Left: The Thread Line Salmon Flies: An excellent colour plate from the book; The Angler And The Thread Line by Alexander Wanless. Book published 1932.

The first tube fly was probably made by the British author and angler Mr Alexander Wanless who, in his book The Angler And The Thread Line from 1932 shows`s the angling community his tube fly system. Alexander was an avid spin-fishing angler but wanted to bring the fantastic properties of the fly into his type of fishing. To do so, he devised a line of flies that could be fished on a spinning rod. Alexander did various kinds of flies in his Thread Line Salmon Fly series. Some are tied with trailing side hooks. Others tied on shaped lead barrels. They all had one thing in common they could be tied big but could be used with smaller hooks and would not work as levers when salmon took them: Alexander describes it this way

It has been observed that the first type of fly is designed so that when a fish is hooked the fly will slide up the line out of harm`s way or rather to prevent it from levering the small hook out of the salmon`s jaw

Alexander Wanless from the book: The Angler And The Thread Line 

In fishing literature, the tube fly is often tributed to Mrs Morawski, but it is the ingenious Mr Alexander Wanless that probably was the inventor of the tube fly system

Left Photo of Alexander Wanless from the 1950s. Mr Wanless lived in Dunblane, a small cathedral town north of Stirling in the Stirling council area of Scotland

Credit for the first tube fly was given to someone else.

Alexander Wanless never got the proper credit for doing the first tube fly – probably because he was an angler spinning more than a fly fisherman. In fishing literature, it is a woman fly tier: Mrs Winnie Morawski, who worked with one of the fishing tackle companies in Aberdeen, gets the credit for the first tube fly – in 1945. Mrs Morawski initially made her flies on quills from larger feathers.

The first tube fly

To the right: Another excellent colour plate from the book, The Angler And The Thread Line, showing other flies from the Thread Line Salmon Series. Top two with detachable hooks, the middle one with added weight enabling the angler to fish it on his light spinning gear 

 The text from the Farlow catalog

Colour plate from the Farlow 1909 catalogue showing the dry fly series devised by Major J.R Fraser – If you have a Farlow catalogue older than 1909 showing these flies, We would like to hear from you: To contact us

The Caddisfly

The caddisfly insect is a cornerstone in fly fishing, and it plays an essential part in the life of salmon and trout. From early spring to late in the season, juvenile salmon and trout will meet the caddisfly insect in its many forms and shapes – Adult salmon and trout will also meet the caddisfly throughout its life in the river system and during the period of caddisfly hatching flies that resembles the caddisfly in shape, colour and behaviour can become top choice the fly box. Sometimes it could be a dry fly like our Monster Tube Caddis ™, a small hitched fly like the V-FLY ™, or a classic wet fly like the Blue Charm that, with its dull dark appearance, becomes much more efficient in some Nordic rivers during August when caddisfly hatching is in progress.

Here we have gathered some images of the big Caddisfly found in so many clear rivers in northern Norway.

The caddisfly larva, now called: Pupa of caddisfly, has left the building – moving fast to get to the safer ground on land – where it can begin its final fantastic transformation into an adult insect.

Caddisfly imitation

6 ugers fiskeri i Nord Norge var en “tør-oplevelse” for denne skribent – Ikke så meget i anknytning til tørflue – men vejret fulgte den generelle trenden for den sidste 10 år`s periode – og i nogle områder af Nord Norge var der helt usædvanligt tørt. Elve tørrede ind, og laksene blev passive i pool´s der blev gradvist mindre. Fiskeriet var mildest talt svært i slutningen af sæsonen – Og som det ofte er med forsigtige fisk i lavt vand, så måtte konventionelle teknikker udskiftes med anderledes fiskeformer. I de sidste uger af sæsonen havde jeg fundet frem til en fiskemetode hvorved jeg kunne få fisken til at, reagere på mine fluer… Tricket var at, bruge absolut små laksefluer, bundet med isbjørne hår. Fisket opstrøms – og hurtigt nedover i overfladen, parallelt med strømmen –  Direkte på hoved af fisken…

