Posts

Showing posts from 2017

The ups and downs

Image
Every long time angler knows that this sport is seasonal. You get hot streaks and cold streaks. Just the nature of the sport. We hit a cold one on our Blue Fin Tuna trip this time. It was literally the coldest trip we have done to our spot. The average temps were 5-7 degrees(Celsius) colder then normal. When we landed in Barcelona it was only 7 degrees!! 7!! People were wearing big down jackets outside the airport. The fishing was even colder then the weather. There just were very few fish around and the ones that were around stayed up for very little time. Lots and lots of bait but no fish on them. The chances of catching one was very slim. We kept at it for most of the week and tried our best. Our captain worked he's ass of for us. A big thank you for that. Anyone who has fished for feeding BFT with a fly rod knows that the sport is super hard 90% of the time. It's like fishing for Key West Tarpon, but you have to cast from a moving skiff in a 6feet swell. They ar

Spring pike

Image
The spring pike season has been short but good. We were iced out later this year then in the previous five. The conditions have been windy and cold for the most part. The name of the game has been to put on as many layers of clothes as you can. Se there's been a lot of people on the water looking like the Michelin man. Not the conditions I prefer as every year that I get older the more "allergic" I get to the cold. This is the second year in a row that most of my spring time piking has been done in pretty arctic conditions. Michelin man at work The fishing however has been fantastic! Me and my buddies have stumbled on spots full of bigger fish. I don't remember seeing and hooking up with so many big pike in quite some time. The landing percentage has been poor and all the really big fish have been victims of the infamous "long line release". Lots of fish around the 100cm mark have been landed though. Sami with a beauty.  Fishing a floati

Eyes

Image
One of the most frequently asked questions about my baitfish patterns concern eyes. What eyes did you use? How did you attach the eyes? The list goes on and on... So here's a few thoughts about the subject. What kind of eyes do I use? Many types to make it short. From synthetic JC eyes to glow in the dark paper eyes. I used to use natural JC eyes too, but I am not very comfy about that idea anymore. The bulk of my eyes I buy from China. Kinda ashamed to say that, but that's the truth. Plain silver and red eyes from China are just soooo much cheaper than buying the same stuff from a fly shop and they work just the same. The more special eyes are fly shop material. By special I mean the ones that have shifting colors in them. You know, the cool ones. Same goes for the synthetic JC eyes. They are all fly shop material. I also some times use tab eyes that are also fly shop material or home made. The range of eyes that I use go from 4 mm to 10 mm. Sure, I got some bigger on