story http://www.fishmadman.com/archives/5709 http://www.fishmadman.com/archives/5709#_comments Thu, 31 May 2012 21:56:07 +0000 http://www.fishmadman.com/pages/?p=5709

Sunray Shadow Story

Read the fascinating story about the late British salmon angler Mr Raymond  Brooks and how he, through ingenuity and dedication to salmon fly fishing, came to make the most famous tube fly in the world – Read how to fish with it and get inspiration to try long-winged flies this summer.

Broos Sunray Shadow flies tied with hair from monkeyThe Sunray Shadow story

The Sunray Shadow or Brooks Sunray Shadow was initially designed by late British salmon angler Mr Raymond Brooks (Ray Brooks)

In the early 60s, Ray travelled through Norway to find the perfect salmon river. He did so with his wife, Margit. Their favourite river became the Lærdal River which runs to the Sognefjord. A river that had a historic run of big Atlantic salmon and sea trout.

Ray and Margit held the lease for the lærdal (Laerdal) River from 1966 until the mid 90´s when this and other rivers in the region saw a devastating outbreak and infestation of the salmon parasite Gyrodactylus salaris

The Lærdal River is gin clear and of medium size. It is in these fabulous surroundings that Ray Brooks creates the Sunray Shadow fly.  The first fly was done in the early 60s – and the Sunray tube fly soon proved so good that Ray and Margit started production of the fly.

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 back end of the tube.  Hair from monkeys was used in the design of the wing. Initially, the monkey hair came from a fellow angler’s carpet in his living room. Later Ray made a registered pattern on the fly that he named: The Sunray Shadow.

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

Big salmon tube fly sunray shadow

The Sunray Shadow was once tied with hair from a monkey – Today, anglers will substitute monkey hair with material like a goat. Sunray Shadow shown in photo tied with Kashmir goat dyed black – Numerous + 20-kilo salmon have been caught on the Sunray Shadow.

Buy flies  Buy salmon & steelhead flies

Sunray shadow tube flySee our big page on the subject long-wing flies. Sunray Shadow – Collie Dog fly

GO TO THE BIG PAGE
The post The Sunray Shadow story first appeared on Fishmadman.com.]]>
http://www.fishmadman.com/archives/5709/feed 0 5709
Sunray Shadow & Collie Dog tube fly http://www.fishmadman.com/sub-flies/sunray-shadow-collie-dog Thu, 31 May 2012 21:39:27 +0000 http://www.fishmadman.com/pages/?page_id=5501
Sunray Shadow original

The Sunray Shadow one of the most famous tube flies ever made. Designed by late UK angler Mr. Raymond Brooks in the 60´s – Sunray Shadow is a must-have fly in the fly box for anglers pursuing fresh giant salmon on big river systems.

The Sunray shadow story

Sunray Shadow tube fly

The Sunray Shadow or Brooks Sunray Shadow is another mythical fly and a must-have in the salmon fly box. Initially designed by late British salmon angler Mr Raymond Brooks (Ray Brooks)

In the early 60s, Ray travelled through Norway to find the perfect salmon river. He did so with his wife Margit, and they found the rivers in the districts of Møre & Romsdal, where they fished for many years.

Right: Brooks Sunray Shadow how they ones were sold in stores across Europa

Ray and Margit had a timber log cabin built at Hellesylt by the Korsbrekke River. Ray had three different salmon ladders made to let the salmon reach further into the river system.

fly fishing for salmon

 

Every summer, the Brooks would fish the fantastic Årøy (Aaroy) River that yields the biggest average weight of salmon on earth. Still, their favourite river was the majestic Lærdal (Laerdal) River that runs to the Sognefjord. A river that had a historic run of big Atlantic salmon and sea trout.

