Dry Fly for Salmon Today: A Call for Revival

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.

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15 % rabat 🎁

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

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

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

Foto venligt leveret til os af fiskeven Mr Aaron Day.

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

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

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

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

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.

The winner of the 2012 Fishmadman Competition

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

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

Another Big salmon on Black & Green Zebra Shadow

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

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

The Pearl Sunray Shadow

See fly in our shop

XXL arctic char on wake-foam flies

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

 

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

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

 

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

Salmon fishing on the Upper Moisie River in Quebec

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 places – This 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! “

 

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

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mad 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

Sudden appearance

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

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

Get into the groove!

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

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

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

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

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

Pushing the fly in Snell`s Window

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

What do fish see?

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

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

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

 

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

Back to Basics with guide Bill Bryden

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

Stealth & Accuracy

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

Correcting the fly – and Snell’s Window.

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

Fish are experts at being fish.

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

Accuracy required

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

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

 

Keep Pushing the button.

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

Positioning the fly with accuracy near Snell’s Window – a bit like playing with a string in the dart-arrow

Consistency

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

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

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

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

Delivery to the door

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

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