Merry Christmas to all of you

Season is over and I have made a video of some nice moments from 2014.
It's going to be kayak customizing and fly tying for a couple of months now.
I want to thank you all for following this blog and wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year with deeply bended rods and screaming reels in 2015

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3QCuaWKJO4

Dec.13-14 fishing.High hopes,low results

Actually should be grateful for opportunity to at least get out fishing but due the shitty weather at least I would like to get some results in form of nice pikes for all the early wakeups and freezing my fingers and feet but...you know...just one of these weekends again.

We have had some very strong winds here lately,so also on Saturday morning when I woke up.
Wind from south +12 m/s and 17 m/s in gusts including a heavy snowfall wasn't exactly something to raise my mood 5.00 am and have to admit that staying in bed felt very tempting but after some coffee and sandwiches  it was time to jump in my car and go out for a pike hunt again.

Due to the shitty weather and slippery roads it took me a while to drive to my planned destination and also took some time to empty my battleship from snow but after some struggling I was out paddling against the wind thinking how lucky I am to be able to go back with a tailwind.

Strong wind forced me to fish only on some calm places where I was able to paddle to so Instead of fishing a lot of spots I decided to fish few places more carefully then to paddle around for more spots.
Spent about seven hours out at the sea and when I started to loose sense in my fingertips and toes I decided to stop fishing with less than ten jacks landed,Tough day.

Next day I went out with a friend and the weather had made a U-turn,it was calm but cold,-3 degrees to be exact.
Water level had dropped about 30 cm from yesterday,Cloudy but no worry for rain.

Even if the weather conditions were better today we were a bit late out so we decided to fish just some nearer spots because days are so short this time of year,pitch black at 4 pm already.
Not much to tell you about from this day I'm afraid.
Six hours saldo was frozen fingers and toes which should not surprise you.
One !!! landed jack,three dropped and a big mama following the fly for a long time but not accepted it.
My friends day was even more miserable,no action at all but a broken rod.

Well....I always try to see some positives in weekends like this or at least learn something and I have learned something from this weekend:Blanking or landing just small or few fishes is far more funnier from a yak then a boat but if the weather is cold or shitty in any way it doesn't matter if I fish from a moonraker,I want fishes or at least action.

Season over...NOT !!!

Funny how quickly things can change.In this case I'm talking about the weather,two weeks ago we had temps low as -8 degrees and since then it has bee all from + 2 to +5 degrees which has forced me to think that the season is far from over again.
Had already give up hope of more fishing this year and stored my Big Rig for the winter but looking at next weekend forecast with temps up to +5 degrees and raising water level made me  take some steps backward for more fishing  and also long terms forecasts has promised some warm weather at least until Christmas so I feel pretty happy at the moment,winds might be an issue but we'll have to wait and see.

As I told you I had already stored my yak for the winter and immediately after washing and cleaning I started to outfit it a bit with echo sounder and some smaller  things like decals for example,also some work with the anchor trolley will be done.

I'm working on a solution for my transducer,got a Garmin echo sonar but the transducer kit for the drain hole is made for Lowrance so some small changes has to be done before mounting.
But at the moment is all preparing for some weekend fishing.

Fishing Nov.29-30.11 2014

Watching the weather I can't help the feeling that 2014 season is coming to an end.
That weekend was cold and snowy.On Saturday forecasts promised 1-2 m/s wind from NW but the truth was close to 10 m/s and NE.
That wind combined to some snowfall made it kinda extreme conditions for fishing but even if the water level was LOW (-45 cm) the fishes were still feeding which was a small surprise for me.
Had in mind do just some quick trip due to the weather but you know,need for fishing win over common sense so no wonder that I barely felt my legs and fingers when I came back to shore at twilight time.
Seven hours in that weather was tough but memories of ten-fifteen landed pikes warmed my soul a bit while driving home and a warm sauna and a Irish coffee was the right cure for fingertips and feet.

