Fishmadman Newsletter is a publication on surface fishing for Atlantic salmon steelhead and various trout, read by many 100 ́s anglers across the Northern Hemisphere, Tierra del Fuego, Novaya Zemlya – Australia and Japan… We try to make a letter worth your time – and our interest in topwater fishing is what determines the editorial tendency`s
Our newsletter will arrive in your mailbox 3 – 6 times during the season depending much on what interesting stuff we can find for you…

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August: Min favorit måned for fiskeri – Laksen er begyndt at finde pladser i pools- Eftermiddag bliver til aften – Vinteren venter i bjergene

Waddington Shank er en type krog – designet i 1950erne af den britiske lystfisker og forfatter til flere interessante fiskebøger; Mr. Richard Waddington. Waddington Shanken bestående af parallelle tråde, med en krog hængslet bagtil. Mr. Waddington formede dette system for at, give fluefiskere en mulighed for at lave større fluer, der kunne præsentere sig godt i vandet, – men ikke skabte problemer med brækstangs-effekt –  Brækstangs-effekt var bestemt et problem for sportsfiske verdenen før 1950 – hvor fluefiskere brugte fluer bundet på enorme enkeltkroge, kroge så store som 10/0 og endnu større! blev brugt til fiskeri i koldt vand  – Læs mere

Gå ikke glip af nye muligheder

Sen sæson laks fanget på stor 1 ¾ # Black & Orange Waddington Shank

Mange lystfiskere undgår Waddington Shanks simpelthen fordi de finder opsætningen lidt for kompliceret – det er en skam da fluer bundet på Waddington Shanks giver fluefiskere endnu en mulighed for at fiske laks eller ørred i elv eller å. Waddington Shanken opførre sig forskelligt fra rørfluer eller konventionelle fluer – Personligt ville jeg nødigt skilles fra mit sortiment af Waddington fluer under en laksesæson

Størrelser af Waddington Shanks

Skala for rørfluer og Waddington Shanks, følger ikke krog systemet, og størrelse gives ofte i inches. Vi vil i det følgende forsøge at vise denne skala på en måde, der måske kan give dig en idé om de forskellige fysiske aspekter, og hvordan du kan foretage sammenligninger med en normal krog

NB. Mustad 80500 BL Brugt som eksempel (* er ikke lavet større end 5/0)

Forskellige opsætning af en Waddington Shank

UP-SIDE-DOWN Waddington Shank

Hotho Vestergaard er den eneste laksfisker vi kender – der har fanget 3 laks i 20 kilo området (+ 44 lbs) – Du skulle måske tjekke hans fluebinding stil på Waddington Shanks.

Denne laks + 21 kilo

Ven af Fishmadman og laksefisker-jedi:  Hotho Vestergaard er stor tilhænger af Waddington Shank system. Hotho laver sine Waddington fluer UP-SIDE-DOWN , eller rettere: han vender øjet af skaftet nedad – Dette gøre at fluen arbejde på nye måder – med en lidt dykkende bevægelse som, Hotho foretrækker på specifikke typer hurtigt vand.

Når en flom løber gennem elven – så vil det være de to første dage efter flommen – hvor en stor flue som denne 1 3/4 # Waddington Shank Garry Dog, vil være det perfekte valg

Størrelse for rørfluer

Ligesom Waddington shanks, giver rørfluen fluefiskeren unikke måder at præsentere fluen – nogle så eksklusive, at vi måtte designe et sted på nettet dedikeret til ​​rør fluer.

I Europa og især i Skandinavien dominere rørfluen i flueboksen – Nogle vil sige, det er et spørgsmål om modetendenser, men rørfluens store succes må nok nærmere tilskrives rørfluesystemets store alsidighed.

10 inches (25 centimeter) under overfladen er et hot område, at præsentere fluen til sommerens atlanterhavs-laks, og mange lystfiskere vil binde rørfluer målrette til fiskeri. Der bruges rørfluer af forskellig vægt og design, kombineret med flydende eller langsom synkende flueliner

Læs mere om de første rør fluer

NB. Mustad 80500 BL Brugt som eksempel (* er ikke lavet større end 5/0)

FISHMADMAN 2013 fiskekonkurance

Vi håber du vil deltage i vores årlige sportsbegivenhed – Vi vil sørge for præmierne – Og alle, deltagere, vil få fine gaver. Fang en fisk på en Fishmadman produkt eller mønster – udfyld formularen – og være en del af 2013 mest ærefulde sportsbegivenhed ..

