Salmon fishing – Chasing Silver Fly Fishing Magazine

Posted on 2016/01/31 by Antti Matilainen

More Than a Hobby

While now Im sitting in my couch, arm firmly wrapped in after shoulder surgery, I have time to think my salmon fishing career. As many of us maniacs, also I, started on a very young age. I still can remember my first touch to that fish that affected me permanently.

I was in River Teno with older guy from our family. He is a Teno-veteran over more than 50 years and one of the salmon anglers that I respect the most. He still do harling and fly fishing, even though he is 70 years old. Tough guy! Anyway, that time he did harling and we started our first run with three rods, all of them was rigged with traditional Teno flies, in one of the best pools in middle Teno. And it happened right away! Fish on and as I was a rod-guy I had a chance to play with the fish and reel it in. I was so happy when we got it in to the boat and she was laying in bottom of that beautiful wooden floor. It was totally fresh atlantic salmon around five kilos! I still could remember it like a yesterday even it happened 21 years ago, I was thirteen at the time. After that moment I was hooked.

Year after I got my very first salmon rod and reel. I had tied some flies during winter and was ready to go when season started. It was a hell of a job to learn to cast with long, double-handed, rod even though I had fished trout with fly for few years. That big rod had some balls and I loved to cast with it even I was really poor in it. I still love those 15 footers and only use them. I know, it would be maybe easier with shorter and lighter rods but I dont care, 15’s is my thing. Salmon fishing was really hard in those first years, and it still is, but I managed to land few fish. Not big ones but grilses and medium size salmons with my own flies and it was the starting shot to this madness.

Shortly after those very first years I started to fish some other rivers, mainly in Northern Norway and I was deeply in love to this sport. It felt so special to go fishing trips with older guys, hear them telling tales from the old times and so on. I loved the nature up there and everything involved! In one of those early years I realized that salmon fishing is so much more than catching the fish. The more years have passed since the feeling is strenghtened!

Nowadays, after a long winter that feels longer and longer every year, its so nice to sit on the bank of some great salmon river and only enjoy the summer and relax. Salmon fishing had come more than a hobby, its a passion, a lifestyle! On winter time I spend hundreds of hours in front of my fly tying table, watching old photos and dreaming about summer. When it finally comes and you meet good old friends at the opening of season its like dream come true! Dream that come true every year, its very special.

Over these years I have been so lucky and privileged to fish in some of the best Atlantic salmon rivers in the world. Every of them are great on their own way. One way its refreshing sit on the bank of Royal Dee at beginning of February in middle of snow storm and on the other hand there is some magic those July nights in long river boats in Northern Norway when sun is shining all night long. As much these, I love the excitiment of opening night in River Orkla. Not to mention that feeling of what it is when I sit my own terrace after sauna, beer in my hand and listen and watching when big salmons are coming up in to the Mighty Teno!

This lifestyle have gave me a lot of great friends from different countries and social classes, not forgetting those guys whom I started. Even though it takes a lot of my time and almost all of my money, I wouldnt chance it for anything. By the way, I still fish in The Great Teno, every summer and nowadays I have own little paradise up there. Hopefully that majestetic river will return its former glory with new rules at the near future! Fingers crossed!

Posted on 2015/10/022015/10/02 by Antti Matilainen — Leave a comment

Not a Smallest Chance

Sometimes when you hook a big Atlantic Salmon you know right a way you gonna have big trouble’s to land it. This happened to me at Alta this season…

I was fishing Elvestrand beat and Gammelplassen pool at best time of year. 10^th of July. We had a group of three, Timo the license owner, John Vegar our friend, and me. We have had one round per guy one pool above and I knew it was my time to start when we drove down to Gammelplassen. Water level was 1.5 feet above zero so pretty good to whole Raipas. When boat glided over the pool I wasn’t so sure do we have a good chance here, water seemed to go little bit slow. John Vegar who is local and also guiding a lot in river said that Gammelplassen should work very well at this water level so I didn’t have reason not to believe him. He is usually right when speaking things like this.

I had just rig up new leader, quite a short one from Stroft Gtm 0.50mm and big 15cm Strömsö-tube fly. I was testing my new G Loomis line which have intermediate belly and sink 1 tip. Just a while ago it had worked pretty well in this kind of current. I started to fish from bank just where Gammelplassen starts. Stream isn’t special in any way here but as many pool in this river, Gammelplassen is famous it’s big salmons.

