That is what its all about!

Just back from what seems to be one of the Europe’s least impacted areas -- Lapland. It does not matter, if its Norway, Sweden or even Suomi -- if there is some wilderness left in old world thats definitely there! Mountains, valleys, rivers and lakes, crystal clear water and specimen fish are just what all fly fisherman are dreaming about. This time our trip was focused on, yet for us undiscovered mountain area, where trout was the name of the game. Then after, we moved down to valley to catch some grayling too. In the mountains, it is all about how lucky you are with weather and how carefully and cautiously you are with fishing. Trouting in this areas is like hunting -- some times you have just one or two casts -- not more. These trouts are hard to find and easy to scare -- thats why this type of fishing is what i like the most! Various types of caddis flies during the day, when water warms up to 13 Celsius, and some black streamers for night (water cools down to 7), is just what you need to be successful! Trout are not so choosy as graylings are. Down in the valley with right fly and proper presentation you can land one lady after another, but if you are not precise with your choice -- prepare to blank! Thats the graylings -- fly matters here!

As always, also in this trip, we had up and downs, but in general all was even better than one can expect… To tell long story short I added these  videos.  I hope you can enjoy at least some part of what we experienced this year!

Race with the trout:

Trip retrospective:

Tight lines,

RR

Typical Latvian

Its getting better and better! During the last 3 years our trout stream population have increased in numbers, at least in rivers where I love to fish. Of course, there are no scientific evidence and these are only my observations, but if you constantly land more trout than year before with the same fishing techniques and tactics, this is the only logical explanation one can give. And the best time to judge how many trout are in the particular river stretch is during the mayfly time! One, two or , wow, even more fish in the same corner quietly picking up mayflies in a drift, is just what a dryfly fishermen can dream about.

Kristaps on the move

And if you know the spots where to go you can find several such a places in a same day. During the May and June I landed and released four  trout from one particular spot, and these where above average size. So what does it tells? At least that there are some trout left, so lets hope that next year it will be even better!

This one is fat...

A bit of flies, rise and techniques… Mohican mayfly is well known and established pattern in this game, but during the last years I have found that slight modifications from old Oli originals, are necessary, to improve the fishability of this fly. First I’m using microfibets instead of deer hair in the tail part – fibbets are translucent and not so bulky as deer hair. Also I replace deer hair in the wing part with polyyarn or more often CDC – that is best dry fly wing material for me. And finally more important, for the big flies, I’m not using capes for hackle anymore. I think than natural mayfly legs are much thicker than cape feather can imitate, and more important,  it does not give enough stability support for your fly. Instead of capes I brush and make a legs from deer hair – it looks much more realistic and gives more support to your lovely mayfly. I hope I will find a time and give the illustration how to tie such a fly in the near future!

Feeding lie

Many of us tend to think, that trout rise is aggressive  an noisy. Yeehhh, there is such a happy moments, but more often you can detect the rise only just by a little movement on the water. And usually its not so obvious! That’s the reason why I’m working more with my eyes than fly rod most of the times. At the very beginning of dryfly season, in the May, water was a bit muddy in our rivers, but in the same time there was a plenty of mayflies around. What does it means for the trout? It means – adaptation… During this period mainly I found trout rising in a shallow water or very close (5-10 cm) to bank. There is some logic‘s behind such a behaviour, because water was too muddy for usual feeding lies and trout addapted accordingly. In one of the pictures (feeding lie) you will see the particular trout feeding lie on the other side of the river just 20cm next to the bank. Isnt it adaptation? So, we must be cautious…

So full with may flies - almost like cod!

Last but not the least… I was trying to full one nice browny with already approved fly, but even  after 10 perfect dead drifts she (I noticed sex a bit later…) refused to take. Then I changed a tactics and presented my mayfly with pendulum parachute – uuuupppppssss, the fish was on! After just one cast… It seems that it was not possible for trout to abandon such a landing of  a hudge „mayfly aircraft“. To make long story short I must say that actually presentation produced the take, not only the fly! And few days later same technique produced another trout. And you not what? These are the most breath taking moments we all are after, when trout atacts your fly immediately after the presentation. So, you better be prepared!

Here its only catch and release!

