This past week the fishing here on Temenggor has been very slow, for some reason I can only find Snakehead in one Western Arm and very few of them are free-risers - I've been leaving this arm alone because I don't wish to make these fish any harder than they already are, instead I've been saving that fishing for guests and have been chasing Jungle Perch (and Tilapia) on sinking lines in other areas. I think I really need a sounder with side-view for this sort of fishing - if anyone has any connections to a company who might be interested in some really outstanding promotion in the fly fishing market then please let me know because I currently have no connections in this area and an introduction always helps.
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No Mike this week, he's taking a break until he's bought his Fishcatcher Boat! Tomorrow Sexyloops Board's "Guest for the Week" is none other than Charles Jardine! Next week in the Sunday slot we have an alternating duo of Matt Klara (USA) who's coming back for another run of FPs and, new to the FP scene, will be Tim Kempton (Australia). So this is all very exciting, much more exciting than the fishing I've had this week, but that's another story... perhaps one for tomorrow's FP!
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Or rather - brown(ish) salmon fly. Carrying on from last week's FP, I'm still contemplating over my selection of salmon- and sea trout flies. For years, I've had a bit of a crisis when it comes to selecting the right brownish pattern.
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I went through my notes of the last years and the clear winner was this little bugger. Yeah, one should only believe the stats you doctored yourself of course. ;-) Anyway, it worked wherever I fished it - New Zealand or Norway and other countries.
I am not really sure what it represents. The overall look is screaming "caddis pupa", but it worked in very different hatches too. Heck, I even fished it when trout were feeding on manuka beetles.
The tie is a bit more complex and not so easy to get right, but let´s give it a go ....
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A friend put it to me “What was your biggest revelation in fly fishing?” I’ve had to think about it pretty hard for a month or so as it’s not the easiest thing to pin down and I should also say this is only to date, you really never know when the next big surprise and eureka moment is going to occur.
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Pretty often I was asked for the main keys to catch a big pike.
So here comes some of my experience!
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I am a big fan of slow-mo video for gaining a better understanding of fly casting. I shot every image for my new casting book using slow-mo HD video. After shooting, I picked the most appropriate frame(s) to serve as the basis for my illustrations. Even a few years ago, I would have needed to buy or rent a specialized camera to shoot such video. Now, though, I can shoot 1080p (“normal” HD these days) at 120 frames-per-second, and 720p at 240 frames-per-second. The age of quality consumer slow-mo is here, and it comes in the form of smartphones.
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I bought a tape measure last week so that I can accurately measure my shots and sorry, much of my stated Snakehead shot distances have been misleading and the required distances are considerably longer. My slipped-Lift Shooting PUALD Shot comfortably casts 22 metres, however the good news/bad news is that this is too far to reach the Snakehead before it's turned down too deep. The best shot and the distance I aim to position the Snakehead from the boat at is 17m. This is your money shot. Closer than this and you don't have the room to tease the fish if it decides to chase, further than this and you don't have enough time for the shot to reach the fish. Anyway it's good to know that with a PUALD shot and starting with 2m of flyline outside the tip you can reach 22m using an 8-weight line with practise. This actually surprised me... so anyway the optimal distance you need to be able to make a 2m length of flyline slipped-lift PUALD go is 17m. It should go that distance with accuracy, speed and deliberate force.
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Saltwater fly fishing - what a nut to crack.
Back in Italy, I fish only for trout and few months before I move to Australia I tried pike, loved it, but with not much success and I left it as I had to move on.
Having in mind one fish as a target gave me a lot of peace I think. I collected gear for trout, and tie flies for trout, I read about trout and learn about trout. I was one happy fly fisherman. I came across other species, but did not really pay much attention to them and went back to focus on the trout.
Trout is a beautiful fish and lives in beautiful water, and I think that is why I love it so much - THE SCENERY while you chasing trout is unbelievable for me. When I go trout fishing I know I’m going to spend a day in a fantastic place and I enjoy it more, as my mind is focus only on one type of fish.
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Sorry about the late FP. I got caught up filtering last years crop of different snapses, and once you start that, it's hard to stop. I now have essence of walnut, bog myrtle, sloe and wormwood - all ready to be thinned down into the most delicious snapses once can imagine. Walnut is my favourite.
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Following up on the emerger article from last Friday - here is the "foam hare klink" - the fly is an example for the use of fur fibres as hackle - or hackle substitute if you so will. It´s always interesting to practice all sorts of techniques.
I have in later flies replaced the foam with fur fibres from the artic hares feet.
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Ice fishing as it turns out is really damn difficult. It's cold but not too bad since you're wrapped up properly but the poor fish seem to be lazing about cruising around at minimal speed. We tried for an afternoon but didn't catch anything - I think you'd probably need to leave the rods all day.
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There are a lot of fly fishing videos avaible in the www - especially on youtube. Only some of them reach the edge of proper quality in my point of view!
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“Fly casting is the physical skill of fly fishing.”
I grew up with that mantra playing through my head. Certainly there are other “physical” aspects of fly fishing, but it is in casting where the serious hand-eye coordination and use of the physical body come into the most play. Pain or injury—whether preexisting or caused by casting—can impact the game significantly.
