Hej overfladefisker … Jeg har meget at skrive om denne gang, da jeg har måtte udsætte nyhedsbrevet på grund af belastningsskader i mine hænder og arme. Heldigvis har disse forhold ikke holdt mig fra mit fluefiskeri eller arbejde med design i fluebindeafdelingen ? og vi er sikre på, at du vil kunne lide nogle af de fluer og ideer, vi har til dig denne gang.

Stram line fra os på Fishmadman – Jesper & Per

Nyhedsbrev denne gang

• En fantastisk hitch flue – Hitchman serien
• Suces med en caddis-imitation til steelhead
• Små hitch/rørfluer, og hvordan man rigger dem til
• Genbrug & Genanvendelse … vi genskaber din favoritflue
• En speciel skum-caddis flue fra Finland
• Bedste ønsker for sæson 2020 – med et lille ønske til dig

I løbet af de 40 år, jeg har bundet fluer til laksefiskeri, har jeg kun lavet en eller to fluer, som jeg vil kalde super-gode og værd at sætte i en anden laksefiskers flueboks, så det er med glæde og en følelse af stolthed at vi kan afsløre en ny serie af riffling hitch-rørfluer, der bestemt passer til beskrivelsen som: en super flue.

Her en af mange sommerlakser, der havde lyst på Hitchman-fluen

Vi har ikke Hitchman fluerne klar til salg endnu – vi arbejder på det (:  – men se mere om dem her

Hvad er meningen med så små rørflue?

I beskrivelsen ovenfor har vi en micro lille hitch-rørflue med en længde på 1 centimeter, den er bundet på et tyndt 1,1- mm-rør. Det er en virkelig lille lakseflue, og lystfiskere, der ikke bruger så små rørfluer til deres overfladefiskeri, vil måske spekulere på, om en lignende lille flue bundet på en enkeltkrog ikke ville være en bedre løsning. Hvorfor disse intrikate detaljer med rørfluer og små kroge? kunne du spørge – Der er mange svar på dette spørgsmål, og et svar er, at en sådan lille rørflue fungerer på en anden måde end en lignende flue bundet på en enkelt eller dobbelt krog, og på den måde er den interessant. De urolige bevægelser sådanne lette rørfluer har er absolut værdifulde egenskaber, både under og i overfladen, og så små rørfluer kan gøre en kedelig og uinteressant varm sommerdag til en uforglemmelig ditto.

Læs mere om hvordan du forbereder dig på at fighte større fisk på små fluer/kroge  her

Dear topwater anglers…We have much to write about this time as I have been postponing the newsletter due to repetitive strain injuries in my hands and arms. Luckily it has not kept me from fishing or engineering in the fly-tying department.  and we are sure you will like some of the flies and ideas we have for you this time.
Tight lines from us at Fishmadman – Jesper & Per

Newsletter this time

• A great riffling hitch fly pattern – the Hitchman Series
• The birth success of a tube caddisfly imitation for steelhead
• Tiny hitch/tube flies and how to set them up
• Rescue & reuse …we will redo your favourite fly
• One neat foam caddisfly imitation from Finland
• Best wishes for season 2020 – with a small quest

Over the + 40 years I have tied flies for salmon fishing, I have only made one or two flies that I would call unique – so it is with joy and a sense of achievement that we now can disclose a new series of riffling hitch tube flies that fits the bill as a fantastic fly.

Here is one of many summer salmon that fancied the Hitchman fly

What’s the point of such a small tube fly?

In the description above, we feature a tiny hitch tube fly with a length of 1 centimetre or 0.39 inches tied on a thin 1.1-millimetre tubing. It is a tiny salmon fly, and anglers not acquainted with tube flies for their surface fishing would wonder if a similar small fly tied on a single hook would not be a better solution. Why do these intricate ways of the tube fly, you may ask? – There are many answers to this question, and one answer is that such a tiny tube fly works in ways differently than a similar fly tied on a single or double hook, and in that way, it is interesting. The skittering and unpredictable behaviours of such a light tube fly are significant, both under and on the surface, and such small tube flies can make a dull and uninteresting warm summer’s day into a great sporting event…

Read much more about how to prepare for catching big fish on small tube flies here

What is a tube fly?