The Laerdal River, the cradle of the Sunray Shadow fly

The Lærdal (Laerdal) River was known as the Queen of salmon rivers, and Ray Brooks held the lease for the river from 1966 until the mid 90´s when this and other rivers in the region saw a devastating outbreak and infestation of the salmon parasite Gyrodactylus salaries

The Lærdal River is gin clear and of medium size, making it possible to cover the river from the bank.

It is in these fabulous surroundings that Ray Brooks creates the Sunray Shadow fly.  The first fly was done in the early 60´s – and the Sunray Shadow soon proved so good that Ray Brooks started a production of the flies.

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.

+ 50 lbs Atlantic salmon on Sunray Shadow

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

The Collie Dog fly

The Collie Dog Here the Border Collie. Excelent fly tying materialHair 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 Tube flyCollie 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.

Left:  a 1-inch Collie Dog fly pearl version with a 3-inch wing

Collie Dog tube flyThe 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?

Collie Dog Salmon flyAbove 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 Buy salmon & steelhead flies 

 

 
Left: Stunning 100 cm, probably 22 lbs salmon caught on the Collie Dog tube fly displayed on the page above. The Collie Dog fished fast (hand lined) square across the fish in fast water –  A highly productive way to fish the Collie Dog and Sunray Shadow.

Fishing tube flies with long hair

Atlantic salmon on big Sunray ShadowTube 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.

The witching hour

Salmon fly fishingBig tube flies is often associate with salmon fishing in the witching hour … but they can be used in all kinds of fishing situations.

Original Sunray ShadowWhen 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…

Collie dog tube flyIn 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

Speed kills - Fast retreving Sunrays

How to fish the sunray and collie dog tube flyWhen 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.

retreving salmon flies

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

Speed Sunray Shadow series

Speed Sunray Shadow

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

Salmon fly fishing

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.

Sunray Zebra Shadow Black-Blue

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.

Here is a version of the Sunray Shadow tied with hair from Sunray Zebra Shadow ™
Big sunray shadowWe use a selection of flies in the range from 2 – 6 inches. The 3 1/2 inch version is the regular fly on most rivers, and the smaller versions are for low-water summer conditions – The bigger flies are made for early-season fishing and even in low temperatures, 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… 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  Buy salmon & steelhead flies

Dwarf Sunrays for Argentinian Seatrout

sea trout on sunray shadow flies

 

 

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  Buy salmon & steelhead flies

UV FLY PAINT from Loon on tube fly hooks

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.

Hooks on tube fliesGetting 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  Buy salmon & steelhead flies

Superior hair for Sunray Shadow and Collie Dog Flies

Hair for 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

Sunray Shadow hairPerfect 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

ZEBRA GOAT

Special edition Sunray Shadow hair

 

See our material for Sunray Shadow flies: Sunray Zebra Shadow ™  Buy salmon & steelhead flies

zebragoat - fishmadman

See all 11 colours

Sunray shadow fly boxNEW Sunray Shadow box Buy salmon & steelhead flies

The perfect dimensions – strong and inexpensive

The post Sunray Shadow & Collie Dog tube fly first appeared on Fishmadman.com.]]>
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Valg af forfang 2011 (Scandi version) http://www.fishmadman.com/newsletter/newsletter-june-2011/nyhedsbrev-juni-2011-scandinavian-version Fri, 09 Mar 2012 17:41:23 +0000 http://www.fishmadman.com/pages/?page_id=3572
  • Forfang til tørfluefiskeri

  • Nyt fluemønster ! Grøn Tube Bomber

  • Nye fluemønstere i Vores E-Butik

Der vil være tekst og billeder i dette nyhedsbrev der kan findes andre steder på dette site

Valg af forfang til fiskeri med tørflue efter laks

Salmon Bomber dry fly

Laksefiskeri: Du har reelt chancen for at kroge fisk mellem 1.5 og 25 kg. Du kunne bruge en # 16 skater tørflue eller en tørflue på størrelse med en kolibri – Hvilket forfang skal du vælge ?