Tørflue hilsen Fishmadman teamet

Se reglerne for konkurrencen

Vi gjorde, hvad mange af jer bedt os om at gøre, og lavet et udvalg af SUPER-General Practitioner fluer.
Vi har brugt isbjørn * sæluld og Whiting Spey hackle. Bundet på Japan og Mustad krog i to størrelser # 4 og 6
Køb denne august flue mens den er på lager

NYT ! Steelhead fluer: Sammen med nogle af de dygtigste steelhead fiskere i Nordamerika har vi udviklet – og udvidet – vores serie af Wake fluer – Disse fluer har ligeledes vist sig at være yderst virksomme på røddinger – der ligesom steelhead og havørred, er meget optaget af ting der ” bølger” på overfladen Se det store udvalg i vores butik

NYT ! Vi har tilføjet denne – No-Nonsens – flue boks til vores repertoire – Storebror-boksen vores Sunray Shadow boks var en stor succes – der kunne stå mål med mange ugers hårdt fiskeri – Så vi var ikke i tvivl om at i ville kunne lide den mindre boks der kan købes til en meget fordelagtig pris – Se den i butikken her

Vi har lavet et stort udvalg af Riffling Hitch fluer til sæson 2013

Se dem i butikken

Endelig ! Endelig fik vi vores nye laks/steelhead tørfluer… til sidst på laksesæsonen – Desværre kunne det ikke være anderledes…men nu er de klar til sæson 2014 – Vi glæder os til at, vise dig dem i butikkerne og for enden af din line

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

Foto venligst udlånt af; Hotho Vestergård

Dansk storlaks-fisker Hotho Vestergård, sendt os dette billede fra Nordnorge, af en super laks på 10 kilo. Hotho bruges vores Zebra Sunray Shadow ™ i størrelse stor, til at fange en af flere laks i løbet af sin uge fisker i Nordnorge

Hotho Vestergård brugte Fishmadman Zebra Sunray Shadow ™ Se flue i vores E-Butik

Storlaks fanget på Green & Black Zebra Sunray Shadow ™

Fotos venligst udlånt af; Jens Olav Flekke

Kendt fiskeprofil Jens Olav Flekke fra Norge, har sendt os et billede af denne smukke laks fra Nordnorge: 108 centimeter, fanget på en Black & Green Zebra Sunray Shadow ™. Jens skriver at; hans hustru Ellen Svendsen havde en lignende størrelse laks under deres fiske session. Denne fanget på en mindre Sunray Shadow med vinge af sort og grøn hår

Her en version af Black and Green Zebra Sunray Shadow ™ rigget med et lille dobbelt rørfluekrog – Jens Olav brugte en modhagerløs enkeltkrog fisket hængende i en løkke bag fluen. Se Green and Black Zebra gede hår i vores E-butik

Foto venligst udlånt af; Raynald Ménard

Raynald Ménard sendt os dette klassiske senior og junior billede – og en super frisk sommer laks i de – 5 – 6 kilo`s størrelsen. Fisk fanget på en Pearl Sunray Shadow. ved Matane elven, på den berømte Gaspé halvøen

En flue til store grådige blank laks: Pearl Sunray Shadow Se flue i vores E-Butik

XXL rødding fanget på Tube Chernobyl Ants

Fotos venligst udlånt af;. Bo Jensen

Bo Jensen fra Danmark havde super fiskeri efter XXL havvandrende rødding, i Grønland denne sommer. Fiskeri gin klare elve, med Tube Tjernobyl Ant`s på forfanget. Bo fortæller at, den gennemsnitlige fjeldørred er 2 kilo, med større fisk på 7 kilo. Fluen fiskes i en vinkel på 60 ° nedstrøms og bringes tilbage; stribende med stop & go bevægelse.