The tube fly was originally a salmon fly design by The Scotsman Mr Alexander Wanless, who shaped a line of flies on thin lead barrels in the late 1930s.

Mr Alexander Wanless aimed to make a lightweight bait he could fish on his spinning rod with a fixed spool reel. Still today, many anglers use the tube fly on a spinning rod, but more so, the tube fly has become one of the most popular ways of tying salmon and steelhead flies –

In the Swedish Lagan River, many salmon are caught on tube flies. Either on fly gear or, more commonly, on spinning gear. When spinning gear is used, the tube fly is fished close to the bottom on a swinging trace behind a weight. 

Tubes for tube fly

In all its simplicity, the tube is merely the vessel that carries the fly pattern; hair, feather, and hook – But the tube with its ways in the water is also an alluring factor in the tube fly pattern, which can be used progressively.

Right; The FlashBack Bug is a steelhead wake-tube fly designed to use the tube’s properties to stay on top of the surface. The fly could also be tied on a hook… but it will be a fly that works differently on the surface than its cousin tied on the tube.

Tube fly patterns – in the future

We believe that tube flies will be the future fly when anglers grasp the many potentials of the various tubes.

Big rodent flies like this Tube Rat from our shop benefit significantly from being tied on a tube versus a hook. The tube rat is a much lighter alternative that is easy to cast even on light gear. The tube fly is not rigid as a big long shank hook, and less fish is lost to problems with leverage

Tube designed for tube flies

Tube fly-tying equipment is a unique part of the fly-tying kit, and fishing shops here in Europa often carry a large selection of tubes and other specialized equipment for tube flies.

The majority of these tubes are made from plastic substances called PE: Polyethylene or PA Aliphatic polyamides

With an annual worldwide usage of approximately 80 million tons of Polyethylene; it is not uncommon to find tubes in fishing tackle shops that may have been designed for something completely different from tube flies. Likewise, you may spot some tubes outside fishing shops that could work well in your fly tying.

Right: An 2 1/2 inch Danish seatrout commotion tube fly for nocturnal fishing. Dressed with a soft cone to the front and plastic beads to the body to make it push water

The cotton swab is a good example of a tube that could work as tubing for tube flies. On the other hand, cotton swabs are just as diverse as the tube-fly tubing you find in shops – and some cotton swabs will easily split and bend, others might float – an exclusive feature you could use for an extraordinary tube fly.

The right tube for the job

Fishing an entire season for Atlantic salmon or steelhead could be a technically demanding affair involving a lot of know-how and special gear.

Here a salmon caught on a Garry tied on a 1 1/2 copper tube – When fishing – the hook is kept in place by a hook guard made of soft plastic tubing tied to the rear of the copper tube. The tube fly will slide freely on the leader when a fish is hooked.

Heavy tube flies

Weighted tubes can get down in fast water – They can also be used during the cold part of the season, October – November, and during the first month of the season – January – March.

Above right: Classical Slipstream tubes from Veniard in England – The tubing inside the metal tube (inner tube) may be frayed or otherwise damaged when used – You can change the inner tube by cutting the ends of – then pulling the inner tube out  – then inserting a new piece of inner-tubing – You can use our 1.8-millimetre tubing for this job.

Tube flies are an English invention designed by Mr Alexander Wanless in the early 1930s. It soon became a popular way of doing flies –

Some of the first tube flies made by Alexander Wanless were tied on oblong lead barrels. Mr Wanless used the flies with small hooks on his light spinning gear.

Still today, the heavy sinking tube plays a role in fly fishing; mainly, Atlantic salmon anglers use weighted tubes during the season.