2011: Tør sommer i Norge

Absolut lavt vand ved Repparfjord Rød zone August 2011 Normalt er lavt og varmt vand ikke nogen dårlig ting ved Repparfjord, men når forhold som, disse vare ved, bliver der få pladser der fisker godt  – og mange fluefiskere der skal kaster deres lakseflue på disse pladser. Dette er bestemt ikke nogen fordel – når laksen bliver forsigtig i det lave vand

Sensommer grillse fanget på opstrøms lakseflue: Blue Charm str # 8 .

Lakseflue fisket opstrøms er ikke nogen ny opfindelse – og du har sikkert også prøvet at fange en laks på en flue der gik den “forkerte vej” – Det som var interessant ved mit fiskeri var at; det ikke var, lige meget hvordan fluen blev fisket over fiskene – der stod på 90 centimeter vand.

Det forhold at fiskene havde været i disse pools i længere tid, medvirkede helt sikkert til at deres interesse for laksefluer i al´ almindelighed, var mindskes betydeligt – men det relativt lave vand og deres ventetid i elven gjorde sikkert også fiskene var langt mindre tilbøjelige til at jage fluen, i yderkanten af Sneel`s Vindue – Laksefluen skulle helst komme ind over fisken frontalt. Kom fluen ind over fisken i en 45 grader vinkle var der ingen eller ganske lille interesse.

Entrapped in the surface…

For 100 million years… more or less – Salmon & trout have practiced the art of hunting insects in the surface… and have become masters of this art. as soon as insects start flying the fish will be scanning the surface for the  – footprints – the entrapped animals leave on the surface. It is these insects and their appearance that is the key elements in our fishing… even though insects are tiny and motionless the fish will find them with amazing precision Read more on this:

Preparing a dry fly with silicone

How our artificial flies present themself on the water is of great importance in our fishing… We want the fly to sit in the surface tension. We need the fly to be well impregnated with water-repellent like silicone. Since the late 1940 `s anglers have used silicone products to keep their flies afloat, it comes in many shapes, and we prefer a combination of a liquid solution and a paste version, both containing some silicone…

Here is the classical dry fly add-on: Mucilin from Thames Fishing Tackle: Buy in our shop

A must-have product in the fly west to prepare your dry fly with silicone, but don´t leave the Mucilin silicone in the back of your car, backpack, or pocket to get boiled in the heat of summer… The silicone easily separates from the past, leaving the product completely useless.

Upstream sub-fly

6 weeks of fishing in Northern Norway was a dry experience to this writer! Not so much in terms of dry fly fishing but in terms of weather, as the summer of 2011 followed the trend of the last decade and was particularly dry in some regions in the north. Rivers was showing bone and salmon quickly got wary being locked in the gradually fewer pools available.

Fishing was difficult to say the least – and as it often is with cautious fish in low-water the usual techniques and methods has to be revised, redesigned and reworked.

In the last weeks of the season I had finally unraveled the puzzle to such an extend that I could catch fish on a regular basis… The trick was; tiny sub-flies tied with polar bear. Fished upstream and retrieved fast over the fish – in a head-on collision course.

I only connected with the fish if the fly was fished upstream and retrieved fast over the fish – in a head-on collision course. Fished on a angle was less successful

Do salmon feed in freshwater?

Salmon feed in freshwater

Even though It is generally known that adult salmon will leave behind their greedy way of life and go into a state of anorexia when entering freshwater – It is a myth that the salmon won’t eat while staying in freshwater – The angler fishing with a worm will also tell you otherwise as the salmon now and then will swallow worm and hook.

New science shows examples of eating behaviour among up to 40 % of the adult salmon in Northern Norway. In some rivers, the salmon diet includes land and water insects.