 

Selvfølgelig vil du have et udvalg af forfang at vælge imellem. Nogle foretrækker den simple løsning, og har blot en længde nylon som forfang– Andre vil vælge et forfang designet specifikt til opgaven – I sidste ende vil det være et spørgsmål om temperament og tradition.

Stren Original super nylon line til forfang - hvis du fisker med store fluer

Laks på flue en nærkamp sport

Tørfluefiskeri efter laks må nok betragtes som en nær-kampsport. Ofte er du ikke længere end en stanglængde fra fisken når den tager fluen – At kroge fisken kræver; en hurtige højre hånd, og det er nemt at knække sit forfang, eller rette en af de tynde kroge, når fisken kroges tæt på. At fighte laksen og i særlig grad grillsen, kan vise sig at blive en krævende opgave, på kort line. Grillsen vil ofte blive tæt på dig, og bruge tiden på at, slå utallige kolbøtter – ret under din stang, hvilket ofte resultere I at, den ryger af krogen.

Chok absorbere forfang

For at absorbere chok ved krogning, og for at afbøde rusk og spring, når vi fighter fisken på kort line, bruger vi en forholdsvis blød tip (det yderste materiale på dit forfang) bundet til et  poly – forfang.
Vi foretrækker gammeldags monoline såsom; Clear Blue Stren, også kendt som Original Stren – Andre bløde liner fra Maxima og nogle af Berkeleys liner kan også anbefales.

Det synkende forfang

hover forfang Vi ved at nogle af jer vil ryste på hoved når vi foreslår at, I vælger at bruge et let synkende forfang, til jeres tørfluefiskeri – Ikke desto mindre er det det vi vil anbefale.

Køb et par; hover poly-forfang til din kommende laksesæson. Hover forfang er det forfang der er klassificeret en tak lavere # end et intermidiate forfange.
Et hover poly – forfang synker hverken meget eller hurtigt, og vil blot blive ret under overfladen i den korte periode du fisker din tørflue forbi laksen. Vi mener at, et forfang ret under overfladen skræmmer fiskene langt mindre end et tilsvarende forfang fisket på overfladen. Et Poly – forfang vil også være langt bedre egnet til at, kaste større tørfluer end et almindeligt mono-forfang.

Air Flo producere et klart hover forfang – Indtil videre det bedste af de mange hover poly-forfang på marked.

Længden på forfang og Sneel`s Vindue

Den tekniske betegnelse for den måde hvorved livet under vandet  ser tingen oven vande kaldes Snell`s Vindue. I følge denne viden ser fisk ting på overfladen igennem en kegle med en brede på 96 grader. Det er  i kanten af denne kegle at vi ønsker at placere vores tørflue – Kanten af keglen er således også et sted hvor fisken kan se og blive skræmt af vores forfang. Da vinklen på keglen er ca. 45 grader vil man nogenlunde kunne beregne hvor kanten af Snell`s Vindue er. En lille beregning vil f.eks vise at; en fisk der står på bunden på 6 fod`s dybde (1.8 meter) vil man have kanten af Snell`s Vindue 6 fod foran sig… Således vil du ønske at bruge længere forfang hvis du fisker med tørflue på dybere vand end hvis du fisker på lave elve. Til det meste af mit fiskeri i Finmark (Nordnorge) bruger jeg ganske korte forfang på 6 – 7 fod

Læs mere om Sneel´s Vindue og hvordan du skal placere din tørflue bedst muligt

Klare elve i Nord Norge - kræver fluer i særlige farver Foto Jesper Fohrmann

Fluefisker der fisker spritklare elve i det nordlige Norge, har deres særlige valg af fluer. Et levende forfang på en ikke alt for kraftig flueline er den bedste måde at få din flue til atvirke levende – At fluen virker levende – er en hjørnesten i fluefiskeri