First bow

Its all about temperature… And higher is better, because its spring after all. Last weekend I was exploring some Northern Latvian trout streams, with the aim not only to land some fish, but also to experiment with some new trout flies I have tied specially for this season. As you might remember last week was quite hot and dry, by this waking waters from a long winter sleep and definitely this was the time to get in a waders. Quite a lot of options at the moment one may suggest: chub, asp, sea trout and salmon kelts in Salaca, as well as some trout in our tiny rivers. And also pike season is around the corner! But this time for me it was all about the trout and tiny streams.During the snowy winter time I have tied some flies for the spring and besides all time classics (Woollys and Mudlers) I prepared some new stuff to experiment with. So, this was the moment these flies where waiting for.

Saturday still was quite hot, with the few clouds and a light wind breezes. Water temperature in the Pededze was around five degrees at the morning, that was promising, as well as the level. It is not wise to wake up early and start fishing as soon as possible, because water temperature at he morning is low and it increase during the day time hopefully will boost the trouts activity. This is opposite to what you can expect in the summer, when its too hot during the day time.

I started to fish in the Pededze and already in the first corner my bright colored wooly produced some nice fish that escaped after few moves. Not too bad for the beginning! I moved on downstream, but without any success in following hour… Hm, there should be something wrong! And it not the fly, or tactics either – I have changed speeds and angles of the swing as, but with out any success. May be water in the Pededze still was little to cold for high fishing and nasty takes. Virgulica, a small tributary definitely was a bit warmer, because it is smaller and during the hot days warms up faster.

Another bow

Virgulīca is like an alpine creek – only 2 to 5 meters in width it is fast and rocky with bushy banks and lot of sheltering lies for trout. Already in the first spot descent fish attacked my bugger but with out any success. I moved on a little and had another take – this time successful! Nice, average size char was fighting the current with my fly in its mouth. Then another one and after a while Golden trout. F..k, what is this, some one may wonder. Yep, there is hatchery around the corner, so all these beauties has escaped some while ago I suppose. More surprisingly this spot produced another fish during the next minutes, so apparently it was an evidence that trout is seeking for the warmer water, and has entered the Virgulica recently. I reached first pool upstream from Pededze, that definitely was first stopping point for the entering fish. Nice cast under the bush, my fly swigged deep in a black water, and…  Yes – h e a v y   s l o w l y take! Its all about the scale in the small streams. It is nothing special to land a kilo + fish in big river or in the lake, but to see such a creature in small stream is something special. This time it was nice rainbow mail with the ugly sight and behavior – truly nice fish. But, historically, these ones where hatchery breaded, and as a fishermen I am always after wild ones. So, brownies was the name of the game this time! I changed from ugly colored buggers to my newly designed flies. Under the overhanging bush, deep in the dark current, where all types of food are passing by, is the spot that is just what decent trout is looking for. First I checked lie in the front of the big boulder, but without any success.

Almost there...

Then I swinged  my fly deep under the bush and, yes, finally I had what I was after. Nice browny showed his orange dots on the surface and after a while I admired him in my landing net! Wild and fully recovered after spawning he reflected all the beauty you can get out of cold small stream in early spring. During the following hours I landed few more fish: nice rainbow over 1kilo, and few more brownies up to 38 cm in the upper part of Virgulica. What a beautiful day!

At the evening water temperature reached 8.1 degrees , in comparison to 6 degrees at the morning. Amazing! Next morning clouds covered the sky and strong northern winds brought colder weather here! Unfortunately water was colder too – 6 degrees during the day time, with out any significant increase! Fishing was of coarse not so good as day before, but, surprisingly, brownies was less effected by the temperature than others – I caught 5 browns and only two chars, without seeing any bow or something else. Environmental hardiness of these brownies sometimes is just unbeatable!

I ll be back with sea report after a while!

Greetings.

Only C&R

A bit smaller yet beautiful brownie

Autumn Bow

Autumn and early winter  of course is spawning time for Salmonoid species – not only for those  from sea but also for freshwater trout. Week ago, I was visiting Armands place in the Northern part of the Latvia, to see how he is doing with his hatchery and to catch some fish. I would say, that this is one of the most beautiful hatcheries I know- located close and taking water from Virgulica creek , it is perfectly suited for hatching different salmonoids including Brown trout, Arctic char, Grayling and even White fish. So, those who are not shure about their fishing suceess, can prepare some nice pictures of fish from the hatchery.  I don’t know a lot of places in Baltic states  where you can see 2+kg brownee or char. I was even more lucky – Armands prepared such a fish for evening, that of coarse was best addition to whiskey, that we shared during the evening talks. Because the different reasons, this year was not so good for business, but don’t worry, numbers of trout and grayling still is enough to supply the rivers and lakes, where Armands  is in charge of stocking.