Here: Salmon feed in freshwater. Both land and river Insects were found in the stomach of this 4-kilo sea lice  salmon caught In the very North of Norway

Salmon feeding behaviour and flies

It would just be too easy to accredit the success of particular flies or fishing methods like riffling hitch, dry fly fishing, or shrimp flies – to insect and sea life as we see it today – Hunting skills and levels of curiosity with various species of fish could very well have been formed 10´s of millions of years ago when the insect and animal life might have looked different from today.

It is well-known that a prawn salmon fly pattern like the General Practitioner fly works much better in some rivers than others. The British salmon, and in particular the Irish salmon, seems to be more interested in shrimp flies like the Pot Bellied Pig seen in the photo – more so than salmon in regions of Scandinavia … Saying this, I recognize that it is hard to say if most of our sub-flies in fact, is interpreted by salmon as prawns and shrimps. We, as fly tiers, work unpremeditated with the prawn theme all the time.

Right: A small caddisfly locked in time and space in this piece of amber from the Eocene epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago – The caddisfly insect is found fossilized in rock dating even further back  – to the Triassic about 250 to 200 million years ago – It could be neat to believe that the success with the Riffling Hitch techniques was linked with the life and behaviour of the caddisfly.

A big Bomber dry fly is not a problem.

With many insects on the water, adult salmon in some rivers may part-take in the feast alongside its trout cousin – and rise to the stream of hatching insects as frequently as the trout.

Such rare occasions could call upon a fly that would match the hatch, so to speak – But regularly, it is rarely necessary to match the hatch as salmon will respond well to flies that look like big caricatures and not imitations of the insect that it is meant to portrait.

The main characteristic that we (the angler) want to feature in our dry flies is the element of entrapment – We want to build a fly that will rest on the surface, showing little underwater.

Salmon feeding at high seas

Science will tell us that the Atlantic salmon is a highly skilled and opportunistic predator that will feed on a broader selection of animals – ranging from tiny crustaceans, shrimps, squid, worms and fish – It will hunt in both deep and relatively shallow water in very different lighting.

There is no doubt that the appearance and behaviour of these many animals that salmon hunt for – is somewhat mirrored in the salmon flies we use. Was it a detail on the fly? – Was it the fly as a whole? – that tricked the salmon into biting? – We don’t know yet

Left: Atlantic Salmon love shrimp flies. Studies show that a substantial percentage of their prey is shrimp. Here the spellbinding Frances Fly – Scrimp and prawn flies like the General Practitioner and the Frances Fly can have an overwhelming effect on Atlantic salmon – But not all salmon is taken by the charms of the shrimp.

Revealing studies about salmon feeding at sea

Interesting studies into salmon feeding at high seas in the North-east Atlantic by; biologists Jacobsen, J. A., and Hansen, L. P.  show that shrimps accounted for 95% of the food in number but only about 30% by weight.

By weight, 66% of the stomach content was fish, particularly mesopelagic fish. Some larger pelagic fish such as herring, blue whiting, and mackerel were also part of the dies.

Fish and crustacean prey accounted for 96% of the weight of all prey eaten by salmon, but the report also mentions a small percentage of birds and bird remains also being part of the salmon stomach content!!

Fish is the bulk part of the salmon diet, and fresh salmon or trout steaming in from the feeding grounds at high seas might even have fresh food in their stomach – prey they could have caught on their way to the estuary or river mouth.

These salmon are as aggressive as they come, some with a crisp memory of their greedy life at sea and eager to hit your salmon fly – These stupid silver ones is the fish most anglers will come to know and so often tie flies to catch.

Fresh salmon frequently hit green and blue.

Science tells us that the fresh silver salmon returning to the river has resources within the structure of its eyes to see the light with short wavelengths like green and bluish colours… something that it has used to detect prey and enemies in the vast water columns at high seas.