Nye fluer i 2011

Mørk grøn Tube Bomber - gjort til Repparfjord elven

Mørke Grøn Bomber™

Vi har lavet et par custom farvede Tube Bomber´s til den kommende sæson, den mørke grønne Tube Bomber ™ er en af dem. Denne særlige grønne nuance med det brune hackle og hvid hale/vinge, har vist sig helt eminent ved flere elve i Norge, både i Finmark og på Vestlandet. Det kan være det grønlige vand i nogen elve – eller blot det forhold at elvene løber igennem store skov områder.
Dark Green Tube Bomber ™ kommer i 3 størrelser: X-Small, Small & Big Se alle 3 størrelser i vores butik  Buy salmon & steelhead flies

Dark Green Tube Bomber ™. Hackle og krop i de helt rette nuancer til mange norske elve –  Se fluer i vores butik  Buy salmon & steelhead flies

Black High Viz Tube Bomber - Skabt til Nord Norge til fiskeri midt på dagen

 Ny Sort & High Viz Green Tube Bomber ™

En Tube Bomber ™ designet specielt til elve ved Tromsø i Norge… En mørk og fluorescerende grøn Tube Bomber ™ til dags-fiskeri i sol – eller til fiskeri ved dårligt lys. Den kommer i 2 størrelser; Small og X-Small Se fluer i vore E- in shop  Buy salmon & steelhead flies

Black & Hig Viz. Tube Bomber ™. En tør flue til solskins dage – og dage med dårligt lys. Kommer i to størrelser – I et begrænset oplag  Se fluer i vore E- in shop  Buy salmon & steelhead flies

Tube Rat Big - Fishmadman binder alle store geddefluer på rør

Tube Rat

Dette er faktisk et fluemønster vi har designet til dansk gedde-fiskeri – Men flere fluefiskere der fisker kildeørred, Large Mouth Bass og Taimen, har allerede købt Tube Rat´s til deres kommende sæson. Bygget på vores fantastiske hitch rør gør at denne kæmpe-gnaver-flue, bliver et fjerlet alternativ til andre gnaver imitationer bundet på håbløse langskaftede kroge –  Tube Rat, passer til en lang række short-shank kroge; enkelt og dobbelt eller trekrog… Tube Rat kommer også i en mindre Tube Mouse version

Tube Rat: Den perfekte flue til fluefiskeren der vil have en stor let imitation af en gnaver. Kommer i 2 størrelser  Se Tube Rats i vores e-butik  Buy salmon & steelhead flies

Brooks Sunray Shadow

Sunray Shadow: Udviklet af den engelske  fluefisker Raymond Brooks, der fiskede elven Lærdal, igennem 60 – 80`ne . Fluen viste sig at, være sådan en succes at, den entreprenante englænder lod fluen patentere. I dag er der intet patent på fluen, og fluefiskere fra nord til syd, har denne flue i sin æsker.

Vi har lavet Sunray Shadow i to custom udgaver – og selvfølgelig også i den originale version – Alle 3 varianter findes i 2 størrelser.

 At fiske med Sunray efter laks

Denne langhårede flue i familie med andre fluer såsom; Collie Dog – virker perfekt til aggressive ny-opgået fisk – Senere på sæsonen kan den udrette mirakler på store hanlaks, særligt i timen før og efter tusmørke – Sunray fiskes på tværs 45 grader, som så mange andre fluemønstre – men til tider skal denne flue fiskes tværs over – og i fuld fart ind… så hurtigt du formår at trække den igennem vandet… Det synes bare at være en uimodståelig kombination for laks i alle

Ray Brooks Sunray Shadow Fishmadman

Sunray Shadow  en uundværlig flue til speed-topwater fishing

Sunray Shadow Green Big

  Sunray Shadow Green

Sunray Shadow Pearl Big
 
Sunray Shadow Pearl
Sunray Shadow original
 
Brooks Sunray Shadow (original) : Notorisk storfisk fanger og den perfekte speedy top-water flue. Kommer i 3 varianter og 2 størrelser Se fluer i E-Butik Buy salmon & steelhead flies

NASF

☛ Støt Orri Vigùffson og NASF i at redde  Atlanterhavslaksen -Besøg NASF side ! ☚ Besøg NASF side

 

® © 2008-2015 Fishmadman Alle rettigheder forbeholdes.