Se vores udvalg af Tube Chernobyl Ants

Foto venligst udlånt af; Chad Black, Nicholas Dean Lodge

Da steelhead tørflue sæsonen for alvor kom i gang på vestkysten af Canada, fik vi billeder af super steelheads fanget på vores Hitch Wake Serie (se tidligere nyhedsbrev) : Denne super fisk blev fanget på en Tube Grantham Sedge af Chad Black, i en bi-elv til Skeena elven. Fisken var 34,5 tommer lang med en omkreds på 16,5 tommer (87,63 X 41,91 centimeter) – cirka 12 lb. (5,44 kilo) baseret på Sturdys formel. Vi vil vende tilbage til nogle af disse fantastiske fisk i et andet nyhedsbrev

Tube Grantham Sedge – Se denne og andre i wake series

Foto venligst udlånt af: Jocelin LeBlanc, Le Repère Des Mouchers – Landmark Flyshop

Ian D. Martin er forfatter & fotograf, kommer rundt til mange fantastiske fiske pladser – Denne sommer fik vi flere flotte rapporter fra hans fiskeri. Ian skrev os;

“Billeder ovenfor er fra Trinity River. Jeg fangede to fisk, den ene var helt nystegen! Jeg brugte jeres V-FLY, men det var ikke rigget til riffling hitch, men fisket som konventionel vådflue”

“Moisie fiskeri i morges blev aflyst på grund af meget vind, regn og tåge. Vi håber, det bliver bedre i eftermiddag, og at helikopteren kan flyve os til Mile 12 Pool i morgen”

“Hej Fishmadman: En lille fisk historie fra Øvre del af Moisie elven i Quebec. Denne plads er kun tilgængelig via helikopter.

Uden fisk hele dagen, med kun 30 minutter til helikopteren ankommer. Det var nettop da at en fin fisk viser sig, nær en stor sten ude i poolen. Jeg løb ned til elven og vadede hurtigt i stilling, og formår at lave et perfekt kast med V-FLY-rørflue. Fisken bed første gang den så fluen – ret som helikopteren ankom. Vi afkrogede og genudsatte hurtigt den smukke Moisie laks: på 14 lb. og 35 tommer – (6,3 kilo og 89 centimeter) – Jeg måtte pakke sammen lynhurtigt og skynde mig til helikopteren hvor en utålmodig pilot ventede med rotoren i gang”

Billed venligst udlånt af; Ian D Martin Fly Fishing writer/photographer The Usual Press: Fly Fishing Publishers

Foto venligst udlånt af; Mikkel Hemmeshøj

Dansk havørred specialist; Mikkel Hemmeshøj med en af flere havørreder fanget ved overfladefisker fiskeri med Mad Dog Wake flue Danmark har sandsynligvis noget af verdens bedste havørred fiskeri, og 100 `vis af trofæ fisk i de 5 – 10 kilo klassen bliver fanget hver sæson, mange af disse fisk er fanget på wake fluer ligesom Mad Dog fra Fishmadman (Wake flue= Bule flue som de også benævnes i Danmark

Mad Dog flue fra Fishmadman, er designet af dansk havørredfisker; Dan Karby, til fiskeri i Vejle Å-systeme. I Vejle Å fiskes der både dag og nat med bule fluer. Se flue i vores E-shop

Foto venligst udlånt af: Ian D Martin Fly Fishing writer/photographer The Usual Press: Fly Fishing Publishers

Med dette smukke sensommer billede fra Canada vil vi takker alle, der har deltaget, og håber, at vi har kunnet inspirere dig til at deltage i vores lille sportsbegivenhed i 2013…Bemærk forøvrigt; Den lille hytte på toppen af bakken i højre hjørne af Ian `s billede … Sikke et sted ! .

De første tørfluer til laks var engelske !

