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

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

Fotos venligst udlånt af: Ian D Martin skribent/fotograf The Usual Press: Fly Fishing Publishers

Endnu en fiske sæson er til ende, og vi vil benytte lejligheden til at takke alle der har bidraget med tekst og billeder til vores årlige fiske event. Dette smukke foto fik vi tilsendt fra skribent og fotograf; Ian D. Martin.

Ian har Igennem sæsonen sent os flere beretninger og fotos, fra fantastiske fiskepladser i Canada. Ian skrev blandt andet:

“I har opfordret mig til at sende ind til FISHMADMAN konkurrencen i år. Snarere end et billede af en af de fisk jeg fangede på jeres fluer, tænkte jeg det kunne være rart at sende et foto fra elven “

Fluefisker Jan Harry Åsen fra Norge, vinder dette års FISHMADMAN konkurrence med en fantastisk: + 14 kilo (+ 30 lb) atlanterhav laks. Jan Harry skrev til os:

“Fisk sprang ud af vandet for at tage den store Bright Green Tube Bomber – fra oven” Laksen blev fanget i den fantastiske Lakselv i det nordlige Norge, august 2012. Overskyet vejr. vandtemperaturen 11 grader Celsius. Krog anvendt: Owner STN-36BC Trekrog # 8 og 0,38 millimeter i forfangspids

Fluen laksen blev fanget på: Big High VIZ Green Tube Bomber ™

Laksen stiger fra dybet for at tage din tørflue…!   Ikke altid succesfuld – står sportsfiskeren på elv-breden forvirret med hoved fuldt af tekniske spørgsmål…Hvad skete der?

At kroge laksen er et fænomen, der har været skrevet om i bøger og blade i et par århundreder. Komplekse illustrationer i næsten hver enestes bog, skal hjælpe laksefiskeren til at, forstå hvordan laksen bider på.

Fluefiskeren med vådfluen har lært at gøre; absolut intet…når laksen bider –
Tørfluefiskeren må derimod sætte krogen – så snart laksen bider over fluen. Fluen skal så finde sit kroghold, i de få brøkdele af et sekund fluen faktisk befinder sig i munden på fisken. Dette er sjældent en nem opgave, da tørfluer til dette fiskeri, ofte er store eller buskede…eller begge dele .

Fluen kroger måske fisken i skindet i munden – gennem tungen eller endog gennem kæbeben. Fluefiskeren må således satse på; krogen er fysisk fri af fluens konstruktion – og en god portion held.

En konventionel tørflue, er normalt bundet på en 2X streamer krog- en Low-Water laksekrog # 10 – 2, eller endog endnu større kroge.
Kroge som disse, er gjort af forholdsvis kraftig vire som, kræver et relativt stort pres for at, kroge en laks… og tørfluefiskeren vil bestemt ikke have let ved at, skulle kroge en fisk på lang line.

Når fisken er kroget på en konventionel lakseflue – bundet på en Long-Shank krog…kan den nogen gange vride sig fri af krogholdet ved blot at, bruge krogen som en brækstang…

Ovenfor en Bomber vi købte i en fluefiskebutik på Newfoundland  fluen er bundet til laks, på en gigantisk Carrie Stevens steamer krog # 2/0 – Helt sikkert et mareridt at, kaste med, og nok noget af det værste man kan kroge en laks på

Som ved andre former for overfladefiskeri…skal du holde et vågent øje med din Riffling Hitch flue – Nysgerrige laks vil ofte vise sig når de sniger sig op på fluen. Noget fluefiskeren med vårfluen sjældent ser  Om sommeren når vandet varmes har du mulighed for at, fiske laks på en lang række forskellige måder – Hvad du vælger er måske et spørgsmål om temperament og lyst – En metode der skiller sig markant ud fra de andre er Riffling Hitch …og du skal ikke undlade dig selv muligheden for at prøve denne super gode teknik denne sommer.. Følg med os op langs elv bredden og få et par tricks med på vejen

Når elven tørre ind…

Laksen der ankommer til elven opføre sig forskelligt, nogle vil rejse igennem dit elvstræk på minutter – nogle vil tage timer, andre igen vil måske rejse ud og ind af elven flere gange igennem sæsonen.

De vil alle have deres særlige pladser, hvor du kan træffe dem og ofte vi de blive mødt på traditionel vis, med en almindelig lakseflue på forfanget.

Igennem sommeren vil elven udfordre dig maksimalt og lavt vand og fluefiskeri kan blive svært – nærmest umuligt – for at sige det mildt – Men tag de selvsamme forhold og vis dem til en lavvand-specialist, og han vil ikke blive intimideret af sådanne forhold…snare tværtimod.