Later on sitting in my sofa in some kind of trans I woke up to the reality in form of a phone call from my kayaking friend asking me to come out on Sunday for a short trip,took me a long time (2 sec) to say yes and here we go again.

We went out pretty early next morning which this time was cold and totally calm and water level still low so once again my expectations wasn't too high.
-3 degrees and wet waders and gloves.....took also my mood down below zero but started soon to feel better and just minutes after that when I landed my first for the day I forgot my aching muscles and wet clothes.
Just as I thought Sunday was far more worse than Saturday,I landed four and dropped at least five,maybe six fishes.
And yes,had no sense in my fingers and toes at all when we arrived to the dock six hours later,
Still have to go out every time you can because two-three months forced rest isn't too far away when my worst nightmare comes in form of a ice blanket.
Gonna end this post with some photos and a short video clip I made and keep my fingers crossed I'm able to go out soon again.

  

And the clip I promised     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zj2HGb1iLdk&feature=youtu.be

Artic fishing 22.11 2014

My planned weekend trip with my kayak went a bit different due to a heavy snowfall on Friday evening.
First snow this year and we got about 10 cm at one time.
But as you know,the need for piking beats common sense I found myself at shore early in the morning emptying my Big Rig from snow and dressing me up in some warm clothes for some action out on water.

It didn't take me too long to get out on water among all snow and ice.
It may sound silly to go out in these conditions but I have to say that I really enjoy being out on days like these,no boats or other kind of noise,some peaceful vibes here.

Well it's cool to calm down after a week at work but hey,I'm here for the fishes so better to chuck some fluff before it gets too cold.

What a awesome start,eight casts and four landed pikes,seem to be a nice day at office.

While releasing my fourth fish my hookouts broke and had to get a long with my pliers until my friends were to arrive with a boat.

Even if it was a nice start and I was very tempted to continue I couldn't do so without my hookouts so thought it was a good time to take a break,drinking some non-alcoholic mulled wine which suit perfect in weather like this.

Felt kinda therapeutic to sit on a rock and listening to the silence and enjoy all surroundings which ended in some noise I recognized  to a well known boat,my new hookouts had arrived.
Had a quick talk with my friends before I decided to continue fishing.

This time of the year days are awfully short and at three pm I had to paddle back to the shore and pack my stuff before it would turn to pitch black.
Stopped at some spots on my way back and managed to land some decent fishes on my way back.

It was getting colder now and saw some ice close to the shores but "my" shore was still open so I had no problems getting to land,only issues was my frozen feet and especially my fingers.

Hard to do anything with no sense in your fingertips.

I also made a quick small video of todays fishing which you can see -->  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PQju-PfigA

But if I sum up this day except from frozen fingertips I got some fresh air,some workout in paddling through that pud,15 landed pikes and some time for myself in our stunning archipelago so if you ask me was it worth it my answer would be YES !!!! After all,I'm a piker to the bone :)

Fishing 15/11 2014

For once I was out in time,for first time since...I don't remember,out at sea about 8.30 am in some kind of dawn,gloomy conditions.
Wind from east 3-5 m/s,cloudy and cold was the name of the game,don't know the water temp but it was cold,perfect weather...

I was out with two friends of mine,I was with kayak and my friends with boat.
We still decided to fish pretty much same spots except the first one,too rocky for a boat with a water level of -35 cm.
Had no expectations at all,just nice to be out a bit.Not many casts before there was somebody nibbling my fly but didn't hooked himself.
couple of casts later ,same story.
Seemed to be small jacks on the run today so I changed to a smaller fly and not long before I had my first fish in the yak.

These small buggers was feeding a lot more than a month ago and it was fun to have some action now and then and a quick phone call to the boat confirmed my thoughts,they had also some action which was nice to hear.
After some time we met at a long reed bank which has been pretty good lately and the same thing happen even today.