Når du læser bøger om laksefiskeri, vil du sikkert blive fortalt, at laksetørflue fiskeri og fluer til sådant fiskeri kom fra Nordamerika – Denne sommer lært vi, at det ikke kunne være hele sandheden. Den første optegnelse af laksetørflue fiskeri og specielt designede fluer, kom sandsynligvis fra et Farlow 1909 fiskegrej katalog. Det er en Major J.R Fraser der fortæller briterne om hans fiskeri med tørfluen…

Disse interessante fakta kommer fra Perry Munro, en ældre fluefisker på Nova Scotia lystfisker. Perry har nettop et: 1910 Farlow katalog i sin besiddelse – Faktisk trykte Farlow Major JR Frazer historien og produceret flue serien i 10 år

Læs den fantastiske 1909 historien af Major JR Fraser `s og tage et nærmere kig på denne super serie af fluer Klik her

Det var alt for denne gang – vi snakkes snart ved : Per & Jesper

Per & Jesper

☛ Støt Orri Vigfússon og NASF i at redde Atlanterhavlaksen Gå til NASF`s side – og se hvordan ! ☚

Kunne du tænke dig at få vores nyhedsbrev – Men du har ikke meldt dig til endnu ? Klik her..så kan du ordne det

 Sunray Shadow : Fly tying at it`s best

The Sunray Shadow ones tied with hair from monkey – Today anglers will substitute monkey hair with material like goat (like the Sunray Shadow shown on picture) Goat will work just as well – Here tied with Kashmir goat dyed black – Numerous + 20 kilo salmon has been caught on the Sunray Shadow a.o a; 25 kilo (55 lbs.) giant from the Alta River – and a 21 kilo (46 lbs.) fish caught in the Lærdal River by Mark Brooks the son of Margit and Ray [hr]Buy flies 

Almost half a century has gone by and still today the Sunray Shadow fly stands as a unique example of fly tying at it´s best – simple and efficient – And a fishing tribute to the angler Raymond Brooks

The Collie Dog fly

Collie Dog and Sunray Shadow is names closely linked with long winged flies, and you will find variations of these famous salmon tube flies in fly fishing shops around the world.

The Collie Dog fly is a old Scottish fly pattern designed in the late 18´century.  It was probably one of the very first, if not the first hair-wing salmon fly ever, to be deployed on a salmon river.

Still today it`s argued whether or not it is UK or US anglers who rightfully can take the claim for the salmon hair-fly project ?

The Collie Dog was originally designed to be tied on double or single hook`s – Today most Collie Dogs is tied on tube – with or without the silver body. As hair from Collie (Border Collie) can be hard to obtain, most anglers will settle for quality hair from goat like the Kashmir Goat

Fishing tube flies with long hair

These flies with their long wavy wing can have a hypnotic grip on salmon. Presented correctly the salmon will go to great length to intercept a fly like the Sunray Shadow or Collie Dog, often chasing the fly across the river – hitting it in a spectacular manner much in the way they attack a wobble, spoon or spinner – When fishing keep your eye on the fly and bring it all the way in to the bank…this is one fly that salmon will stay with all the way – and it might hit it the last second.

When fishing close to the surface with long-winged flies anglers often see the salmon reacting to the fly by splashing or waking, something that can be quite useful – when you actually want to determine if the pool holds fish or not. Flies like these are also named: lifters or Reaction flies…

Here a Small Pearl and Green Sunray Shadow Buy fly 

In Iceland the Sunray Shadow will also be used as a Attention fly, fished over lies that might be unproductive or over-fished – The Sunray Shadow is then replace with a much smaller pattern and salmon will very often come to the surface.

Speed kills

When fishing in colder water it is advisable to fish the Sunray Shadow or Collie Dog fly slow and make sure to present it to the fish for a longer period. Use intermediate lines with sink tip or even full sinking lines to fish productive fast water.

Working with size

Big is not always better and particularly not when it comes to salmon. In relation to this it is well worth keeping different sizes of these special flies in the box – Although a 2 inch Collie Dog or Sunray Shadow might seem big when other anglers work with tiny # 10`s – 12´s in hot water – it can still be surprisingly efficient to use these flies fished very close to the surface.

We use a selection of flies in the range from 2 to + 6 inches. The 3 1/2 inch version being the regular fly on most rivers, and the smaller versions for low water summer conditions – The bigger flies are made for early season fishing and even in low temperature; 5 – 6 degrees Celsius (41 – 43 degrees Fahrenheit) – salmon will come right to the top to grab them

We also bring out the big Sunray Shadow flies when summer turns into autumn, in those precious hours when everything starts turning dark… Here the big Sunray Shadow might be the best choice for those local salmon becoming restless and agitated in the dark See other big Sunray Shadows in the E-shop 

What does these big flies represent ?