Right: Flies like this big Sunray Shadow have an excellent effect on fresh running salmon from the high seas.

During the season, the salmon’s ability to focus on light with short wavelengths will change progressively to a new capability.

Read about flies for fresh, aggressive salmon on our pages:

Read about types of salmon found in the river system

Monster Tube Caddis ™ we tie them in three sizes: Small, large and X-Large..and then we do some costume flies for a guy in Canada… They are absolutely big: 80 millimetre (3 inches)  – Without the horns

Absolutely stunning 17,1 kilo (37,7 Lb.) Salmon caught on Monster Tube Caddis ™ in Northern Norway 2010. Picture with courtesy of the Haugen family.

In this next lines of photos we will show you how to dress a: Monster Tube Caddis ™ a pattern popular for big salmon sitting in slow holding pools. Particularly big salmon is slow takers and angler must keep this in mind when presenting a fly to them. A bigger fish might decide to come top the top on the  8  or 10`th  cast- sometimes following the fly downstream for many meters.

Photo: The late Mr. Kim Nyborg with one of 6 + 20 lb salmon from the Lower Humber in Newfoundland. All fish caught on medium size Monster Tube Caddis

The General Practitioner fly – forefather locked in place 95 million years ago – during the Upper Cretaceous period, when Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus, and Velociraptor roamed the earth. Early ancestors of the Atlantic salmon and steelhead have probably also been feeding on prawns like this one

Pandalus Borealis – Known as the North Sea Shrimp, Northern Shrimp, or Greenland Shrimp – is the creature that comes to mind for most fly tiers when they’re tying a General Practitioner fly.

We often have multiple names for the things we cherish, and this sizable prawn is a favoured food source for both humans and Salmonidae.

This pink-hued prawn inhabits depths ranging from 20 to 1,330 meters (66 to 4,360 feet) in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It thrives in relatively cold waters, with temperatures ranging from 2 to 14 degrees Celsius (36 to 57 degrees Fahrenheit).

Both the Atlantic salmon and Steelhead are known to feed on these prawns, along with many other crustaceans.

Image courtesy of

 Biopix / Mr Niels Sloth ©

Tube Bomber ™ : Big dry flies with no weight or problems with leverage

Above: White Tube Bomber ™ well up the leader with this hooked Atlantic Salmon – This makes de-hooking easy – And the fish can’t use the long fly as a lever

Hooks to use with the Tube Bomber

We recommend a short shank wide gape hook at the end of the Tube Bomber  – This will give you a perfect hook-up. You can change to single, double or treble hooks according to your choice, the flow of the river or the rules of the Riverkeeper.

Read more on the hooks we suggest for the Tube Bomber …

Tying The Tube Bomber ™

Start by heating the end of the tube near a naked flame thereby creating a small collar on the tube.  – This collar will prevent the hook guard from falling-off during energetic casting. Note of warning! Not all types of tube will melt and form a collar when heated – most tubing will catch fire etc. – It is the melting point of the material that is of importance – If you use the right quality tube such a collar will easily form

For small/medium diameter tube flies or metal tubes with inner-lining tubing – Bottle tubes, but more than anything this needle is designed for big and small tube dry flies like the Tube Bomber. Shaped to fit our 1.8 mm. tube with an inside diameter (Ø) of 1.1 mm. The total length is 97 mm. A needle that will enable you to tie big tube dry flies. See the special needle in our shop

Bright summer salmon hooked on a salmon dry fly fished at dead drift

Drifting a salmon dry fly , skating a Chernobyl Ant or hitching a tube fly is foremost visual sports…On this page we will show you some images that might guide you at the river

The taking spot Salmon. Dry fly pioneer George M. L. La Branche wrote in his book The Salmon & The Dry Fly In 1924; one should find places in the river where the currents would drift insects to the waiting salmon.