Opportunities near his beautifully located house are plenty: big stream, small stream and plenty of pounds, offers different opportunities for almost any fly fishermen.

Checking the corner...

During the late autumn, sometimes even in mid November, you can expect some snow here, that virtually makes day longer and fishing somehow funnier. However, the nasty hands of global warming, are also putting some fingerprints here, by changing the snow to rain and freezing temperatures to muddy river banks. Water level in the bigger stream Pededze was a bit more than enough for fishing,  so I focused my fishing activities to Virgulica – small tributary, which holds wild trout, grayling and rainbows. No doubt rainbows are foreign species that are stocked all around the places in Europe, and because of that in general are not so interesting objects for fishing. But here as well as in few more places in Northen Latvia it is little bit different… First reason – some part of fish was stocked years ago, and is feeding constantly on their own, and second, even more interesting, they have spawned successfully few times, so you can expect a take from 100% wild bows. So, its worse to take a try with a fly rod in your hand. Because of the spawning time I was fishing only in the spots where I was not disturbing brownies, with the aim to see how  nice the bows are in winter here.

Brownie after spawning

Fishing was high in spite of the low temperatures, and more surprisingly there where no rainbows in between first five fish I landed. Guess what? Yepp, the brownies. Most likely they where hungry after spawning – even the smallest fish was quite slim, but apparently fast enough to be quicker than rainbows. I did not landed trophy sized brownies, but biggest one was big enough (around 40 cm) to put a decent bend in my beautiful Opti stream rod. When first activity calmed down, I felt a gentle touch to my minnow type streamer, but with no afterword… Hmm… I made another cast, waited a bit more to let the fly sink deeper, and after the second strip – yes! It was a nice take. Completely wild black colored Rainbow was fighting with attitude until I was able to land it. You can not see such a healthy bows in many waters in our region – beautiful tale, powerful body and natural water type color. Armands tend to think that there are few wild rainbows here, so this was maybe the one. During the next hours I landed few more fish, mainly taken on grey minnows, size 8, so I was happy about this short winter day. All the fish was safely released, and lets hope to meet them again next year.

Absolute beauty

At the moment I have launched a Catch and release contest, so get ready for the next year. Authors of best videos will receive awards from LOOP  and certainly size matters here. More info here.

Also for my Latvian friends – I am working to implement a forum in Latvian for 2010, so come back soon to discuss.

All the best,

Reinis

What is mayday? If you don`t know ask an old captain who is struggling to hold the ship above the water after the crash or watch how mayfly is drifting downstream and disapearing in black current where mighty trout is laying. But for me mayday is time to get out with Mayfly box in the pocket, plenty of patience and hopes, that I will meet golden torpedo or trout as we use to call them. Trout on a fly it is always “hot topic” and it does not come much hotter in freshwater flyfishing than trout on dry fly during the fresh summer evening. This is a short report with some advices how to make a dreams come true.

When everything is possible…

Everyone who calls him self a fly fishermen, knows what is Mayfly and what is brown trout. In general it is simple big fly`s are fly`n and big fish are feeding. But you must know that there are so many reasons why these things can go wrong and why it is not so simple: wrong whether conditions, no mayfly hatch, absence of trout or absence of patience and presentation skills. Even more… In my opinion it is question about to be in right time and place and what is most difficult, not to miss a chance if there is one. This year I was holding the “mayfly pulse” since end of the may when first big Ephemeropteras was emerging. I was waiting for first hot days that will warm up water and boost the hatch. Know it is windy and rainy, but last five days was hot and windless – so I was expecting some activity at the evenings. Trout are quite shy creatures and would prefer to lay in shade than feed in bright sun, so it is no better chance to get one, than in late evening. We where out in a river at 7 pm and whether was perfect- few drops of rain, no wind and mayflies cruising above the water. Last weeks whether was dry, so water level in the river was low and we where expecting that fish will be quite spooky. In the first fifteen minutes we recognized three average sized fish feeding unregulary on the surface. No doubt that they where feeding on mayflies – mainly dead imagos, hence emerging insects where almost absent on water. In spite of it, I hooked first fish with olive Klinkhammer short after the first cast, but immediately missed it. It happens time after time – you know it.