Left: Special tool for cutting thin diameter tube

Not possible to buy tiny brass tubes? Cut your own! – I have cut a big brass tube into several small heavy microtubes using a unique tube-cutting tool. In the background, a tiny Frances Fly tied on such a micro brass tube. Tubes fitted with our hook-guard

Heavy tube flies in many shapes and sizes.

Scandinavia and Scotland are blessed with fast-running rivers. European anglers have developed a long line of heavy tubes to be used during the season – most of them are designed for summer sport with a floating line and a presentation of the fly some 10 inches below. Many of these microtubes and the conehead on the photo to the right are designed for this purpose…

We aim to present the individual tubes from the photo on this page – during the following year.

See another page on Fishmadman where we use copper tubes for fast water tube flies

Tungsten Tubes – The heavy boy in the class

Weight is not everything when it comes to surging to the deep – density is an all-important factor – Tubes made of the material tungsten has a density almost 200 % higher than an equivalent copper tube – A real depth charge

Light tube fly

Most Scandinavians would choose tube flies for their salmon and trout fishing. The tube fly is convenient and gives us versatility that is hard to beat – But foremost, the tube fly allows the angler to fish big or small fly patterns correctly in all kinds of water.

Tying a tube fly for summer conditions

When summer conditions call upon a tiny fly pattern that will work with the most subtle current in the river – you should tie on a micro-tube fly – The fly may be more prominent in volume than a small single-hook pattern and fitted with a hook. It could also weigh more than a single hook pattern – But it also acts much differently.

Left three miniature tube flies tied on different tubing – The two top patterns are tied on relatively soft tubing from a BIC ballpoint pen – hooks in the picture is # 18 – a single hook is # 14

The best tube on the market

A Fishmadman speciality is our tubes designed for Riffling hitch and wake flies – No one made a good enough tube for the job …so we designed the perfect tube for this purpose. The tube has low memory and will take a lot of mechanical abuse before it breaks.  Buy this tube from our shop

Building the tube fly

Modern tube flies in Scandinavia are often built from various sections of tube – and getting dimensions and tubing right is a bit like building LEGO.

Here I have assembled our 1.8 mm. hard tube with our 3.0/1.8 mm Riffling Hitch tube – In this case, the riffling hitch tube is used as a hook guard, but a hook guard of soft tubing may also be slid onto the rear of the riffling hitch tube to accommodate bigger hooks than the Owner Chinu # 1/0 shown in the photo. Coneheads are often used to the front of the fly – fixed with a tiny drop of glue or Zap-A-Gap – Finally, a collar is formed on the tube by heating it with a naked flame.

The Kinnaber Killer:  I named this fly after the Kinnaber Beat at the North Esk river on the East Coast of Scotland – A place owned by angler par excellence Mr Martin Stansfield –

The fly works perfectly on the North Esk and many other places in Angus – Read about the Kinnaber Beat – Book fishing

Garry Dog Kinnaber Killer conehead fly

Riffling hitch anglers benefit from some consistency in the flies ability to stay on the surface  – and at the same time we want a fly that looks lively at the end of the leader – so obviously we can’t solely focus on the hitch fly´s ability to stay on the surface – we must compromise.

Fine details could be; make or break, and I could illustrate this by comparing the art of Riffling Hitch fly design with that of building miniature boats or aeroplanes… Make a minor alteration to your design – and it could have a big impact on the ability and potential of your construction…

We can’t solely focus on the hitch fly´s ability to stay on the surface – we must compromise.

To move unpredictably is a hallmark of superior lures

One specific riffling hitch fly can be particularly good compared to other seemingly identical riffling hitch flies

It may sound like a bunch of hocus-pocus and mumbo jumbo, but the fact is that Atlantic salmon is the final judge, and they seem to pay a lot of attention to details in RH flies – and probably also in many other artificial flies for that matter

Atlantic salmon will be the final judge and they seem to pay a lot of attention to details in RH flies. Riffling hitch is one of the diseplines in salmon fishing where the questions about flies and fishing – expose the fact that we know just about nothing when it comes details in salmon flies.