La Branche, who also was an avid trout fisherman, was of the firm belief that the salmon would choose to rest at such spots in the river and would then only react to a fly presented through a very accurate cast delivering the fly in these feeding lanes or groves as La Branche would call them. We now know that it isn’t necessarily down to that particular cast. The salmon isn’t always online, and the much fruitless casting is an expected part of the sport, actually, the casting can be used as constructive groundwork in preparing the salmon to bite.

The shallow spot

Read about Snell’s Window here

The exact spot every time

Much like the trout, the salmon will stay in given places in the river year after year. These places may change when the river drops, the riverbed or the water flow is altered. Some of these places will be so-called taking spots. Places where salmon, for different reasons, will rise and intercept your dry fly. Once such a spot is found, try to remember it – salmon might be their next time you come around.

In the eye of the pool

Salmon dry fly inspectors

Dapping the salmon dry fly

Anglers pursuing Atlantic Salmon with dry flies like Bombers will often fish the fly at dead-drift and not wake it as steelhead anglers do – But small patterns of the Bomber can be efficient when waked, and we have designed miniature versions of the Moose Turd Bomber made by Mr Bill McMillan – done on our Riffling Hitch Tube. 

See these miniature Moose Turd Bombers in the Fishmadman Shop

A fantastic 3-D film made by animation wizard Mikkel Strøbech

The Take

To the salmon dry fly angler, the core of fly fishing lies in the take.  The enthralling and hypnotic experience of seeing a fish coming to the surface to hit the fly can`t be matched by much.

Some salmon will take the salmon dry fly savagely wild and furiously fast. Others will take their time and rise slowly and finally suck the fly from the surface – Bigger salmon in the 10 – 15 kilo range will generally be slow starters and will need a well-presented fly to allow them to work their way up to the surface. Working out the correct tactic to use is very much a matter of experience, and when presenting the fly, the angler will need to consider river depth and river flow. The eyesight of salmon is built to look for insects in a cone-shaped 96-degree window upwards (Technically termed Snell`s Window) – If it finds interest in your drifting fly, it will start its rise with precision so it cuts right into the path of the fly when it is above it lies. These things aren’t always specific terms, and salmon will sometimes act in unpredictable ways – Some can follow the fly closely for many meters downstream before grabbing it – Some fish will jump high out of the water and then grab the fly from above.

Jumped out of the water to take the salmon dry fly from above!

14-kilo salmon on a salmon dry fly

Norwegian angler Jan Harry Årsen with + 14 kilos (+ 30 lbs) – Fish jumped out of the water to grab big Bright Green Tube Bomber ™ from above – Fish caught in 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 –

The ultimate quest: 100 cm (39.4 inches) of Atlantic salmon caught on a July day on a medium size Dark  Green Tube Bomber – Leader 0.25 mm. Maxima (8 lb.) –  Hook a small # 14 Owner St BC 

Danish salmon angler par excellence; Mr Henrik Mortensen with a bright dry fly salmon from the Bonaventure River – caught on a medium size  Monster Tube Caddis ™

Right: The Monster Tube Caddis is a modern salmon dry fly tied on a tube – and designed to imitate the caddisfly insect that salmon and trout depend upon as food when they live as parr in the river system

Salmon dry fly 1840’s

Mr. Wood was not the first Briton to recognize the potential of fishing for salmon on the surface. Descriptions of this technique can be traced back to early English fishing literature dating as far back as 1846.

One such example is found in the book “A Manual of Modern Farriery: A Popular and Practical Treatise on the Diseases of Horses and Other Domestic Animals… with a Sporting Section and UK Game Laws” by Thomas Brown, published by George Virtue around 1846.

Left: The accompanying plate displays a diverse selection of trout and salmon flies, while the text provides detailed instructions on fishing on the surface for salmon. These instructions could very well describe fishing with a salmon dry-fly, but they could also pertain to other techniques such as dibbling, dapping, or the Riffling Hitch method.