First one

When trout are out, out for mayflies, they are leaving their “safe homes” and are feeding in shallower waters where they become extremely spooky. That’s the reason why I am using upstream casts, where it is possible, to present a fly. It is much safer and usually will not spook trout if presentation is gentle. So, naturally I was moving upstream after the first take and I recognized small water disturbance close to beaver dam. No chance here – fish was feeding inside the dam in the small pockets. In spite of this I landed a fly two times inside the damn dam with 100% confidence that take will result in broken tippet. I was waiting for take until suddenly. You idiot, I recognized that I`ll better leave it than harm it (trout). Some years ago I have observed trout preferring to feed on dead mayflies in small bay with almost standing water. They where cruising and picking up dead mayflies one after another. This strategy is something opposite than usual behavior when trout is picking up drifting mayflies on the stream. So my advice here – be aware and take a close look on these spots too.
After 20 minutes I hooked up another brown trout with mohican mayfly and again almost on second cast. I have recognized the place where the trout was feeding before, so few casts was more than enough to get in touch. Typical trout – made some two jumps after I hooked her (female) and bended my rod nicely before I saw here mighty look from the landing net. It was easily to see, that fish stomach was full with food. May be tomorrow she will be so full that would have no interest in my flies. I released it after short photo session and would say it was around 0,5 kilos and some 37 cm in length. Meanwhile time was running quite fast and I had left maybe hour more to chase bigger ones. Knowing the river is key factor to be successful in such a case. I was moving quite fast to the spot some 500 meters upstream, where deep slowly floating water was facing rapids – perfect outlet for big brownee.

Second gift

This place have a magical feeling, that comes from almost black water that runs close to ferny bank with majestic spruce trees. That’s it – the place I was after. Just patience. I was focusing on the outlet and first 10 minutes was quietly watching – how the river is flowing, how flies are flying and how nature is speaking to me. First rise, than second… Fish was appearing time after time in different places, and my hands was calling for first cast. You know that feeling your body say yes, but your mind is struggling and saying to be patient. In these cases blood runs faster… Just no rush, because maybe I will disturb some trout that are going to feed. Finally I made my first cast to the fish that was feeding closer to me. No response. Few more drifts – no reaction fish even refused to rise again. I was still standing in same position casting some 10 meters more upstream for another fish who was feeding close from opposite bank. I decided to make longer cast rather then move little bit upstream, because I had a feeling that it will disturb the first fish I was trying to catch before. After long cast you must be careful not to disturb a fish while preparing for the next cast. If you will lift a fly line of the water, exactly where the trout is feeding it can disturb whole thing with ease. So I decided to let the fly drift some 5 meters more until it was safe to make another cast. Another thing is, that trout opposite to the grayling, sometimes use to change feeding place and hence can take the fly in different spots, so I was ready for… Ready for stunning take after another cast – my Mohican mayfly was drifting some meter or two close to the opposite bank. Beautiful trout, little bit bigger than first one with absolutely full stomach was looking at me again with the same anger in the eyes. Two nice fish in two hours – not so bad for over fished Latvian rivers. But still there was something missing – that bigger one that always escapes. I was still standing in same spot, with minimum movement to not disturb water and cautious creature that fortunately was still feeding bellow the overhanging bush next to the opposite bank. I saw it too times again but not more.

Patience awarded

One cast after another – fly was drifting below bush and my hope was with it. I changed a corridor where I drifted a fly once ore twice – no response. Is it a fly? No, no, no, trout are not as choosey as grayling. It was almost too dark for fishing at that place when the 50 cm beauty finally decided to take my fly. That’s it what is all about! Beautiful female with torpedo shaped body and astonishing amber looks. When I released the fish I knew, that tomorrow whether will change and maybe we must say au revoir to Mayfly trouting. At least fo some time.

Catch and Release. Only...

P.S. My brother released also two nice fish that evening little bit downstream, so we where happy about this river stretch where trout density seems was like in older times. It is exactly what about every fishermen is dreaming, so please respect the natures right to live – so Catch and release. Only…
Here is classical flies – just in case.

EDB Mayfly

Mohican Mayfly variant

RR

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