We fished for some time,got some jacks now and then but suddenly my friend on the boat had a big hit on his fly and as soon when we saw it we knew that his old PB 102 cm should be history if he managed to land this monster.
About ten minutes later he had a big mom in the net and if you haven't seen a happy man then take a look at these photos and you can see one.
I got some more photos from the trip but I think  the only proper way to end this post is to put up these photos and enjoy them,we fished for hours after that but you surely understand that our thoughts was in the past.

His new PB is now 115 cm/ 12.0 kg:s

Jackson Big Rig,first two months.

 Season is turning to an end slowly so I think I could sum up and share some experiences with you of My battleship from Jackson Kayak called Big Rig.

As some of you know I have been more or less a kayak-freak for a time now and a Jackson team-member too since August and I've been an owner of the BigRig since late August. There will probably be many updates to come later on as I get more experiences. 

First impressions 

 After we finished our talks and sealed the deal with Timo from the JK distribution for Scandinavia http://www.erakettu.com/index.php?section=1 it was time to choose a battleship for me. Thanks to a friend and also JK team member Mikko's experiences and advice I also turned my sights to BigRig. Mikko, like me, also fly fishes for pike from the Big Rig. This was a huge factor why it wasn't so difficult to choose from the different models.

My first comment was "WOW,it is much bigger than I had thought",especially the impressive width (94 cm) was far more than in my yaks before,also this was the shortest one I've owned (401 cm) so I decided to take a rudder as an option to avoid any zig zag movements on the water.

Second impression was all the little details,like the anchor solution, rod protectors/throughs for rod/reel combos on both sides of the yak and nice storage space on both ends and under the seat,definitely enough for a fly angler.
Also that "Jackson bottle" and two lureboxes, not to mention the rod holders was pretty cool gear to get with a yak.
The weight (45 kg:s) of the yak was something that concerned me a bit but after you learn some tricks it's not that difficult at all.

Test ride 

Got my yak on a Wednesday and days were just draaaaaaging on waiting for the weekend and the long awaited testride but finally even that day was on hand.
Weather was cloudy with the sun showing up among all the clouds but not too much wind which was good so I could concentrate on discovering this boat with no other things to worry about.
First thing at the shore was to put the seat on place,you can choose from HI or LOW position,I chose the HI position. It was like sitting on a normal chair,very easy to stand up.Secondly I adjust the lumbar support,very easy to do,I love functional solutions which are easy to use.
Because this was only a testride I had only one rod and some lures and a landing net with me instead of packing the whole yak full.
My first thought was the stability, it's incredible,first yak I dare to stand up in without any fear, not that I often stand while fishing but it's nice to know that you can do it if you want to.
Secondly I noticed that it was a bit slower than my other yaks,BUT !!! It's the price you'll have to pay for stability, I'm willing to do that, it's not that slow anyway.
As I told you I had not done any special arrangement for the yak to suit my fishing, I was pretty excited to test the original anchor rig which could be awesome with no rope in your feet .
The weather was fine when I left the shore but typically when I was as far as I had planned to go the weather quickly changed from this

To this

and just minutes after to this

So I had the "honor" to test my ship in tough conditions immediately and even if my energy was about run out paddling against the wind I have to say there was NO PROBLEM to handle this yak, barely wet my feet, I was in love 
Summa summarum of the first trip was that I noticed the incredible stability in rough conditions.The original anchor rig wasn't good,or let's say it don't suit my fishing, got several times tons of weed hanging from the anchor. For those who want their anchoring point only back this solution is genial.
So,an anchor trolley was on top of the list and I wanted this to be done properly so I installed pulleys with stainless bearings

At this point I haved change the position of the pulleys and I'm very satisfied with the function of the trolley now.
My fear of tangling my fly line into the anchor rope was unnecessary, I got the rope under the seat .Got some plans to modify this solution later this winter to make the trolley even more comfortable to use

In use

So far I have been extremely happy with my BigRig. Not much negative to say about it. Couple of things I'm extra happy with:
First of all I love the stability, it really is incredible.
Secondly I like that I can store two rod/reel setups on each side of the kayak in the rod protectors, it's very nice to have them stored like that, you can't have them in rod holders behind you due to your back casts. I have my landing net in one of the "rocket launcher" behind me anyway.