Laksen har kun en begrænset mængde opmærksomhed at gøre godt med – og sportsfiskeren kan nemt dræne laksen for denne smule nærvær

Salmon on Riffling Hitch

When surface fishing… keep an eye out for that curious one  – Salmon will very often show themselves when they sneak up on the fly. Something the angler with the sub-fly rarely sees.

During summer when the river heats up you have the option of using a range of different techniques –  Riffling Hitch is one of those summer methods. Follow us at the banks of the river and learn a few tricks.

Low water law

Salmon arriving at the river will behave differently depending on water speed and temperature. Some salmon will run through your beat in a matter of minutes – some will use hours others will enter and exit the beat throughout the season. They will all have their special places where you might encounter them.

It would be naïve to accredit the success of particular flies or fishing methods like riffling hitch to insect 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 rivers and insect life might have looked different from now.

Photo: 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.

Riffling Hitch as a fishing technique arose during almost a century of fly fishing traditions. Allegedly the method was developed as a coincidence by Newfoundland anglers who at the beginning of the 20th century, would have recycled damaged gut-eye flies discarded by English visitors …

Flies were recycled by tying them directly to the leaders using a series of hitches… That would have made the flies trail on the surface – creating that all-important V-shaped wake.

Victorian salmon fly The Beauly Snow fly – with an eye of twisted gut. Allegedly the Riffling Hitch method was developed as a coincidence when anglers from Portland Creek in Newfoundland started re-using discarded gut-eye flies

Flies were recycled by tying them directly to the leaders using a series of hitches… Evidently, that would have made the flies trail in the surface

During the 1940s Lee Wulff saw local salmon anglers at the Portland Creek in Newfoundland using the Riffling Hitch technique or riveling hitch as it also is called by the Portland Creekers.  As an outdoor journalist, he popularized the Riffling Hitch sport. Still today it is a favoured sport on many Canadian salmon rivers and accounts for thousands of fish being caught yearly.

Fly tied to the tippet the traditional Portland way – Here done on one of our special Riffling Hitch Blue Charm flies – Fly is attached with a normal grinner knot…then a double hitch is tied to the head of the fly…When tying flies for riffling hitch fishing, remember to make enough room in front of the head of the fly to make the double hitch.

This box set of 4 single hook flies is a true example of Lee´s ingenuity and a deep interest in riffling hitch fishing. This box-set was initially one of two available sets of experimental flies that Lee Wulff designed with a moulded body of nylon – a form of body design he also incorporated in his famed Surface Stonefly patterns.

Also, the UK and Scandinavian anglers enjoy the fruit of the Canadian coincidence, but where anglers in Canada will work the Riffling Hitch the traditional Portland way with hitched knots and flies tied on single or double hooks – Scandinavian and UK anglers will use a small tube fly with a hole in the body. The hole or holes will either be on the side or as on our V-FLY:  in the centre of the belly.

Read more about Riffling Hitch Know How.

Right: A batch of  Fishmadman V-FLY a super Riffling Hitch fly 

It is probably in an issue of the UK fishing magazine Trout & Salmon from May 1976 that the angling society learns about the very first riffling hitch fly tied on a tube.

Mr. Derek Knowles was one of the first anglers who deliberately used plastic tubing to tie hitch flies on – Derek Knowles both used his tiny tube flies – waking across the river… but also fished his flies at deaddrift

In a chapter in Hugh Falkus’s book: Salmon Fishing from 1984 and later in the book; Salmon on a Dry Fly from 1987 by Mr Knowles, European anglers learn a new approach to salmon fishing, with tiny floating flies fish across the surface.

Right: The Yellow Dolly fly from the 1980s – From the hands Mr Knowles. one of the grandfathers of the riffling hitch tube flies European anglers use today.

English salmon guide and author Mr. Crawford Little who in his book: Success with Salmon from 1988, was one of the first anglers to published an example of the special tube that would pull to the surface – A tube that would have the leader inserted through the side or belly of the tube as opposed to the conventional way where the tube was inserted through the front of the tube.

Crawford Little used the analogy between the technique of ottering a rowing boat in a river and the way one could build a tube fly that would pull to the surface

In the book Success with Salmon, Mr Crawford explains the hitch tube flies. Mr Crawford Little used the analogy between the technique of ottering a rowing boat in a river and the way one could build a tube fly that would pull to the surface. Ottering is best described as how one can force an object to cut away from you by pulling from the side of the object. Here it is trolling anglers using a so-called: Sideplaner or planer board to pull plugs and bait away from the boat.

Here is the popular Munroe Killer on a tiny Riffling Hitch tube. This fly is made with holes in both sides. This version can be used from the left and right banks of the river  – using either a left or right side hole on the fly.

Hole in the side or in the belly of the riffling hitch tube fly?

We have a highly technical page explaining some of the aquadynamic aspects of building the ultimate hitch tube flies …Take me to this nerdy page.