For further details and images, refer to A Manual of modern farriery 

Major J.R Fraser’s salmon dry fly patterns 1909

The earliest documentation of salmon dry-fly fishing that we have encountered originates from England: Major J.R. Fraser’s salmon dry-fly series, listed in a 1909 Farlow and Co. catalogue, along with descriptions of his fishing techniques and recommended tackle. While there is limited information available about Major J.R. Fraser and his remarkable salmon dry-fly series, we do have an introduction provided by Mr. Fraser in the Farlow fishing tackle catalogue.

Left: It is widely acknowledged among angling historians that the British were likely the first to write about salmon on the dry fly. Although Canadian angler Mr. George M. La Branche is often credited as the first to describe salmon fishing with the dry fly, the technique’s origins are frequently attributed to UK anglers. The color plates featuring Fraser’s flies to the right are from a 1919 Farlow catalogue, but Farlow had the same series of flies and writings by Mr. Fraser in earlier catalogues dating back as far as 1909.

We received invaluable assistance with details on early salmon dry-fly fishing from the Farlow 1909 catalogue from a Nova Scotia angler. Mr Perry Munro 

See the text and images from the 1919 Farlow catalogue

La Branche visits the Dee –

In 1925, La Branche journeyed to the Dee in Scotland, invited by the renowned angler, Mr. A.H. Wood. Wood was intrigued to witness the application of the Canadian salmon dry fly technique on Dee salmon. Unfortunately, unfavorable weather conditions and a scarcity of fresh-running fish posed significant challenges for La Branche, who failed to land a salmon that week. Nonetheless, La Branche managed to entice approximately 20 fish to his salmon dry fly, with two of them hooked but ultimately lost. Undoubtedly, under better conditions, he would have found success in landing fish.

Right: Pictured are Ambrose & George, attired in what appears to be a 1920s sports-casual ensemble, ready for a day of sport. These anglers share the same passion for salmon dry fly fishing as you and I.

To learn more about these salmon adventures, visit: dry fly pioneers

One can only guess on how much different the world of salmon fishing would have looked had their been – fresh water and fish in the Aberdeenshire Dee that  jinxed week in 1925..

The Wulff flies 1950

Another couple of decades came to pass when salmon dry fly yet again made the headlines.

With the book, The Atlantic Salmon – published in the late ’50s, author and famous angler Mr Lee Wulff made the salmon dry fly sport popular in North America. In his book, Lee Wulff presented a new line of dry flies named the Wulff series that he and fellow angler Mr Dan Bailey had designed. The flies were big bushy cartoon-like imitations of mayflies and was originally intended for trout fishing – but soon proven to be just the right dry flies for Atlantic salmon. The Wulff series was designed almost 50 years ago – but still today these flies are closely linked with everything concerning salmon dry fly

Tribute to Lee Wulff

Lee Wulff has greatly influenced the fly fishing sport as a whole and salmon dry fly fishing in particular. Without his dedication and profound insight into the world of the Atlantic salmon things like salmon conservation, fly fishing equipment and fishing techniques would have looked much different from what they do today – We recommend reading Lee Wulff’s book: The Atlantic Salmon

Right: A selection of original Lee Wulff Surface Stonefly as described in the 2nd edition of The Atlantic Salmon.

A salmon fly Lee Wulff produced with a cast resin body.   Lee Wulff used this cast resin technique on other types of flies for salmon and trout and he even did a do-it-yourself kit for anglers wanting to try the cast resin technique on their own fly patterns.

The Bomber’s 1960

The Bomber dry fly was originally designed as a commotion fly for fishing in the headwaters of the Miramichi River in New Brunswick. It was a Mr Elmer Smith that allegedly tied the first Bomber  – Initially, he intending the fly to be fished sub-surface he later thought it to be well suited as a salmon dry fly and had various versions of the fly made. Today the Bomber is the No. one salmon dry fly for most salmon anglers and it is tied in multiple colours and sizes.