Also like the pre- mounted GoPro holder in the front of the yak. It enables you to take videos of your fishing, nice variation to the head strap mounting.
I have also mounted a rack for a normal camera in case I want to take a nice photo of a nice fish.

You can also see the rod tip cover on the right side of the camera and the pre-mounted rack for your GoPro camera on the left.
That rack has been awesome for me, I remember a nice fish times ago which ended in a photo like this:

After that I wanted to do something to be able to take decent photos and I can recommend this solution to all of you who fish often alone,it's cheap and easy to work with.
At the end of the season I was fishing in Blekinge archipelago Sweden and on the second day the weather conditions were tough,maybe toughest I've ever been in.
Wind wasn't more than 11 m/s at max but the rolling waves were very big and for some minutes I was a bit afraid I will fall of the yak but it behaved so consistently I very soon forgot what kind of conditions I was in and I could concentrate fully on my fishing.
What was important for me with this experience was that I know that I can go fishing with this yak in almost any conditions in my home waters.
At this stage I want to remind you that these things I write about are NOT any kind of absolute truth,
only MY opinions.
There isn't a kayak which is best in everything, it's all up to you what attributes you appreciate and choose your kayak after that.
So,even if I think my relationship with BigRig will continue for a long time there's some things I would love to see changed
Would love to see a waterproof small storage box near the seat were you could keep your keys,phone etc,etc...
So far I have resolved it with a loose box, there's that much room under the seat.
This is my third yak and so far absolutely best for my use, it has some deficiencies but all the basics are there,and always nice to find your own solutions too to suit your own fishing.
I hope This post of my thoughts answers any questions you might have about the BigRig, I can say that if stability and space is your primery criteria, Big Rig offers them both.    

Hook bounded.

My first touch with these flies was just couple of days ago In Karlskrona Sweden were my friend fished with them and are also designed by him.

Really liked them and so did Blekinge pikes too,Mikko gave me two of them and gave me a good SBS lesson and I had to copy and now I'm just waiting to get out to fish with them.

Have a good feeling about them.

This may even be some kind of turning point in my tying,If these flies work as I think they will I might go back to tying on hooks again 

Olive and that black one is tied by Mikko,two others by me.Believe in them so much I think I'm gonna tie up some more of them forthcoming week to got some good color combos before weekend.

I'm using a slightly different hook than Mikko.I'm going for a Partridge Universal Predator X in 6/0 size.
What makes this fly so special is the tail part of it,it's tied on a small shank which makes it turn athwart in retrieve stops.
Nothing new with flies tied on shank,even I have tied them but they have been gigantic sizes,up to 50 cm which makes them too big in most of the waters where I fish.
These are about 18-20 cm:s long which makes them more allrounders in my fishing...I think =D

I start this tie by making two shanks,one small for the tail part,for the tail part I'm using a 0.8 mm thick and for the hook a 1.00 mm thick.

After this part it's tying that's count's.
Starting with the tail bur first I use to prepare it with kevlar thread.

This one is tied with hackle feathers and flash but you can use Schlappen etc,etc as well.

Connect the tail to second shank and tie it to the hook,Once I'm using kevlar thread to do it.

As you can see on the two last pics here the shank is a bit shorter then the hook shaft,Empty space is reserved for the head.

Materials used on the hook is simply bucktail and flash and some ostrich herls.Three bunches of bucktail is enough.
On this fly I don't hollow style but on a fly with bucktail as the main material I think it's important to use quality materials,My choice for bucktail has been Helsinki Spey clave Extra select tails.

You can take a guess which one is extra select here.....

I have used three different colors but that's of course all up to you.
Then there's only the head left,three bunches of deerhair,trim it and finish with some epoxy.

Almost forgot,added some rubber legs on this one.
It should be a fly that sinks when retrieving and slowly rise up in stops  using a intermediate line.
Hoping to get some tests done next weekend