Mika Lappalainen | Friday, 29 July 2022
Fishing has been okay. Lot of fish around 35 cm, not so many over 40 cm. In some years it has been better, I doubt that past two years when there were lot of fishermen, it had some effect to fishery. If so next summer will be different again. River sides are quite this summer. I have longed something during fishing, not sure what.
They say that fishing is fishing despite techniques. That is not true, even my clients realize that. Many of them are using spinning rod also. They want to get better with flyfishing and also I do recommend flyfishing on rivers here. Anyway even after short time during fishing discussion often turns how you have to be more present at fly fishing. Of course when spinning you have to have skills etc, but you fish easily like a robot, cast, reel, some stops on the way or short pulls.... cast, reel... repeat..
When flyfishing, you need to be more aware things. More precise I would say. Wet fly, stremers, nymphs, dry fly etc, doesn't matter what you use it is fly fishing BUT.... Remember again that everything before word -but is a lie.
Of course all of those are flyfishing and all of them requires skills. You can get lucky and catch a fish, to be good you need to have skills. To be excellent, you need to train and get better all the time.
When guiding beginners I often start with wet flies. Using superpupa gives lot of contacts with fish and also nice size fish now and then. Casting is simple and fishing also more or less. It gives people good feeling and they want explore more.
Our waters are clear so it is fun to teach clients nymphing, they can see fish and flies in some spots and it is really learning experience about float and fish behaviour for us. Nowadays nymphing seems to be the "way". And why not, it is really effective, it requires skills but....
I have caught fish with multiple methods, many species and still there are always one flyfishing technique which enchant more. You have figured out what it is. I can't say that I wouldn't love any take from fish, feeling weight on streamer when trout or salmon takes. Same with nymphing and then comes that huge BUT....
Who can put hand in your heart and swear that surface take is not making your day. Pike's furies take on popper, trout killing surfboard, grayling drowing the fly, whitefish sucking fly to the depths, trout rising slowly, opens the mouth and swallowing the fly etc. Exactly the same things happens with nymphing, wet and streamers, we all know that. To see it happening is something that money can't buy, at least for me.
On Sunday we went with Satu to fish our favourite spot in Kitka. I did some nymphing and then deiced to go just for dry fly even there was no rises or any hatching. I knew that graylings could rise if I have a right fly on the line. And they surely did, I had nice hour and some good graylings, I trained pick up cast at the same time, some accuracy. Yesterday evening we did short trip to Kuusinki and kind of hidden spot there. Dry fly fishing for me please, this time it was even better fishing, now there was some rises, this time it was close distance fishing, leader 14 feet and fly line out maybe 3 feet. In other spot some long distance and again accuracy and casting training at the same time. There was light rain and still nice dryfly fishing even in fast water.
Fishing is fishing and then not.... There are something magical fishing from surface, so you can see takes and misses. Oh man that I have been missing it.
Have a nice weekend and go surface fishing
Mika the Legend
Ps. Satu's reel finally arrived from Malaysia, where we forgot it. It took about 3 weeks from post and unfortunately with some damage, fixable anyway.