The story goes: that Mr Smith got his inspiration to the Bomber fly after seeing a salmon rise to the cigar-butt he had just thrown in the river…

The Bomber: Probably the most versatile salmon dry fly ever made. Here a bright summer fish caught on a white Tube Bomber ™

White Tube Bomber ™ a favourite patter among many Scandinavian salmon anglers fishing clear rivers in Norway – made in 3 sizes it will cover the season and all kinds of rivers. See our flies in the E-Shop

In 1979, Lee Wulff discussed his experiments with dry flies and skaters tied on plastic tubes in his book “Lee Wulff on Flies.” Intrigued by the potential of crafting flies in sections, Wulff aimed to design flies of the appropriate size directly at the riverbank, eliminating the need to change hook sizes.

We at Fishmadman took the concept of tube dry flies further in 1995 by tying classical Bomber patterns and other salmon dry flies on extremely thin tubes. This innovative approach resulted in lightweight dry flies with significantly different hook-holding capabilities than traditional salmon dry flies. We achieved superior hooking abilities by fitting our flies with small, wide-gape hooks without adding considerable weight. Our inaugural tube salmon dry fly, the Tube Bomber™, was designed explicitly for fast-flowing waters of large rivers—a substantial, over 2-inch dry fly that would have been excessively heavy if tied on single hooks.

Positioning the dry fly correctly – is a great part of the success of dry fly fishing

An integral aspect of salmon dry fly fishing is precise fly positioning. Just like with wet fly fishing, anglers depend on the salmon to rise and intercept the fly as it drifts by the spot where the salmon is holding. Rarely will a salmon move far from its lie to take the fly, emphasizing the importance of accurate placement. To delve deeper into this topic, we’ve collaborated with a skilled 3-D animator to create a film illustrating the dynamics of fly positioning. Additionally, our newsletter offers in-depth insights into fly positioning techniques and explores the concept of Snell’s Window.

Take a look here

Dry fly pioneers – Mr. George M. La Branche and Colonel Ambrose Monell was pioneers in the world of dry fly for salmon – Their fishing was done with bushy palmer-hackle flies, fished at dead drift over known salmon lies. 

George M. La Branche wrote in his book: The Salmon And The Dry Fly  about their experiences with salmon in the clear Upsalquitch River in New Brunswick . La Branche was convinced that their initial success with salmon on the dry fly was down to very prescience presentations of the dry fly. The fly was to drift in special paths or feeding lanes, as La Branche would call them. The overall theory was that; adult salmon would find spots in the river much resembling the places the salmon parr would occupy… In these holding-spots the salmon would then expect and intercept drifting insects – if they came to them the natural way...

They would put the many lost fish down to the fact that “fish was the stupid things they where”

 Dry fly pioneers

Mr. Wood observed that the large hackles on La Branche’s dry flies hindered the hooks from properly engaging with the jaws of the fish. Additionally, he speculated that the sheer bulkiness of the flies may have caused the fish to quickly eject them.

On the Dee, around 20 fish rose to the dry fly.

In total, La Branche managed to entice approximately 20 fish to his dry fly, hooking two of them but ultimately losing them. Although he might have had greater success using sub-surface flies, La Branche remained committed to dry fly fishing. Despite contending with strong winds and fishing in a river lacking fresh water and fish, he persisted with his dry fly rod. Nevertheless, La Branche couldn’t shake the feeling of defeat in the face of Scottish salmon. He was perplexed by his inability to hook the fish on his meticulously crafted dry flies.

The trip to Scotland was a fishing mystery to La Branche who put many thoughts into why he did not succeed – he never came to any conclusion, but made further trips to Scotland to fish with Mr. Wood, spending most of his time studying and learning Wood´s Greased line technique – On one of his trips to Carinton beat in Scotland he eventually succeeded in catching a Dee fish on one of his Palmer dry flies