Alle rettigheder forbeholdes. Bortset fra brug i en anmeldelse, er reproduktion eller udnyttelse af dette arbejde i nogen form eller på nogen elektronisk, mekanisk eller anden måde, der er kendt eller herefter opfundet forbudt uden skriftlig tilladelse fra Jesper Fohrmann / Per Fischer –

The post Valg af forfang 2011 (Scandi version) first appeared on Fishmadman.com.]]>
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Leader for dry fly fishing – what to chose? http://www.fishmadman.com/newsletter/newsletter-june-2011 Fri, 09 Mar 2012 13:13:49 +0000 http://www.fishmadman.com/pages/?page_id=3523
  • Leader for dry fly fishing
  • New Green Bomber
  • New Black-Hig-Viz. green Bomber
  • New Tube Rat
  • New Brooks Sunray Tubes

Writing and photos found on this page might be found elsewhere on our site

Choice of leader for dry fly fishing

 

White Tube Bomber - The fishmadman version of the classic Bomber

Salmon fishing: You have the chance of hooking up with fish from 3 – 50 lb. You could be using tiny # 16 skaters or a humming-bird size fly – What leader to us for dry fly fishing?
 

Obviously, you would use a variety of leaders in your fishing. Some prefer to; keep it simple with only a length of nylon – others would choose a custom-made leader – At the end of the day, choice of leader is often a matter of temperament and tradition.

Maxima chameleon perfect for dry fly

Fly fishing leader formula

Dry fly fishing for salmon is definitely a close combat sport. Often the angler will be no more than a rods length away from the fish when it hits the fly – Setting the hook demands a fast right hand and one could quite easily snap the leader or straighten tiny hooks.

Fighting fish and especially grills (small salmon) could also be a very demanding task on a short line. Small grills will often stay close to you – and spend time somersaulting relentlessly under your rod – often getting off the hook as a result.

The shock absorber

To absorb shock when hooking-up or fighting fish on a short line – We use a fairly soft tippet at the end of our leader. We prefer old fashion mono lines like Maxima Chameleon or Original Stren – Other soft lines from Maxima and some of Berkley monofilament could also be used as tippet on a leader for dry fly fishing

See the tippet we have in our fly tackle store

Sinking leader when fishing dry fly!

airflo polyleader til riffling hitchWe know we will raise a few eyebrows when we recommend that you use a sinking leader for your dry fly fishing! – Newer the less we advise you to buy a couple of hover poly leaders. The hover leader is the leader classified one step above intermediate.

The hover poly leader does not sink particularly much or fast it will merely stay just below the surface during the short duration of a drift with a dry fly. We have found that sub-surface leader like the hover leader is less likely to cast – frightening shadows – than a similar floating leader otherwise could do

The poly leader will also outperform a standard nylon leader when it comes to casting big bulky dry flies… We use a 5 – 6-foot hover leader combined with a 50 – 75 cm. (20 – 30 inch.) a piece of Maxima mono-filament

Clear Fly fishing leader – called; Hover or intermediate from Airflo is super leaders for dry fly and riffling hitch fishing..