Anglers often wonder why such and such fly is efficient ? – Some flies like; prawn-flies and nymphs are more obvious than others.

Long winged flies like the Collie Dog and the Sunray Shadow is often mentioned  in relationship with glass eels or juvenile eels – a food sours that the Atlantic salmon could meet in the sea on its way to and from the river (in European waters often in size 40 – 45 millimeters  – 1.6 – 1.8 inches)

In terms of food look-alike`s we believe that these big flies could represent a broad spectra of critters that the salmon could meet throughout it´s entire life at sea,  like; sand eels, herring, sprats, prawns and juvenile eels – All erratic moving food that the salmon will have to react to very decisively.

[approved]It is also with these – straight in from the sea aggressive salmon, that the Sunray Shadow and Collie Dog is most productive. It is like their recent feeding behavior at sea still is set to full speed when they enter the river. See Brooks Zebra Shadow in shop 

The parr fly

Another big wing fly we have had success with throughout the years is a version of the classic Blue Charm. The wing of the fly is tied up of sections of silver tippet squirrel – with its contrast marked body it is to give the impression of a salmon parr – Fly is fished slowly over freshly arrived salmon that often will attack it ferociously.

Actually the salmon parr know quite well that it will have to keep clear of these fresh aggressive salmon – Ones giants arrive from the sea…all salmon parr have gone into hiding.

Here we have designed a big Sunray Shadow in a contrast marked version – We have humbly named it the Sunray Zebra Shadow

Buy Sunray Zebra Shadow  

The recipe to success

We have all our long-winged Sunray Shadow and Collie Dog flies tied on our Flexible plastic tube   with the exception of the occasional fly tied on an aluminum tube. If we need to fish further below the surface we rather use a sink tip or full sinking line, than use weight on the fly – It is as the fly looses some of it´s fish catching abilities when weighted down to much.

Hooks for long wing flies

Fishing with these special flies is an action filled sport and you will feel fish hitting and pulling the fly during a fishing session – Ever so often these same fish will have a go at the fly more than one time – as long as they haven’t touched the hook.

We use both single, double and treble hooks on these flies and recommend that you set a small blob of glue in the fork of the double and treble hooks. This will to some extend, prevent the hairs from getting seriously entangle in the construction of the hook. Getting the wing caught up in the bend of the hook is an inevitable part of fishing flies with long soft hair and to make sure everything is working as intended, one has to check the fly on a regular basis – Obviously an annoying hassle – but it is well worth the effort to put the time into the long wing project. See our range of hooks 

Good things for big flies

See our NEW fly tying material for Sunray Shadow flies: Sunray Zebra Shadow ™ 

NEW Sunray Shadow box

The perfect dimensions – strong and inexpensive

☛ Support Mr. Orri Vigfússon and NASF in rescuing the Atlantic salmon – Go to NASF page ! ☚

Sunray Shadow Story

Read the fascinating story about the late British salmon angler Mr Raymond  Brooks and how he, through ingenuity and dedication to salmon fly fishing, came to make the most famous tube fly in the world – Read how to fish with it and get inspiration to try long-winged flies this summer.

Tubes designed for the purpose

The flies were tied on tubes designed exclusively for the purpose, consisting of an inner and outer tube, allowing a tube fly hook to rest in the rear part of the tube.  Hair from a monkey was used in the design of the wing. The monkey hair came from a carpet a friend and fellow angler had in his living room. Later Ray found a supplier of the hair needed and finally also made a registered pattern on the fly that he named: The Sunray Shadow.

The Sunray Shadow fly was tied commercially for the Brooks family by Danish company Lawcock and later with fly tiers in Singapore.

The Sunray Shadow – Big fish fly

The Sunray Shadow: Ones made with hair from Colobus monkey, today anglers will substitute monkey hair with material like; goat that will work just as well.

Left: Fly shown is made with Kashmir goat hair. 

Numerous + 20-kilo salmon has been caught on the Sunray Shadow, among other, a 25 kilo (55 lbs.) giant from the Alta River – A 21 kilo (46 lbs.) fish caught in the Lærdal River by Mark Brooks, the son of Margit and Ray.