Salmon flies are not equally good to use as Riffling Hitch flies  ! There will be fly patterns that work better than other

Use thin hair! We have, through the years, noticed how Riffling Hitch flies tied with squirrel’s fur have a particular alluring ability… The best hair is found on tails from small or young squirrels; therefore, we recommend you hand-pick the tails for your fly tying – or buy them from us.

If you tie your Riffling Hitch patterns on a single or double hook, you should leave enough room in front of the hook so you will be able to fit in the hitch knots.

Riffling Hitch in high & brown river

Fishing a tiny fly on the surface during a rising river going muddy – might not be the first thing that springs to mind… never the less… Riffling Hitch can be an extremely efficient technique under such circumstances. Fish will travel close to the bank and surface… keep the fly on a short line – work yourself downstream with short casts and a rod held high. Be ready for a pounding heart when Mr. Salmon comes hammering out of the surface. In case you hook up on such a short line – strike immediately

The Riffling hitch fly will fish well in many of the same places you usually would want to fish with a sub-fly – But a small hitched fly will also fish slow water, which could be otherwise very difficult to fish.  Broken water like this small run is, in my book, the best kind of hitch water – the take can be almost invisible to cascades of water as the salmon hit the fly.

Shallow rivers is normally prime rivers for the riffling hitch technique – but the depth of water is not a bar for the riffling hitch technique and big fish will readily rise from the depth to intercept a micro riffling hitch fly

Longwing version of the Riffling Hitch V-FLY ™ with a shiny body…It may look like nothing on a turbulent river – but it will be seen by salmon that will pluck it out of the surface in much the same way as a salmon hitting a fast-fished plug. Generally, riffling hitch flies are small, lightly dressed flies equal to # 10 – 12 wet flies – and bigger hitch flies move into the form of fly fishing where we would use bigger sunrays fished across at 90 degrees..retrieving them fast …Read more about this here

See our long-wing version in the shop.

The late Riffling Hitch angler, Author and Chairman of NASF (National Atlantic Salmon Fund) Mr. Orri Vigfússon also tied his Riffling Hitch flies on small pieces of tube here a tiny black and blue version from Orri´s fly box

If you consider going to Island, remember to bring small riffling hitch tubes – dressed sparsely like this one – seen to the right.

To see two of the magnificent rivers Orri fished, go to Angling Club Strengur

If you consider going to Island, remember to bring small riffling hitch tubes – dressed sparsely like this one – seen to the right

– See this favoured riffling hitch tube fly in our shop

See the large selection of Riffling Hitch flies we have in our online-shop

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.

Surface fly fishing and tube fly is the anchor point in Fishmadman – Through our own passion for top water fishing  for salmon and trout we hope we will be able to share some interesting highlight of  this intriguing fly fishing sport

Fishmadman is a company made by anglers for anglers.

We started out in 2008 as an Internet page collecting information on surface fishing for Atlantic salmon and steelhead.

Our goal was to make surface fishing, particularly dry fly fishing for salmon, popular in Scandinavia. We also aim to make the tube fly part of the North American angler’s range of fly patterns

Top water creativity – From our shop

Today Fishmadman manufacture a broad selection of flies mainly for surface fishing. We also design tubes for tube fly fishing and other unique fly-tying material.

Our products are sold through our internet shop – and 28 shops from Oregon in the USA to Skaidi in the North of Norway.

Fishmadman has a big range of super-designed flies that will give you new possibilities in your fishing.

We have some of the best people in the business tying flies with us – Why? Because top water flies have to be perfect to perform well on the surface – Visit our shop 

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If you have a shop or run a guiding business and want to sell our products, please fill out the form, and we will contact you as soon as possible.

If you become our business partners, we will ensure you get all necessary product photos, individual product information, fact boxes and an extensive portfolio of fishing photos to market our products.

To see shops that carry our flies, please.

Contact us to get information on wholesale

1995 The first floating tube fly

We fished the rivers of Scandinavia with conventional dry flies every year. Still, in the mid 90´s, Jesper Fohrmann designed a new set of dry flies tied on a tube – The design was made as a consequence of the problems he was having with drowning dry flies fished on a big turbulent river in Northern Norway.

Here: Bomber dry fly tied on a plastic tube – a very different tube fly!

Different tube fly designs

We developed a long line of salmon dry flies that would suit the many different rivers in Scandinavia.

Contact with anglers from the East coast of Canada meant that we also made versions of Tube Bombers that would fit North American rivers.

2012 we launch our wake fly series

In 2012, we launched our wake fly series for steelhead and salmon.