Right away when I had enough line out I fell pull in my line but couldn’t hook the fish. Next cast and same thing. I was thinking what a hell! I test my brand new VMC-treble hook and it was razor-sharp. Hmmm.. Its only me fishing this pool and boys are enjoying their beers so I gonna take two steps upstream and try one more cast I was thinking. Next cast gave me small pull in same place, like a grayling but I release my loop and fish was on! And not a grayling! JIIIHAA!!!

Right a way fish took 20-30 metres long run to upstream and jump. Oh f… it was huge! Over 15, probably +-20 kilos and fresh straight from Alta fjord! It stopped and in same second I understood what gonna happen next. It will go to where it came from, to Arctic Ocean. And poor me, I was right. I tighten up my drag from K Rowland reel, which have very powerful cork drag, but salmon took longest run what I have ever seen. When I understood it will take all my lines I tightened drag one more time. Now I was able to give really hard pressure to that fish. But nothing happened it just swam downstream like a crazy and I was running after. I shouted to John Vegar that we have to follow it with the boat. He was ready and engine was running so it was all up to me was I able to run fast enough to the boat and have a chance to follow this monster. When I was close at boat John Vegar shouted to me: “ There is big tree in the water, don’t let salmon go there!” I was only thinking, what can I do if salmon want to swim to that tree. In this point it had 200-250m line out so I knew I don’t have any control to it.

So I ran and ran and swam a little bit between, heh heh, 100m distance to boat felt like a kilometer. When I was next to boat and ready to jump in I felt that which I was waited last minutes, everything was over. Nothing special happened, hook just went off. I was mad to myself when I was reeling in my running lines and backings. Second year in a row when I hook fish probably close to 20kg and lost it. But to be honest this time I wasn’t even close to land it. Salmon was driver and I was passenger.

As this short film from Timo Maunumäki shows, salmon fishing is all about feelings. Joy, happiness, excitement and much more, sometime despair and sadness, hah hah. Now when Im writing this I can think back those nice moments at that sunny day with smile in my face. Alta gave some consolation prize’s to all of us later that night so have to be happy to that… This time 😉

Posted on 2014/12/19 by Miki Äikäs — 1 Comment

Happy Holidays

Some years back I managed to land quite a large Atlantic Salmon from northern Norway. When I got back to the bank, it was measured 129 cm in length and we weighted it in a C&R sack. This kind of sack is very good, because it weights almost nothing, even when it gets wet. It is very easy to pack to the fishing bag and it doesn’t hurt the fish. The salmon was a female, bright one with a marks from the sea lice. I was totally amazed because I never believed, that female of that size can even be true.

Anyway, I had a Salter´s spring scale up to 20 kg, which is very sharp and a good scale. When we lift the salmon up with a bag, the Salter went down to the bottom, and didn’t move at all. It was totally at bottom. Fortunately my very good fishing pal Aki had his digital scale in the car. That one was able to operate up to 25 kg. We lifted up the salmon with Aki´s scale, and scale showed figures from 20,6 to 21.7 kg´s. We decide to go with the lowest weight and let fish go back in to the river. I can tell you, it was really big female salmon…

Of course it is still my personal best, and in this life, there must be all the odds with me, if I´m going to break that record. Since the salmon was released I decided to order the reconstruction of it. We had a very good pictures and very precise measurements, and here in Finland was one guy who works with these. He promised to make a trophy for me.

When this guy called me, and told that my fish was ready and shipped, I started to tease my wife about the hanging the fish on our living room. My wife doesn’t understand at all why someone would hang animals on their wall, so I was decide to play with her in this case. One morning I received another message this time from the shipping company, that my fish has arrived. I jumped to the car and drove to the their office to pick up my trophy. It was packed in to a large cardboard box, and it was filled with a newspaper and the bubble plastic. I carried the box to my car and it was so big, that I had to fall back the back seats. I drove back home where my wife and a son were sitting on the terrace having a breakfast. I jumped out of the car, and like a little kid with his new toy, started to rip out the fills.

I took this huge trophy to my arms and with mighty proudness I showed it to my wife. She looked at me with a very strange look in her face, stood up from the chair, opened the front door and said: ”Never”. She then stepped in to the house and closed the door behind. My son looked at me with a question mark on his face and I just stood there and felt very stupid. As you may have guessed I never placed the trophy in our living room. Instead, it hangs on the wall of a Finnish fly fishing shop Helsinki Spey Clave.

With this odd story I´d like to wish Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone. And remember: we must save the salmon, nobody else will save it for us.