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These are the three shots you need for Snakehead along with practise drills, that you need to get very good at if you are to consistently hook fish. I can't stress the importance enough of being able to take the shot quickly, with speed, to deliver the fly accurately one foot in front of the fish and to be able to make the first shot count. A video of these shots with explanations will follow.
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As you all know I spend past couple months researching and learning about my future boat. I saw many different ones, I had a ride in one similar to what I want, I spoke to some experts of what I might need, and now I know that the search is complete.
I loved this boat from the first moment I saw it, but it was still in the middle of my chase, so I thought WAIT, THERE ARE MORE AND MAYBE BETTER, but... nothing like this one.
This boat has everything I need, the deck layout is perfect and looks very clean and tidy, the hatches are perfect, there is a built in esky - love that feature . It has as they call it SOFTRIDE HULL which means it is a stable boat, and just as an example my mate's boat was kind of tippy when I stood far to one side even for a wide and big boat he has.
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When I fish, whether in the river for salmon and sea trout, or along the coast, I often change fishing spots - and often I want to move to a completely different location, so driving is needed.
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I believe fish are cynics. They love to eat insects which are trapped in a dismal state - the state of emergence. Tough moment for the little bug. He (or she) spend years (up to three they say) on the bottom of rivers and lakes when than all of a sudden nature calls and they are drawn up to the surface.
There they hang of the water film and have to perform quite a stunt. Crawling out of their outer skeleton to unfold as winged insect above the water. Crazy stuff. Konstanse and I can sit hours in our bellyboats watching this closely when the big Ephemera Vulgata put up their show. Fascinating.
Anyway, the fish give a rats ass about such nuveaunatureIeandIamsofuckingconcious feelings. They see a good bit of nutrition lying on the plate. Bingo - so they rise up to the occasion and devour the struggling creature.
Following article is about the basic design principles I try to follow when tying such a fly.
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So Norway ice fishing is difficult! It was a lot of fun with stunning scenery and tiny tiny wee rods but alas no fish. I'm coming last minute from mobile today so pictures of that and my other weekends to follow next week. Lots of snow!
Today we're going to look at preparing for the salt as a friend of mine is getting married, has booked at honeymoon in Hawaii and needs some advice on how to prepare to chuck a cast that can catch a man sized GT.
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Still the most underestimated - and really useful - cast of all fly casts. You may want to make sure to learn how to adjust loop shape, trajectory and line speed on the roll cast right now!?
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Since this is my first FP at SL, I want to start out with something that can perhaps get a discussion going. What follows are instructions for double hauling in 333 words. That’s not much for a skill that gets a lot of ink just about everywhere casting is discussed. The goal is to distill double hauling down to its key instructional bits and pieces, which is frankly a good exercise for any instructor to try (with any skill). It could be shorter, for sure, but I don’t want to end up with just “pull on the line during the cast.”
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Happy Chinese New Year 2016 - Year of the Monkey. I'm down visiting Ashly's family for this period which gives me a chance to catch up online, with work, making sure we have enough stock of Hot Torpedos - 8 and 6WT blanks en route from Spain, some fly tying (straight back to guiding when back in Belum next week), continue with learning to fly my drone into trees and of course welcoming in the God of Wealth. I'll be catching up with some of the lads on the 10th in KL this week.
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In Australian TV shows there is a lot of fishing for a big fish.
Massive barra, huge GT(up to 50kg), big reef fish, game fish like marlin, sailfish, wahoo, and over 20kg kingfish.
When I watch it and see them casting these massive lures on the heavy rods I wonder if I would have any chance with a fly rod in such an environment.
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This one is right from a Hotel room in Trondheim, Norway.
We have covered emergers before with the Klinkhamer. A truly amazing fly, but pretty complicated to tie and one needs rather expensive materials. Now I´ll show the same concept of fly - an emerger pattern - which is very easy to tie and only uses two materials.
OK, the hares feet are not so easy to get - specifically if one insists on arctic hare, but one can substitute that with deer hair for the wing. Don´t use rabbit ... it does not float as well and on top (this is for the environmentally conscious) - Rabbits are kept in cages ... that´s bad I think.
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Manic is probably an understatement for this week.
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When it comes to fly fishing – and that is what my life is all about - I live my life a quarter-mile at a time. As usual I am into lots of fly fishing stuff these days!
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Fly fishing in spring creeks is on a different order of difficulty and challenge than other venues for fly fishing for trout. The water is generally very clear and not fast and the window through which the fish see, is generally not broken by rough current. It’s usually best to see the fish before it sees you.
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The fishing on Temenggor is very challenging at the moment, I think this is because of the increased water clarity. Normally it's not possible to see much more than half a metre, so intense is the algae growth, however currently I can see three metres. Normally this would be a good thing, but I think in terms of Snakehead it makes life harder instead of easier. The Toman see you, they see casts coming in, and I think they just feel more vulnerable near the surface. This applies to fishing for Toman off babies as well - and there are very many sets of babies around at the moment, and more appearing daily. This means that the best time to catch free-surfacing Snakehead is dusk and the best opportunity to catch Snakehead off babies is when there is a ripple.
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