The V-FLY is one of the most simple and yet effective riffling hitch fly patterns you can get. Used by 100´s anglers every season it consistently produces fish on the bank – You will be surprised to see how this seemingly neutral pattern will bring fish to the surface

If you follow our outlining on this specific pattern closely – You will get one of the best salmon Riffling Hitch flies you can carry in your box.
The V-Fly ™ that you find tying instructions for below is cut into proportion to make a fly with all the right abilities.

The position of the hole for insertion of the leader makes this fly equally good from both banks. The dimension of the tube causes the Riffling Hitch fly to leave a delicate and highly attractive wake behind.
Construction of the V-shaped wing and the soft squirrel hair will work wonders on difficult fish.
The inner diameter of the tube supports the hook, thus allowing you to leave the hook in your favoured position – Using a single double or treble hook.

The perfect tube! – Low-memory tubing

The tube that we use for our riffling hitch flies is made specifically for this purpose – Produced from a unique compound that gives us a tube that won’t split – but will support your hook (keeping it in place) The tube will eventually fall back into place after you ended fishing and have removed the hook.

Hair from young squirrels works wonders.

Hair from silver tippet squirrel is a unique material to lure salmon, steelhead and other kinds of trout. These hairs can be quite diverse depending on where you cut them on the actual tail, and many different flies, from tiny Smuts to big # 2/0 single hook flies, could essentially come from one single tail – But squirrel tails also differ much in appearance and quality depending upon the age of the squirrel – and hair from young squirrels have the texture and quality that we have found to be prime stuff.

We have such tails from young squirrels in our shop 

Tube to use for this Riffling Hitch V-FLY: Fishmadman Riffling Hitch Tube

Outer diameter 3,2 mm. Inner: 2 mm. Length 12 mm. (0,47 inch)

Fly in the photo has caught more than 20 salmon – Full of teeth marks it is still fully functional.

The position of the hole from the front of the head:  4 mm. Make the hole in the tube with a hot needle. Fix tube to

Fix the tube to the needle. Make sure to put the entrance hole for the leader right opposite the centre of the wing. The tread I use is 12/0

Tie in a little bundle of silver tippet squirrel app. 40 mm. (1,5 inch.)

Buy perfect squirrel tails 

Tie in a little bundle of Veniards Crystal flash Pearl Blue. A few strands double the length of the fly – The rest in the same length as the tube.

Buy needle to tie Riffling Hitch flies on 

Add cheeks of jungle cock – Whip finish and use a bit of super-glue for the head

Ready spawned Riffling Hitch V-FLY

Small Youtube film on how we do pixel-heads on our Hitchman flies

What’s here on our Youtube channel

It’s all happening right in the surface – Which makes the riffling hitch technique one of the most fantastic sports a fly fisherman ever can venture into – Some of the best takes of the season will be on the hitch fly – and both big and small salmon is drawn to this miniature fly in such a way that your whole perception of salmon fly fishing will change once you have tried this sports of sports..

Your perception of salmon fly fishing will change once you have tried this sport.

Riffling Hitch is not a particularly demanding sport – but like when fishing dry fly, skating, dibbling or dipping, it´s a sport that demands your full attention.
It is associated with fly fishing for Atlantic salmon but is also a technique equally used by anglers fishing steelhead on top.
Fishing riffling hitch is a visual sport, and salmon will always show themself when they approach the fly – Doing so gives away vital information about their position. Still, they will also give you some idea about their intentions.

Sometimes it can be tiny aspect in the way you present the fly – or it could be small details in the way the fly move that make all the difference. Things worth  analysing – imitating and refining.