Yours, Truly

Miki

Posted on 2014/09/022014/09/23 by Miki Äikäs — Leave a comment

Which lines should I use?

Now that´s a question having as many right answers as there are salmon fishermen.

I’ve been fishing salmon with a fly rod for quite a long time. During the past years I’ve tested hundreds of lines, both factory made and custom made, and from time to time people ask my opinion about which lines I prefer and why? Well, I think these things are never straight forward but with the following words I will share my thoughts about the lines I prefer to use during the salmon season.

The golden rule, that I have followed all these years, is: Choose your line to find a good ”pull” in different pools. When you find the ”pull” you can offer the fly to the salmon with a right angle and right speed. The swing speed. In other words, depth of the pool is not as important as is the strength or speed of the current.

In june, when the rivers are large due to melting snow and when the water is cold, it is good to slow down the speed of the fly. In most of the cases, we look for pools where the current is slow. Spots where those big first running salmons most of the times stay only for a little while. You need to be very lucky to meet them. In early season conditions I prefer to use full sinking lines. Sure, many times a line with a floating belly and a sinking tip is the right choice. Especially when you want to let the fly stay, or hover, at the same position a little longer. But if you want to control the speed of the fly and get it deeper it’s best to go with a full sinking line.

My favourite sinkers are from Triple-D fly line family made by Guideline. These lines are very easy to cast and with them I’m able to offer my fly to a salmon the way I want. In a pools where the current is strong and “thick” I prefer to use I-S2-S4 and S1-S3-S5 heads. I use these heads with my Loomis 15 footer and cut them to about 11,5 meters in length. This length equals to about 40-42 grams in weight. Also, a bit older shooting head family from GuideLine, Power Taper, has a few very good members such as S3-S4 and S5-S6 heads. Pools where I prefer a little more speed I like Triple-D heads such as like H-S1-S3 and F-I-S2. Another very good sinking line is RIO AFS S3-S5. It is very easy to cast and I haven’t cut it at all. It works very well in full length.

Choose your line to find a good ”pull” in different pools

When the water gets warmer during the season, I use mostly a floating belly line with a clear intermediate tip. My absolute favourite F/I shooting head is Vision Ace, the older model more precisely, which is not in the market anymore. The discontinued ACE had a mono core and in my opinion, it is still one of the best fishing lines I’ve used during the “normal” summer conditions. I have discussed with some fly line manufactures about the mono core lines and, as far as I understand, the problem seems to be how to make a line with an good casting features with around monofilament core. Sad… Different kinds of polyleaders are also good alternatives to be used at the very end of the fly line. I was in Norway few weeks ago and used clear intermediate tip line with an intermediate polyleader. I think it was a good combination. Floating belly with a clear long intermediate part is very easy to cast and carries the flies nicely just under the surface.

I hardly ever use a full floater. Well, actually, because I don’t like so much dry fly fishing for salmon, I simply don’t have any use for full floating lines. I use mostly tube flies. I don’t want to weight my flies so using sinking lines with light tube flies, more sensitive to the current, with an longer leader makes me a happy angler. This has been my way to catch those nice chrome coloured Atlantic salmons.

If I look back on this season here’s what I used: two of my rods, both 15 footers, only a few lines, Triple-Ds which I mentioned earlier, Vision Ace F/I, and one custom fly line made by my dear friend Pepe Linden. A very good line. That line is special… The body of the line is from old Loop or GuideLine intermediate followed by a short section of sink 4 and I use a S2/S3 tip at the end. The line sort of goes deeper and moves slower from the mid part of the line. With this line I can slow down the speed of the fly really nicely without loosing it.

I strongly believe that it’s more important and more productive to chance your fly line than changing your fly. Of course, sometimes, it’s the other way around but I personally use only few models of flies during the season and change my fly line more often.

Have a nice upcoming winter…

Sinking line and a Scandinavian tube fly – job done. Photo: Harri Hilden

Posted on 2014/08/152014/08/16 by Jari Koski — Leave a comment

The two rod system

Like many silver chasers I too like to carry around two rods when I’m fishing. There are several reasons to do this and I’m going write a few lines about this subject on the following post.

Backup rod

When you carry two rods, you will always have a backup ready to go if something goes horribly wrong. This is especially important if you are fishing a river that requires a lot of walking to reach the pools. I personally don’t want to lose one day in my fishing season because I did not have a backup rod with me.

