Viking Lars | Saturday, 24 February 2018
Sandstorm is a fantastic fly. It's simple to tie - two materials, durable and it's one of thise flies that seems to catch fish, even when all else fails. The fly is originated by my friend, Allan Overgaard, from Copenhagen, and if you din't like the fly, if you haven't fished it and experienced its merits, just know that Allan is one of those who seems to catch the big ones - all the time - evne when no one else is catching.
I believe that Allan originally tied the Sandstorm as a goby imitation, and when you see it wet, there's a striking resemblance. It's composed of just two materials (except thread and hook). The tail is sand coloured speckled Cfraft Fur, the body is a mathcing dubbing and the hackle is the same Craft Fur spun in a dubbing loop.
Like me, Allan prefers his saltwater flies unweighted to keep them as mobile as possible. In my experience, the Sandstorm works best whwn fished with a slow and steady retreive.
When I'm wading, I use either a floater, a hover or an intermediate, depending on water depth and wave activity (in big waves you *really* want a line that cuts under the waves or subtles takes will never be felt). From the pontoon, I'læ often use heavier line to get the fly down to the bottom where the real thing (gobies) live and where sea trout are used to finding them.
Gobies are present all year round, which makes this imitation even better to have in the box.
Have a great weekend!
Lars