Small dens wake flies for salmon fishing and bigger wake flies for steelhead fishing, all tied on our fantastic Riffling Hitch tube 3.2 millimetres –

Together with steelheaders and guides from steelhead lodges in Oregon and BC, We had been working on these tube flies for some seasons before launching them – We had to make sure that the transition from regular hook patterns to patterns tied on a tube would work – They worked better than we could ever have dreamed of. We hope many anglers will try this new way of skating tube fly patterns for salmon and steelhead.

See our page on.

See the comprehensive shop page on wake flies

For 2014 a new type of Iridescent closed-cell foam for bug´s

In correlation with the development of wake flies for steelhead in 2012, we made a new type of closed-cell foam that we also decided to share with other anglers. Softer foam than typically found will enable you to tie tiny bugs.

A shimmering attractive back will give your flies a very lifelike look

For 2017 Our series of Pike flies

Pike fly-fishing is a big sport in Scandinavia where the magnificent Baltic Sea run between Finland, Sweden, the Baltic states, Russia, Poland, Germany, and Denmark – 10000 of keen anglers fish for huge pike with flies made to imitate; whitefish, herring, sprats, juvenile cod and small pike – With the Fishmadman pike fly series our master Pro tier; Jim Jørgensen have done what he does best – and you will get some of the best pike flies available See the flies in our shop

For 2020 Our series of Speed Sunray Shadow

It’s a pretty bold statement but also something we believe in as we have developed this sport over the last decade and seen salmon behaviour we have never seen before.
Speed-fly fishing relates to spinning, and the action is heart-stopping great.
Cast the fly across the river or even upstream and rip it in as fast as possible…That is the basics, and once you get to know the procedure, you will see salmon chasing your fly across the river, often hitting it in a great splash.
It’s a form of fishing that works excellent on salmon the first, second and 3´rd cast; after that…the salmon won’t come to the fly that eagerly …so it is worth practising a bit before you visit your favourite known salmon lies.

The series of Speed Sunray flies was the natural development of our series of Iridescent Sunray flies (from 2016) – and in time (when the last of the iridescent Sunray Shadow flies have sold out), the Speed Sunray series will take their place in the shop.

See these great flies in our shop.

 

2022 – a smart tube design made for coneheads

1995 Caddisfly imitation for Atlantic salmon

The Monster Tube Caddis ™ was designed in 1995. This summer was a big year for the caddisfly of the limnephilidae family.  Normally the Atlantic salmon is not known to eat anything on their way to the spawning grounds – but these fish in the very north of Norway were feasting away on the wealth of insects, and an imitation of the caddisfly was needed.

Like Lee Wulff in the late ’20s had designed his White Wulff as a huge version of a mayfly – so did, Jesper Fohrmann also create a caricature-like version of the caddisfly insect. This big caddisfly caricature has proven to be an excellent dry fly for salmon.

Solving problems with leverage

Using thin tubes instead of long shank hooks for dry flies and other surface flies made the world of surface fishing much different.

We use tubes that could be fitted with small short shank wide gape carp hooks that hook the fish perfectly.

The tube does not work as a lever as the long shank hook so often will do – and upon hooking the fish, the hook often becomes detached from the tube – enabling you to unhook the fish with greater ease.

Tying dry flies on a tube also made dry flies that would perform much differently to those tied on a long shank hook, making them easier to cast and present  – a decrease in weight by up to + 30 % also made them float better.

Tube flies below the surface

We also work with tube fly design for sub-fly fishing – it could be big Sunray Shadow flies to pull cross current or tiny tubes to fish in the surface layer…  Overall, we try our best to cover those aspects of salmon and trout fly fishing that interest us.

All of our sub-surface flies are tied on our Riffling Hitch tube

2012 and a new line of fly tying material:  Sunray Zebra Shadow ™

In 2012, we designed a new material for the win of salmon flies. It is a Himalayan Goat with bands  – We needed the material for big Sunray Shadow flies and took the time and effort to develop this product to be ready for fly tiers at salmon and steelhead rivers.

See Sunray Zebra Shadow fly tying in our shop

Zebra Goat ™ A new animal – And a new and interesting material to tie on a big tube fly

To see how to work with this exclusive material – See our page on the Sunray Shadow fly

2015 we started our Frances fly project

Doing what we think is best is to develop utterly perfect salmon and steelhead flies that our friends and we would tie on the leader. Such flies are the series of micro Frances flies we have made on Partridge hooks – Long crispy feelers – Specially dyed Icelandic wool for the body – Silver plated wire for the rib – Hair from Tanuki Fox dyed by us….hair is from the paws of the animal to give the best texture – See them in the shop

2016 The iridescent Sunray Shadow series

2019 The Hitchman Series

2019 The development of the Pixel-Head

The Pixel-Head technique is an approach to make surface flies look even better – we use it on our Hitchman fly series and have also used this fly tying detail on Sunray Shadow flies …with great success

Read more here

See material for this unique design in the shop here

For 2021 Specially designed needles for tube flies