Short rod, Long rod…

I usually carry two different length rods with me. For example a 13’6” and a 15’ on a big river or a 13’ and a switch on a smaller one. If the fishing requires a lot of precision, then it’s a switch rod and a single hander. Bigger rods are nicer on wide open pools and if you have to wade deep. Shorter ones are excellent if your back is against the bush or if you have to “work” the fly during the swing. I can also fish the fly differently with a different length rod.

Set of different lenght rods ready to go

Different lines…

I always rig my rods with different lines. I think that many times it can make a huge difference when you fish through a pool with a different line. My most used set up is to rig two multi tip shooting heads, one with a floating body, the other with an intermediate body. This way I can change the tips on both lines to fine tune my swing. I love to use heads that have an Skagit label on them. This does not however mean I use them as a “real” Skagit… I use them both as a “normal” scandi shooting head and in other places like a “real” Skagit. That’s a whole other story, so I won’t go any deeper on that subject. All and all the line choices are always dictated by the conditions on the water and the spot I’m fishing at. So there are endless combinations that I use.

MY favourite Atlantic salmon set up for summer fishing. 15′ Meiser Highlander with a F/I/sink2 line and 13′ Echo TR with a 420gr skagit rigged up with a 12′ clear tip.

Having fun…

This is something that I always emphasis in all things fishing related. It has to be fun! Using different rods during a slow day of fishing is a great source of motivation. A little change always brightness up a slow day.

So remember to have fun! Tight lines, not tight faces.

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Posted on 2014/07/182014/08/16 by Jari Koski — Leave a comment

Dreaming about my home away from home

I’m sure that many of you have a similar place where you just feel like your home. For me this place is British Columbia in western Canada, to be more precise the Lower Mainland area and Vancouver Island. The fishing is awesome, the people are the nicest people you will find anywhere and it is very easy to move around and do things. The scenery is pretty nice also.

The mix of all these things makes it just a darn nice place to be and with the current euro vs CAD currency rate, pretty much the cheapest world class fishery there is.

My friend Pekka fighting a fish of a lifetime. A big chrome Chinook is taking him for a ride

I know that the renowned steelhead waters of the Skeena area get most of the media hype, but there really is world class fishing in the south as well. I’ve caught all 5 species of salmon, trout and steelhead there and I just love fishing there. What could be more fun then catching chrome Chinook and Chum on the fly? In my book not many things.

Especially the Chum fishing is very underrated and carry a bad rep. They just are super fun when you target the fish that are pushing in with the tide. For me they are more of a fly fishers fish then the mighty Chinook as you can target them in slower and shallower water and don’t need heavy sinking heads to catch them. Many times have I fished tidal areas where you see a school of Chums come in and then you just put the fly in front of them and get ready for one hell of a ride. It’s like sight fishing for Bonefish in a river! In my book they are also the toughest fighting fish that swim in freshwater. I have caught Atlantic salmon and Chinook up to 40lb and several saltwater species including Tarpon, Tuna and Bones and have to say that the fresh Chums are right up there with the best. When you hook a fresh, 20-25lb male Chum you are in to the best ride there is in freshwater. They will test your gear and fish fighting ability’s with their brute strength and unpredictable behavior.

When you hit brutes like this you know your going to get a workout.

Big fresh Chum putting a deep bend on my rod

So, if you have nothing planned for this fall, go ahead and book your flights to Vancouver. They are predicting a huge run of salmon this year. I’m going for sure!

When you start catching fish like this, it is very addicting. My friend Janis with a silver chum

Perry throws some mean line on a twohander

Contact my friend and super guide Perry Wilson for more info on Vancouver island fishing and me if you want to hook up with a good guide on the Lower Mainland. No, I’m not guiding there, but can recommend someone to you if your looking. You can find Perry’s website here: http://www.northlandfly.com/index.htm

Tight lines!

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Posted on 2014/06/302014/08/16 by Jari Koski — Leave a comment

A dream week in Gaula

First of all the headline contains a lot of sarcasm… We had a nice but fishing wise quiet week on the Gaula ending to midsummers. The bites were few and far between. It was one of those weeks that if I had to market Atlantic salmon fishing to someone it would be a pretty tough job. It was certainly not a trip for a beginner.

All and all the season on the Gaula has been a disaster and the low water levels contributed to the fact that our fishing area on the lower Gaula did not stop the few fish running. So there was a lot empty casts made between bites and. Even the weather which is normally very nice on the Gaula was not cooperating. It was cold and very windy most of the trip. The positive side to the low water levels was that we got most of our action with floating lines and light tips.