Hitching the fly the Portland way – riffle hitch knot

Riffling Hitch The Portland way is the traditional style of fishing riffling hitch in North America. It is described as;  A couple of half-hitches tied in behind the head and eye of a single or double hook fly so that the leader sits at an angle of the fly – This will make the fly pull to the surface.

Blue Charm: Probably the most versatile of all salmon flies. Here styled to be used with the Portland Hitch

Correspondingly with salmon fishing literature the technique Portland hitch departs from Portland Creek in Newfoundland where local anglers in the beginning of the 20th century would reuse broken gut flies by tying them on to the leader with a series of overhand knots/hitches.

What is a gut-eye fly?

In the early years of fly fishing for Atlantic salmon – salmon hooks did not have eyes as we know them today. The hook shank was tapered toward the front, and the leader, made of strands of gut, was tied directly to the hook’s shank.

Later in fly fishing history, twisted strands of gut were tied onto the hook shank, forming an eye to which the angler would tie the tippet.

During summer, there will be times when the riffling hitch – or the fly moving on the surface – will be much more efficient than other flies.

Portland Hitch – Simple but a bit intricate

The leader can either be tied to extend to the left or right side of the fly, depending on what river bank you are fishing from. For best performance, tie the hitches on the fly so the leader extends from the fly towards the bank – when the fly is facing upstream.

Here a version of the Blue Charm on a # 6 lightweight hook Get flies in E-SHOP

Europeans anglers rarely tie on single hook flies to fish them with a Portland Hitch set-up; we would instead use tiny tubes to work salmon to the surface.

Europeans anglers rarely tie on single hook flies to fish them with a Portland Hitch set-up; we would instead use tiny tubes to work salmon to the surface.
Just as with the Portland Hitch, the leader comes at a slant of the fly – in this case, through a hole in the belly. You can fit single, double or treble hooks in the tube and position the hook how you like.
See the many perfect Riffling Hitch patterns in the Fishmadman Shop.  

Hitch tube fly seen from below

Two-hole versions have a hole in each side of the fly and rely on the angler to use one hole for the left bank and another for the right bank. The leader can either be tied to extend to the left or right side of the fly, depending on what river bank you fish from. Let the leader extends from the fly towards the bank – when the fly is facing upstream.

So what is the better solution?

What about the hole in the front of the tube – should that be blocked up?

The front of the riffling hitch tube is typically left open, a detail that often stirs debate among fly tiers and RH anglers. My response to this debate remains consistent: one fly tier may create an excellent RH pattern with a blocked hole in the front, while another may produce a superb pattern with the hole left open. Both variations can result in great flies, illustrating that this aspect has no strict rules. Fly tying, particularly riffling hitch fly tying, revolves around micro-details, and what constitutes the perfect fly isn’t always immediately apparent to the naked eye.

A note on the hole in the front of the tube: I and many other riffling hitch anglers also use our diminutive RH flies as regular tube flies – Put your leader through the fly the traditional way and get a micro tube fly you can fish just below the surface

Fly tying, and especially riffling hitch fly tying, is all about micro details – and what creates the perfect fly is not always visible to the naked eye.

Riffling Hitch is the discipline in salmon fishing where the questions about flies and fishing – expose the fact that we know very little about details in salmon flies.

See our page on riffling hitch fly tying.

If you are interested in learning more about micro-movements and details in the art of building riffling hitch tube flies

When to use Riffling Hitch

Riffling Hitch flies will work in all kinds of circumstances. Weather and temperature can not always be held as a guideline – Saying this, I will note that there seems to be a period during summer when a Hitched fly will work exceptionally well. The Hitched fly may pull salmon to the top even during spate and muddy waters when salmon move closer to the bank and out of the fast turbulent water.

Keep up the deception!