See the polyleaders we have in our fly tackle shop

fly fishing leader sizes and Snell`s Window

The technical term for the way in which underwater life sees thing above water is called Snell `s Window. According to this knowledge fish see`s things on the surface through a cone with a width of 96 degrees. It is at the edge of this cone that we want to position our dry fly – The edge of the cone is also a place where the fish can see and be intimidated by our leader. Since the angle of the cone is approximate. 45 degrees we will roughly be able to calculate where the edge of Snell `s Window is situated. A little calculation will show that e.g, a fish sitting at the bottom of 6 foot of water (1.8 meters) will have the edge of Snell` s Window 6 foot in front of him … Thus, you will want to use longer leaders if you are fishing with dry flies in deeper water than if you fish at low rivers. For most of my fishing in Finnmark (Northern Norway) I use a quite short leader at 6 to 7 feet

Read about Snell`s Window and how you position your fly

New flies for 2011

Fishing gin clear rivers in Nothern Norway Photo Jesper Fohrmann

Anglers fishing clear rivers in Scandinavia and elsewhere have their special choice of fly colors

Dark Green Bomber™

We have made a few custom colour flies for the upcoming season. The Dark Green Tube Bomber is one of them. This particular green with its brown hackle has proven to be one of the best flies anglers can bring to rivers in Finnmark (Northern Norway) – and Westland region (mid Norway) – It could be the green tinted colour of some rivers – or just the fact that a lot of the fishing ground on these rivers run through green dressed forrest..The Dark Green Tube Bomber comes in 3 sizes See all 3 sizes in the shop  Buy salmon & steelhead flies

Dark Green Tube Bomber - made for the Repparfjord River system

Dark Green Bomber. Hackle and body in the right colours for many Norwegian rivers. Comes in Big – Small and X. Small  See flies in Shop  Buy salmon & steelhead flies[hr]
 

New Black & High Viz Green Bomber™

A Tube Bomber designed specifically for Fishing And Hunting shop in – Norway… a dark and green Tube Bomber for day time fishing…in clear light and gin-clear rivers as you will find them in Northern Norway. Comes in 2 sizes

Black High Viz Tube Bomber - Designed for Nothern Norway and fishing mid day

Black & Hig Viz. Bomber. A Bomber for sunny day´s – and difficult light. Comes in two sizes: Small and Ex. Small – in limited numbers See fly in the shop  Buy salmon & steelhead flies
 

The Tube Rat

This is actually a pike pattern that we designed for Danish pike anglers – but quite a few anglers fishing Taimen and Brook trout have already made orders for their upcoming season. Build on our special hitch tube this fly will be a super-light alternative to those big rodent imitations tied on hopeless big long shank hooks. Leverage problems will be solved with this Tube Rat, that will hold a variety of different short shank hooks.

Tube Rat Big - The Fishmadman way of tying flies that otherwise would have been tied on enormous hooks

The Tube Rat also comes in a smaller version: Tube Baby Rat See Tube Rats in the shop  Buy salmon & steelhead flies

Brooks Sunray Shadow

Sunray Shadow Developed by UK angler Raymond Brooks who fished the Norwegian Salmon River Laerdal through the ’70s and ’80s. The fly was so efficient that Mr Brooks had it patented… Today the pattern has ended and anglers on salmon rivers from north to south will have this deadly pattern in their box.

We have made the fly in two custom editions as well as the original version.. Comes in two sizes

How to work the Sunray for salmon

This long-haired fly much in line with the Collie Dog pattern works perfectly for aggressive freshly run summer salmon – Latter in the season it will work miracles on big male salmon especially in the hour just before and after dusk… The Sunray Shadow is fished down and across as many other regular salmon flies but at times it is much better to fish this fly at high-speed, by casting it straight across and pulling it as fast as you can with both hands… It just seems to be to an irresistible snack to salmon

Ray Brooks Sunray Shadow Fishmadman

 

Sunray Shadow a must-have fly for speed-topwater fishing

Sunray Shadow Pearl Big Super fly for top water fishing

Brooks Sunray Shadow: Famous big fish catcher – And the perfect fly for speedy top-water fishing. Comes in 3 variants and two sizes See flies in the shop  Buy salmon & steelhead flies

Sunray Shadow original Super fly for top water fishing

Sunray Shadow Green Big Super fly for top water fishing

 

NASF

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

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