The highlights of the trip where, my friends beautiful hen salmon of about 11kg that was safely released and salmon sashimi that we made from a smaller fish. We also had a great crew and a lot of laughs on our week there. I do have to say though that all the other things could not save the trip as it’s all about the fish. The slow fishing and very low returns to the whole river did not leave a positive feel. I am very concerned about the state of that river and hope all the best for it. I just love to fish on that river and it would brake my heart if it’s downward spiral does not come to a stop.

Thanks to everyone and hopefully I’ll be back again on the golden river soon. Additional photo credits to Ilkka Neva and Joonas Saarikko.

Gaula catch statistics and water level at Gaulfossen.

Joonas Saarikko with he’s perfect salmon

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Posted on 2014/05/012014/05/23 by Juha-Matti Tuupola — Leave a comment

Highly confidential

Salmon season is almost on the door in Norway. Here are few very simple, but effective patterns for Atlantic Silvers. This kind of tube flies are very popular here in Scandinavia. Especially in the clear water rivers in northern Norway these flies had done really good job when given a chance to prove their abilities.

This selection is from a fly box of our Editor in Chief, Miki, and he has used similar Monkey winged flies many years with very good success. This sort of flies are really easy to tie. One important aspect with the wing is that it won’t get stuck to the hook so easily despite it’s fairly long and thin. It’s great when you can be certain that the fly is in a good shape all the time. Underwing is tied from bucktail and it’s topped with Monkey hair carefully tied to provide slim and lively construction.

Miki only use plastic tubes with these patterns and if for some reason he has to go deep, or slow down the speed of the fly, he prefers to use sinking lines instead of adding weight to the tube.

In my opinion the key point for successful fishing is speed and presentation of the fly.

Sometimes it is better to use weighed tubes. But if you think what happens during the swing, we actually don’t know what´s exactly going on end of the tippet. We simply don’t have a precise control over the fly but what we can control is the fly line. The fly line is our tool controlling the speed of the fly and that’s why it’s sometimes better to use sinking lines even if the pool is not so deep.

Now you know the big secret. I recommend tying some for the coming season no matter where you’re after Atlantic salmon. Have a great upcoming season and remember – Do the Spey!

Monkey flies from Miki Äikäs. Top secret.

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Posted on 2014/04/182014/05/23 by Juha-Matti Tuupola — Leave a comment

River Mörrum early bird

Our sales guy, Tommi, has been having some good time in River Mörrum Sweden the past week or so. Today he reported some fascinating news about a catch of his fishing companion Mr. Mikko Jutila. A fresh salmon measured 112cm was landed today and according to locals it was the earliest salmon catch in 74 years. Amazing! Mörrums Kronolaksfiske has been reporting about a good start in their Facebook pages but we wanted to share some insights about the fly that was chosen by the fish.

The previous day Mikko caught an eye on an old rusty Ullsocken fly in the river bank. Poor Ullsocken, a real Mörrum classic, was in a bad shape and the guys made some funny jokes about anyone who would dare to tie it on the leader. Well, there’s always one in a group who is brave enough to do thing others won’t do. So was in this group and this guy was the only one who hooked a few good sea trout that day and all others didn’t have a pull.

Encouraged by the catches the guys went to a local fly fishing shop to get some tying materials. Not everything they hoped was available so they bought what was in their minds “close enough”. That night Tommi tied a tube fly variation of Ullsocken to his friend. Though, Mikko was pretty much in charge and appointed the materials that must be used in the fly. What the guys didn’t knew yet was, that it would only take ten casts for the first Atlantic salmon catch in Mörrum river in 2014…

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Posted on 2014/04/142014/05/23 by Juha-Matti Tuupola

A short Tay report

River Tay, in Scotland, has been very good in this season. Especially in the lower parts of the river salmon catches have been great. The average size has been also quite good. Our Editor in Chief, Miki, visited Lower Kinnaird beat on week 15. Kinnaird Estate is located in the upper part on river system. Water level was very high and water temperature was around six degrees celsius. Conditions were really tough but hey, isn’t it more usual than unusual in salmon fishing?

The lowest pools of river Tummel, Mike´s run and Bridge pool, were having very good water levels and we managed to catch and lose some nice springers. In the photo below you see one of the Tummel´s beautiful springers, caught by Mr. Reijo Ikonen from Finland. The fish was measured 92cm, and was carefully released after posing to our camera man. In the photo above Mr. Teemu Venejärvi is casting on Junction pool, where river Tummel meets the Mighty Tay.

Tummel springer — Photo: Teemu Venejärvi

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