Exactly the same situation as last year almost exactly at same time.My cosy little tying corner had slowly turned into a place I just flipped instead of relaxing.
All my stuff had changed place from last years spring-clean and I was in a situation when finding anything was impossible,it all has to do with my laziness and total lack of systematics but once again there came the day I just had enough and started to clean up a bit.
Here is a pic of the stuff I had on top of the table :
My idea was to just clean up the table but once I started so don`t continue with al my boxes too,and let me tell you it wasn`t an easy gig.
I sorted up everything I had and it took me several hours before I was ready with this job.
Also found some nice surprises while diggin in all boxes like two #1 Keough capes.
And after about six hours I was a bit drunk but who cares,had my tying materials organized and found a lot of stuff that I had forgot I even owned.
Now it´s funnier to tie flies again when you find all your materials when needed.
Still in need for some new ties before spring.
As many of you readers know I´m a guy who need some inspiration if I´m gonna tie any decent fly.
It´s not a secret that I have been very much inspired of Niklaus bauers and Simon Grahams ties but I have also found some new inspiration sources and one of them is Mr Brad Bohen from http://muskycountryoutfitters.com/ and his musky flies.
It all started with Simon Grahams Musky flies,I found pretty interesting but the size was an obstacle for my casting skills,so I tried to copy them in a smaller size,I landed a fish now and then with them but pretty soon I forgot them in one of my many fly boxes,until this autumn when it was time to go out fishing with my floating tube,remember Simon said they are not intended to bang out 25-30 meters,10-12 meters will be enough to study all those small pots and pockets among the reed.
It worked pretty well but still found it hard to cast,even if I had tied them smaller they still had a size of a seagull and way too much materials which absorbed a lot of water.
Then one evening just surfing around on Youtube I noticed a video where Mr Bohen was tying a Hangtime optic minnow and some plans started to grow inside my head.
It was late autumn,pikes were feeding in shallow water so I wanted a fly that doesn´t sink too quickly,a fly that allowed me to have looooooong stops in line retrieving so my variation of this fly was to not add some eyes or UV-resin head,also used a tail copied from Simons Banger fly,spread the two first Bucktail bunches and tie them only on top of the shank,not around it as I used to do.
Winter with snow and ice came too soon so I hadn´t time to fish with this fly as much that I wanted but the few sessions I made was very promising,think this one will work fine in springtime too.
Want to tell you that I haven´t create anything new and revolutionary here,someone has surely create something like this before me,just wanted to tell you how I became to a solution like this which suite my kind of fishing.
Also made an SBS video of this tie,quality is shit but please forgive me,it´s my first attempt to do this kind of videos.Next one hopefully will be better.
At the beginning of this winter I felt pretty down but now thinking it over once again it's only two and a half months to my official season starter,the GoExpo fair in Helsinki.And with a bit of luck you can in the end of march go Fishing for seatrout at Lauttasaari in Helsinki that too,and a month after that I maybe be able to start my pike season.
The reason why I'm not in nag mood is all about my new challenge in Salmon fishing,or let's call it training so far.
Have study some videos about both casting and tying.
It has been challenging but funny to learn how to tie salmon patterns,still far from a pro but progressing all the time :))).
Have also bought me some new tying materials mostly for salmon patterns but also found a color of SF-Blend called midnight blizz,and for a ver valuable price too.I had to buy several packages of it.
Also bought me two new reels,Orvis Mach IV # 9-11 and a Greys GTX 4 # 9-11'both also for a very valuable price.
Next on my shopping list is some or at least one line to my bigger reel and I was yesterday to shop Spey Clave in Helsinki and got some advices.It wil most suddenly be a floating Skagit line between 490-550 grain with a 10 or 14 ft,think I will wait for some fair offers here.
Funny thing here is that I havent done anything that was planned but as long as I have time to do the necessary maintenance on my boat it will do.
On todays program top is cleaning my tying corner,think I could ne in need for some more space here.
And then some new ties.
Hello folks.Had some plans for the next season already before last season ended but as so many times before they went totally wrong.
The reason why my plans changed this time was a store with 50-70% of the price and a couple of guys recommendations to try a Double hand rod,after two days of thinking and study I decided to go for it and now I´m a owner of a 13ft,#8-9 line weight rod,I´ll ave never ever tried a DH rod so it might be funny to try one next spring,I have tried to find a reel for cheap but good enough to take 200 yards of backing,a runningline and a heavy skagit line,have some in mind like Vision GT or Nite,also been offered a Hardy Mach as used but don´t know yet witch it will be,the point is that I don´t want to spend a fortune on a reel IF i don´t gonna fish regularly with it.
Here´s the rod with my pike reel Hardy demon 7000.
Have also study some flies and ended up that tubes are the way to go but will probably tie some on hooks before spring.
