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

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

There is no doubt that the salmon like tiny flies, and throughout the season, many salmon are caught on small flies, and the proportion of Nordic salmon caught on small flies and flies made for surface fishing will likely increase as salmon anglers learn to fish with new equipment and with new techniques.

You have to lose fish on small hooks!

When you fish for bigger fish with smaller flies and small hooks, you move on the edge of the art of the possible. You must accept that you will lose more fish than you might have been used to. Losing salmon is a natural part of fishing with smaller hooks, and the sooner you as a fly fisherman realize this, the better you will be at fishing with the small flies/hooks.

See the small Frances tube fly in our shop.

Use soft leaders, tippet material, and super hooks.

Of course, you must choose quality hooks and good tippet material – but you should also develop your skills to fight the fish so that you do not strain your equipment unnecessarily. I prefer tippet material that is soft and can give way when the fish jumps and shakes its head. Soft nylon is also better when presenting hitch and small flies; stiff leaders and tippet material can kill even the best micro-salmon fly.

 

Adjust the brake

Choose a fly reel with a lightweight brake or a brake that can be adjusted down, so you can quickly control the amount of line the fish pulls from your reel. Remember, plenty of backing.

Read more about tackle and technique for salmon on small hooks.

Fishing for salmon in the warm low summer river with a conventional wet fly – is some of the most challenging fly fishing you will ever encounter, and even the best local angler has to work hard to get a positive result. To fish the same river with surface flies is oddly more straightforward; it is as if the fish is easier deceived at the surface.

Fish for salmon as you fish for trout

In the shallow warm river, the salmon will congregate in pools where it feels safe and where it finds oxygen and shade; seek out these places and fish them when they fall into the shade, early or late in the day.

As the summer goes on, the salmon will see the insect life found in, and along the river, and as the trout angler, you must learn to present tiny flies so that they drift towards the salmon, either close to or on the surface. Other times you may need to use a small heavy fly like a nymph that can rise from the bottom to imitate a caddis pupa heading for the surface.

See how you drift a heavy nymph-like fly towards salmon.

Image: the hot river (21 degrees Celsius = 69,8 Farenheight) in Northern Norway (2011) … 24 hours of light and a clear cold night will bring the river temperature down several degrees and make fishing excellent at night.
Many river owners wisely close rivers for fishing when temperatures exceed 18 degrees as fishing catch & release in too hot a river can be a wrong choice as salmon can have a hard time recovering from stress in warm water; undoubtedly, we will see more restrictions on fishing in summer-warm rivers.

Teach yourself to fish with riffling hitch flies.

Riffling hitch is an effective sport in cold and warm water, and the riffling hitch fly work excellently in shallow rivers where the water depth is 0.25 – 1.5 meters. Rivers in Finmark (region of Northern Norway), such as Repparfjords River, Staburs River and Vestre Jakobs River, are just a few fine examples of Nordic rivers where riffling hitches work exceptionally well. The best flies are often tiny, and it pays to experiment with colour and size if fish show interest but don’t bite – often, it is pretty simple variations that can be decisive.

Learn more about the riffling hitch technique and the tackle to use

The jewel in the crown – Salmon on the dry fly

Seeing a big fish rise from the depths towards your dry fly is the ultimate dream for many fly anglers – but often, this will only be a dream. 

Fishing with a dry fly for salmon is a sport within a sport. Many people only become familiar with this form of fishing when the fishing situation by the river has become entirely impossible, and that’s a bit sad because dry fly fishing is at its best when the salmon is fresh and really on the bite – so if you want to try the ultimate fly-fishing challenge then tie a dry fly on your leader when the silver, willing-to-bite salmon is on their way up the river.

When the river runs low, salmon will still arrive daily. Often they will find rest in places unsuitable for conventional wet fly fishing – here and in the areas where you usually would target the salmon, you should fish with a dry fly instead of spending your fishing day trying to catch the same salmon on a wet fly.

The ultimate fly fishing dream – large salmon on a dry fly – Here, a June salmon has taken a Repparfjord-green Tube Bomber. The hook is an Owner ST # 14 treble hook – The tippet material is Maxima Chameleon 0.25mm.

Read more about how to dead-drift dry flies for Atlantic salmon.

Fishing in the low and warm summer river is a form of fishing that is all about details; often, it is pretty tiny details that can change your fishing day in a positive direction – once you have found these new forms of fishing and techniques, maybe like me you will be looking forward to the days with difficult conditions by the river

Norwegian rivers are great dry-fly rivers.

Norway has some of the best dry fly fishing for salmon on the planet; it might not be the first thing you think of when tying flies for summer fishing, but maybe you should start.

Clear-water rivers from the south to the far north offer great opportunities throughout the season – and we, as anglers, often set limitations in our fishing. I usually explain this by discussing specific salmon I have caught in impossible dry fly conditions.

I caught a salmon several years ago in Orkla. It was raining, the river was high, and only 5 degrees Celsius. I still caught a silver salmon on a smaller white Bomber. There was a snowstorm on another trip to the Repparfjord River in August. The surrounding lowland was white with snow; still, I had a salmon biting after my Repparfjord Green Bomber 4 time.

Don’t forget your dry flies when you leave for Norway.

it is often us as anglers who set limitations in our fishing, and I usually explain this by talking about specific salmon I have caught in the most impossible dry fly conditions.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bringing hooks on a flight could be a problem.

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

Southern sea trout

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

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

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

The climate is changing 

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