Right: The list of big fish caught on the Sunray Shadow fly is long – Here is a photo of another serious giant of an Atlantic salmon caught in Northern Norway by Mr Jens Olav Flekke

Almost half a century has gone by and still today the Sunray Shadow fly stands out as a unique example of fly tying at it´s best – simple and efficient

Hair from dogs can defiantly be top-notch fly tying material. Still, it is illegal to sell hair from dogs or cats in Europa – so if you can get your hands on some long-haired canines, it is worth your while sweet talking the owner into a bit of trimming. The Collie dog breed comes in many shapes and colours. I prefer to be friendly with these two critters: Border Collie or Rough Collie

Collie Dog and Sunray Shadow are fly patterns closely linked with long-winged flies, and you will find variations of this famous salmon tube fly in fly fishing shops around the world.

The Collie Dog fly is an old Scottish fly pattern designed in the late 19th century.  It was probably one of the first, if not the first hair-wing salmon fly ever, to be deployed on a salmon river.

Still today it`s argued whether it is UK or US anglers who rightfully can take the claim for the salmon hair-fly project?

Above a version of the Collie Dog fly tied with hair from a Border Collie

The Collie Dog was originally designed to be tied on double or single hooks – Today, most are tied on tubes – with or without the silver body. As hair from Collie (Border Collie) can be hard to get, most anglers will settle for quality hair from goats like the Kashmir Goat or Artic runner

See hair for Sunray Shadow and Collie Dog Flies in our shop  

Tube flies with a long wing like the Sunray Shadow and Collie Dog is unique flies in the world of salmon flies. Flies with a simple expression are favoured on many rivers across the Northern Hemisphere.

With their wavy wing, these flies can have a hypnotic grip on salmon. Presented correctly, the salmon will go to great lengths to intercept a fly like the Sunray Shadow or Collie Dog, often chasing the fly across the river – hitting it in a spectacular manner much in the way they attack a wobbler, spoon or spinner – When fishing keeps your eye on the fly and bring it into the bank…this is one fly that salmon will stay with all the way – and it might hit it the last second.

When fishing close to the surface with long-winged flies, anglers often see the salmon reacting to the fly by splashing or waking, something that can be pretty useful – when you want to find out if the pool holds fish or not. Flies like these are also named: lifters or Reaction flies…

In Iceland, the Sunray Shadow will also be used as an Attention fly, fished over lies that might be unproductive or over-fished – The Sunray Shadow is then replaced with a much smaller pattern and salmon will very often come to the surface.

Right: Nice salmon from Iceland caught by Mr Rasmus Ovesen using Fishmadman Collie Dog tube fly

When summer arrives, and water starts heating – speed seems to be a key element with these long wing flies, and anglers will fish it in different ways to generate speed – This could be done with floating or intermediate line fished straight across the river. By hand-lining the fly back, fast – in long pulls. By mending the fly line downstream to generate a belly, increasing the pull on the fly line and so the speed of the fly.
I have often used this technique during summer/autumn and seen how it may work wonders for a short time – then suddenly lose its effect entirely.

Right: Fish the Sunray Shadow or collie dog fly on a 90 ° angle and pull the fly – in jerks – as fast as you can across the salmon lie – Don´t worry about overdoing speed – the salmon is much faster than you. A good trick is to stop and leave the fly motionless altogether – when you come close to your rod tip – the salmon will often take the fly in a big splash or jump.

Strike when it jumps.

If you see fish jumping in the path of your fly – it will most certainly be the salmon that has grabbed the fly – I always strike when I see the fish jumping – 9 – out of 10 times I hook the fish..and it will go ballistic after such a hooking …so be prepared to clear the line fast out the guides after hooking-up

Pulling the Sunray or other long wing salmon tube flies fast across the river – even having the fly jump through the surface is a highly efficient way of connecting with salmon – And big and small fish may follow the fly trying to grab it in high jumps.

Sometimes I stop pulling in line when salmon chase the fly – I leave it still in the water’s surface – and wait for the salmon to grab it.