Riffling hitch flies should be fished at an even phase. Atlantic salmon loses interest if the fly loses momentum and stops hitching. Sometimes you may have to add speed by lifting the rod or mending downstream. At other times you might need to slow the fly down by mending upstream or letting out line. Make sure to follow the fly closely during its path across the river salmon tends to leave their lies to intercept the fly, often seen by wakes near the fly or flashes of silver below it. Riffling Hitch wake fly pattern V-FLY Silvertip seen from below Get the fly  

Wind from the north and other such terrible things

Riffling Hitch flies are among the few patterns that can still produce results even in unfavorable conditions—though not always guaranteed. For instance, try presenting a tiny, slim Black & Gold Hitchman when relentless northern winds have persisted for days, causing salmon to become selective and reluctant to strike.

Animals blend into their environment

After a brief stint in freshwater, Atlantic salmon shed their sea lice and shortly thereafter, lose their appetite, transitioning into the salmon so many anglers have come to know a species that can prove elusive to catch. Prolonged periods of cold weather and decreasing water levels often exacerbate this anorexic behavior. Perhaps it’s the challenge of enticing salmon on a fly during such trying times that polarizes anglers’ perceptions even further.

Here is an 85 cm salmon that took in horrific cold summer weather on a tiny Black & Gold Hitchman fly…After 1 hour of casting this specific fish, seizing the offering as though it were the first fly it had ever encountered.

In fact, salmon are catchable and tiny hitch flies are often the right medicine for such difficult salmon.

A superior pool for Riffling Hitch fishing

Some places are just made for Riffling Hitch! Here looking at the Lower Dyke pool at the North Esk River in Aberdeenshire, Scotland – The best Riffling Hitch pool I have ever fished – The famous Bailey Middleton pool below.

 An excellent river to use Riffling Hitch More about North Esk 

STOP PRESS! – Well! The Lower Dyke Pool is no more – It has been ruined by a breach on the dike above – resulting in tons upon tons of gravel being washed downstream into this pool of pools..

Keeping the fly jumping on top

Cover the area like your panting a entire canvas – top to bottom

Keep the rod high and the line short while you search off the entire area of white water…Keeping focused on regions with different water flow speeds: On the edge of the drop-down where the river falls into the pool – On the edges of the fast water – At the very back-end of the white water – or by a small oily spot in the middle of everything… These spots are not always prominent nor visible – But when ones are found, they will always be the place to focus on…Mr. Salmon will very likely be their next time – The best procedure is to move the fly backwards slowly – When you have covered an area – lift the fly and place it on the water and do this process again and again – only very rarely will a salmon chase the fly that is moving forward…that is the game of its cousin; the sea trout.

Only very rarely will a salmon chase the fly that is moving forward…that is the game of its cousin; the sea trout.

More white-water tactics

An effective technique for attracting the attention of salmon concealed within white water is to employ small, shimmering hitch flies, such as those from the Hitchman series. Begin by positioning yourself upstream, casting across the current, and allowing the fly to dance along the surface. Maintain a high rod position and keep the line lifted out of the water. Don’t fret if the tiny fly seems inconspicuous or if you doubt whether the salmon will notice it—rest assured, they will. With keen observation, you may even witness them aggressively snapping at the fly amidst the turbulent river. Stale salmon, accustomed to countless presentations of sub-surface flies, are often enticed by these minuscule, shimmering offerings.

Just the one you were looking for… A super strong fish on the fly rod… jumped five times and made a 150-meter long run straight into the pool below – Fly a Hitchman Gold

See-through & iridescent

If you have followed our work here on Fishmadman, you would have read about the qualities of see-through tubing and the role that iridescent colures play in nature. We incorporate these elements into many of our flies that we and other anglers have succeeded with over the years.

Like a good cooking recipe, we have combined the right things and made an irresistible dish. Here the Green Hitchmann fly is tied on our 3.2 mm. tubing. The red spot on the throat of the fly indicates the entrance hole for the leader and doubles as a vision of the stomach seen on small see-through fry.

The Bugs

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

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

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

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

Flies used:  Green & Orange Glitterbugs.