I just have to say that it has been a real challenge to tie small tubes after all those pikeflies big as seagulls but to be honest I´m pretty satisfied with these,I really believe that these could work witch in my opinion is very important,remember when I tied some flies for Seatrout earlier this season and it felt pain in the ass not to have any faith in either the fly or in anything that you do,this time it´s different.
Here´s the flies tied so far.
Have a feeling that tying some smaller flies doing good to my tying skills so will probably continue to now and then tie these small buggers too.
But even if I have a amount of 2500!!!! Pikeflies I have also tied some more from my latest inspiration source Muskie serie in Scandinavian style.
Here´s still one with a size 6 tied streamer so you can see the difference of my pike flies and small streamers.I just have to admire peoples tying skills who tie flies on size 20-28 hooks,I can´t imagine to do that with my skills.
There will be more flies both for Salmon and my main target Pike but it´s kinda refreshing to try something new and suddenly the winter doesn´t seem so fuckin long anymore.
Sorry for no posts for a while,it´s just that I have been so busy with different things,some of them has to do with fishing and some of them not.
Anyway now we have come to Christmas Eve and it´s time sit down and relax with family and friends,eat some good food.
Only two weeks behind without fishing and I'm already having withdrawal symptoms,don't know why this winter seems to be very hard,much harder then before,I mean...I'm here but I don't feel I'm living.
It seems to be a long winter this year,we had our first snowstorm here last week with wind up to 35 m/s and 40 cm:s snow.
This week hasn't been much better,not so much snow but -15 degrees cold.
I have tried to cure myself with fly tying but....I don't know.....I'm not in right mood for that either right now,thank god christmas is right behind the door so I get something else to think about then feel sorry for myself.
Can't find more to nag about,have to wait for the feelings to calm down before I will do some kind of a summary of this season and some maintenance to my reels and to my boat,washing my lines Etc,Etc...also time to repair all things at home that has been with less attention like to paint my fireplace.
That's all for right now,here is some latest ties which have to wait a long time before they will be introduced to the judges next spring.
Weekend is over and and looking at forecasts it might have been my last time for this season.From Wednesday to Sunday snow and up to -8 degrees is going to freeze all my spots were I would be able to go with my floating tube.
Anyway,as you can see from the title I was fishing both Saturday and Sunday And I wanted to share my experiences from those days with you.
Was very early at the shore on Saturday morning.Had plenty of time to get my stuff ready before there was light enough to get out floating.
Weather was nice for fishing,rainshowers,water temp 3-5 degrees air temp 4-5 degrees and cloudy and dark.Tee only thing that was missing was wind,in front of me was a total calm suurface of the sea.
The only good thing with no wind is that it´s much easier to maneuver the floating tube.
I had a specific bay in my mind so I didn´t fished so carefully among all reed on my way to it but still landed couple of small buggers on that short way to it.
Also got one pike landed while trolling with my fly.
While I was fishing a shoreline closing in on that bay a boat with two fishermen drove into that bay right in front of my nose and started to fishing.
Immediately they started to get pikes,not any big guns but anyway...
They killed every single fish they got and after some time I just couldn´t watch that slaughter anymore so I started to think out a plan B.
Because there was no wind at all I decided to take a ride round the whole island because I knew some nice spots on that route.
Have to say it was a nice trip to do,I mean,I had been there before but with a boat but with a tube you can get much closer to all nice pockets among water plants.
Landed some fishes now and then and when I got cold I went out from water and had som sandwiches and juice,just sitting on a rock and watched the landscape,man I love this time of year at our beautiful archipelago.
As you can see there´s not much of wind here.
After my "dinner" I fished this small bay for a while but I had to slowly go back before dark.
I spent almost ten hours fishing so I felt kinda exhausted when I arrived home just in time for a warm sauna and a cold beer.I felt really relaxed.
Day two.
While writing this I can sat that my season is over almost certainly. -20 degrees and 20 cm snow for next week so I guess it´s soon time for some kind of summary for this season,sad but true.
Anyway,I was about to tell you about day two.Have to admit that my warm bed felt like a reckoned option instead of cold wet clothes but I knew that there would not be many trips anymore so I dragged my aching body out to the sea,decided to go to the "slaughterbay" first and then on my way back check out couple of spots.I was on the calm side of an island and not surprisingly without any contacts but as soon as I came to the windy side I landed my first one.
Fished in that bay but only one contact in over two hours wasn´t exactly what I was looking for so I decided to go back in that wind again to try my luck.
On my way out from the bay I caught one more which was the last catch for the season.
Sorry once again for the clumsy release,had hardly no sense in my fingers at all so....
Went slowly back following the shoreline and fishing but there was no more contacts at all,both my legs and fingers was frozen so I decided to give up.
Went home to Sauna and bubble bath.Had already on Sunday a feeling that this was my last session for the season so now there will be fly tying,boat maintenance and repair for....3.....4.....maybe up to five months,
Man this sucks......