My all-time favourite fly for this sport the Speed Sunray Shadow – See the fly in the shop here

Stripping an Iridescent Sunray Shadow… fast as you can… across the river can in times of fresh running fish be one of the most productive methods you can use – but take care it is yet another all-absorbing form of fly fishing that may take up your time and ruin your sleep.
See flies in our shop

Cold and slow

When fishing in colder water, it is advisable to fish the Sunray Shadow or Collie Dog fly slowly and present it to the fish for a longer time. Use intermediate lines with sink-tip or even full sinking lines to fish productive fast water.

Working with size

Big is not always better and particularly not when it comes to salmon. Concerning this, it is well worth keeping different sizes of these special flies in the box – Although a 2-inch Collie Dog or Sunray Shadow might seem big when other anglers work with tiny #10s – 12s in hot water – it can still be surprisingly efficient to use these flies fished very close to the surface.

We also bring out the big Sunray Shadow flies when summer turns into autumn, in those precious hours when everything starts turning dark… The big Sunray Shadow might be the best choice for those local salmon becoming restless and agitated in the dark.

See other big Sunray Shadows in the E-shop 

We do a line of very small Sunray Shadow flies that we recommend anglers bring for summer conditions and difficult fish – small, simple interpretations of the original tube fly suited for floating lines and light gear.

This is what fly angler Bill (Beatle) Abshagen from Colorado used when fishing Despedida Lodge in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina Fish was eating small Skuds (14 & 16’s), but this fish was hungry and couldn’t resist an appetizing smaller Sun-Ray.

Dwarf-like Sunray Shadow tube flies – Perfect for summer conditions – low water and finicky trout and salmon – Our small Sunrays are also designed to be used as riffling hitch flies. See the small Sunray Shadows in the E-shop 

Hooks for long-wing flies

Fishing with these special flies is an action-filled sport, and you will feel fish pulling and hitting the fly during a fishing session – Ever so often, these same fish will have a go at the fly more than one time – as long as they haven’t touched the hook.

We use single, double and treble hooks on these flies and recommend that you set a small blob of glue in the fork of the double and treble hooks. This will to some extent, prevent the hairs from getting seriously entangled in the construction of the hook.

Getting the wing caught up in the bend of the hook is an inevitable part of fishing flies with long soft hair, and to make sure everything is working as intended, one has to check the fly regularly – An annoying hassle -. Still, putting the time into the long-wing project is well worth the effort.

See our range of hooks 

Superior hair for Sunray Shadow and Collie Dog Flies

A fantastic horse

We are constantly on the lookout for great fly-tying material, and we were not late to say yes to this fabulous hide deriving from the animal the fly-tying business call; Arctic Runner. An arctic runner is, in fact, a euphemism for the Icelandic horse…
Icelandic horse comes in all kinds of quality and can be bought in well-assorted shops – It’s 2 – 4-inch long hair stacked in a significant way that forms the perfect wing for salmon and steelhead flies.

Special Abilities

Arctic Runner is prime material wings on salmon and steelhead flies – The material ability to be shaped and cheat fish is well-known. We use it on many of our flies, including Collie Dog flies.

See it in our shop

Perfect Sunray Shadow hair

Top quality Kashmir goat with long shiny hair dyed jet black – Perfect for Sunray Shadow and Collie Dog Flies
The length of the hair can vary from batch to batch – But we will try to keep our promise and get you what you see in the picture.
 See it in our shop

Special edition Sunray Shadow hair

See our material for Sunray Shadow flies: Sunray Zebra Shadow ™ 

See all 11 colours

NEW Sunray Shadow box

The perfect dimensions – strong and inexpensive

Fluefisker der fisker spritklare elve i det nordlige Norge, har deres særlige valg af fluer. Et levende forfang på en ikke alt for kraftig flueline er den bedste måde at få din flue til atvirke levende – At fluen virker levende – er en hjørnesten i fluefiskeri

 At fiske med Sunray efter laks

Denne langhårede flue i familie med andre fluer såsom; Collie Dog – virker perfekt til aggressive ny-opgået fisk – Senere på sæsonen kan den udrette mirakler på store hanlaks, særligt i timen før og efter tusmørke – Sunray fiskes på tværs 45 grader, som så mange andre fluemønstre – men til tider skal denne flue fiskes tværs over – og i fuld fart ind… så hurtigt du formår at trække den igennem vandet… Det synes bare at være en uimodståelig kombination for laks i alle

Sunray Shadow  en uundværlig flue til speed-topwater fishing

  Sunray Shadow Green

☛ Støt Orri Vigùffson og NASF i at redde  Atlanterhavslaksen -Besøg NASF side ! ☚ Besøg NASF side ☚

® © 2008-2015 Fishmadman Alle rettigheder forbeholdes.

