Viking Lars | Saturday, 3 September 2016
It's strange how fishing for the same species of fish can vary greatly from country to country - and in a few cases, from river to river.
Fishing for feeding, predatory species is one thing, of course, where the fishing will depend greatly on the prey available to the fish. Even though it may not always make a huge difference, I find little reason in fishing a crayfish imitation where there are no crayfish. Many predatory species are opportunists and will eat almost anything they think is alive and edible, but still, I like imitations.
But then there's sea trout fsihing - in rivers, that is. Once sea trout (and salmon for that matter) enter the rivers they eat very, very little and after a while in the river, nothing at all. So availavle prey no longer plays a role in catching them. Early, fresh fish are in my experience generally less picky and I think most of them, if presented with a fly at the right time, will eat it.
But especially for sea trout, there are great differences between say the UK and Denmark. Traditionally, in the UK, sea trout are caught with very small flies and the same goes for many of the Norwegian rivers that hold sea trout. Generally, in Denmark, you can't go too large. And these are the same fish that don't feed...
River topography, water clarity, surrounding, fishing pressure, depth and so on are all variables that play apart, but can the fish really be that different? Or would a small aize 12 wetfly be as effective in River Karup in Denmark in hooking a 20-pounder (landing is another discussion) as it is in the UK? And will a 15cm heavily dressed, black tubefly get as many responces in Wales as it does in DK?
I rarely fish anything but black flies for sea trout in rivers, but there's one particular fly I really like, and that's The Blue Rabbit - a pattern my friend Brian Størup from FutureFly made a long time ago.
It's called The Blue Rabiit because Brian used to make the wing of a free-hanging rabbit zonker strip - I prefer a normal hairwing with either Craft Fur for the larger sizes or arctic fox for the smaller flies. It's a effective fly all through the season.
Pattern:
Tube: Red.
Tag: Silver (on larger flies).
Butt: Chartreuse.
Body - rear half: Silver tinsel.
Body - front half: Long fibred blue dubbing.
Wing: Black - artic fox or Craft Fur with a little flash.
Front hackle: Long, blue hen.
Head: Orange disc.
The one in the PoD is the smallest I use - app. 5-6cm (wing length) and I use them up to about 15cm wing length.
Have a great weekend!
Lars