Alle rettigheder forbeholdes. Bortset fra brug i en anmeldelse, er reproduktion eller udnyttelse af dette arbejde i nogen form eller på nogen elektronisk, mekanisk eller anden måde, der er kendt eller herefter opfundet forbudt uden skriftlig tilladelse fra Jesper Fohrmann / Per Fischer –

The shock absorber

To absorb shock when hooking-up or fighting fish on a short line – We use a fairly soft tippet at the end of our leader. We prefer old fashion mono lines like Maxima Chameleon or Original Stren – Other soft lines from Maxima and some of Berkley monofilament could also be used as tippet on a leader for dry fly fishing

Sinking leader when fishing dry fly!

We know we will raise a few eyebrows when we recommend that you use a sinking leader for your dry fly fishing! – Newer the less we advise you to buy a couple of hover poly leaders. The hover leader is the leader classified one step above intermediate.

The hover poly leader does not sink particularly much or fast it will merely stay just below the surface during the short duration of a drift with a dry fly. We have found that sub-surface leader like the hover leader is less likely to cast – frightening shadows – than a similar floating leader otherwise could do

The poly leader will also outperform a standard nylon leader when it comes to casting big bulky dry flies… We use a 5 – 6-foot hover leader combined with a 50 – 75 cm. (20 – 30 inch.) a piece of Maxima mono-filament

Clear Fly fishing leader – called; Hover or intermediate from Airflo is super leaders for dry fly and riffling hitch fishing..

New flies for 2011

Anglers fishing clear rivers in Scandinavia and elsewhere have their special choice of fly colors

Dark Green Bomber™

We have made a few custom colour flies for the upcoming season. The Dark Green Tube Bomber is one of them. This particular green with its brown hackle has proven to be one of the best flies anglers can bring to rivers in Finnmark (Northern Norway) – and Westland region (mid Norway) – It could be the green tinted colour of some rivers – or just the fact that a lot of the fishing ground on these rivers run through green dressed forrest..The Dark Green Tube Bomber comes in 3 sizes See all 3 sizes in the shop 

Dark Green Bomber. Hackle and body in the right colours for many Norwegian rivers. Comes in Big – Small and X. Small  See flies in Shop  [hr]

New Black & High Viz Green Bomber™

A Tube Bomber designed specifically for Fishing And Hunting shop in – Norway… a dark and green Tube Bomber for day time fishing…in clear light and gin-clear rivers as you will find them in Northern Norway. Comes in 2 sizes

Black & Hig Viz. Bomber. A Bomber for sunny day´s – and difficult light. Comes in two sizes: Small and Ex. Small – in limited numbers See fly in the shop 

☛ Support NASF in rescuing the Atlantic salmon – Go to NASF page! ☚

Above: The GP or General Practitioner – another icon in the world of salmon fly fishing – Perhaps most of our sub-flies are interpreted by salmon as prawns… and we, as fly tiers, work unpremeditated with the prawn theme all the time.

Now that you have read a great deal about wet-fly fishing I thought it was appropriate to end this page with a link to the surface – because although salmon could be caught deep in the river every day of the season – The same Atlantic salmon could come right up to the surface and snatch your bait. This quality makes salmon fishing, especially fly fishing for Atlantic salmon, fascinating. Seeing big fish unfold from the darkness of the water will spellbind everyone that ever sees it, and a new salmon fly angler could be born in a fraction of a second.

Seeing big fish unfold from the darkness of the water will spellbind everyone that ever sees it and a new salmon fly fisher could be born in just a fraction of a second.

Surface activity. The Atlantic salmon parr is probably the most surface-orientated species in the Salmonidae family. As soon as insects start to hatch, you will see them chasing food on the surface – Anglers trolling at sea for salmon will also be well aware of the salmon that hunt near the surface – keeping dedicated surface plugs and spoons behind the boat for such fish.