New ties - speyflies on hook or shank

New flies - "Classic" Speyflies and Hoh Bo Spey's

Lady Caroline #2/0

Pink Intruders on Skagit Shank - articulated

A lot of new flytying materials are comming in every day at the shop (www.skagitanglers.com). We're super busy takeing care of costumers orders but still find the time to tie a few flies now and then.
We have been steeping back to the roots a bit and have been tying a few old school spey flies as well as some more of the "usual" intruder type flies for salmon and steelhead for the comming season. It's still dark and cold outside but now it's the best time of the year to fill the boxes. Hope you might find inspiration in these pics to help you fill your own fly box with hot flies for the 2016 season.

Hoh Bo Spey's and the materials you need

Coast Orange inspired Spey flies

We have a lot of new top-quality materials from Semperfli, OPST and Sybai in stock. The list is too long to sow here so we urge you to take a tour in the shop. Our suppliers for sure knows how to produced the best materials we've seen in a long time.

We also present to you our new Skagit Shanks in stainless steel. These articulated shanks in 3 sizes are perfect for a lot of different flies and we love tying our Hoh Bo Speys on these shanks simply because it looks stunning. Hoh Bo's fish best unweighted and tied on our new shanks you will get a light and well balanced fly which is super hot for salmon, steelhead and seatrout throughout the season.



Skagit Shanks in 3 sizes.

More Hoh Bo's - some with Skagit Cones

Here's just a few pic of the latest creations for you to enjoy (hopefully). All materials can be found in the shop. Feel free to contact us is you have any questions on info@skagitanglers.com.

We gladly ship to costumers in every corner of the globe and are proud to be your one-stop skagit shop. You can follow us at Instagram for your dayly fly fix find us at #skagitanglers  https://www.instagram.com/skagitanglers/

Take care and happy tying out there to you all.

New supplier - Sybai flytying products in stock

Sybai flytying products now in stock

Skagitanglers still continues our effort to expand the huge range of high-quality flytying products we carry in stock. In our constant search for new exciting stuff for flytying salmon and steelhead flies we came across some super nice products from Sybai. Now it's about time to bring these products to the knowledge of all our clients and followers. We know you want it - now we have it :-)


Sybai have a vast amount of different and mostly synthetich made products which fit perfectly in our niche of flytying. We like to tie flies - like our intruders and the likes -with light, mobile and generaly fairly "flashy" materials partly because it's just plain fun and partly because it works. Salmon, seatrout and steelhead dig a flashy fly which stands out and looks different from what everybody elses are throwing at them ;-)
 
We have for a start picked a long list of Sybai materials to the shop and to name just a few we now have: Craft Fur, Pearl Braid Rib, Fine Twist Hair, Angle Hair, Tinsels, and 4 different kinds of dubbing. All of these great products comes in a breathtaking numbers of color variants. We're sure there will be enough to choose from for all fly tiers around. Just take your pick :-)

Please take a look at the full range of top-quality flytying products from Sybai.

Did we mention that we sell these products at very reasonable prices www.skagitanglers.com

Skagitanglers and Salmon Junkies team up

Skagitanglers and Salmon Junkies team up for the 2016 British Columbia program

We at Skagitanglers love to travel to fantastic fly fishing destinations around the world and we have for some time been working on different ways to bring our clients to some of the best salmon and steelhead waters in the world.

In our research we obviously have been looking toward our fellow Danes at Salmon Junkies for inspiration as they without doubt are marked leaders in their field. Steffen Juhl and crew have some 25+ year’s experience as travel agents and both our companies share a lot of values and ideas on how to make the perfect trip and experience for clients. To make a long story short, Skagitanglers are now able to offer fishing trips to prime locations in British Columbia under the wings of Salmon Junkies.

Call or mail us at info@skagitanglers.com  if you have any questions about the trips or on which gear you should bring. Take a look at www.skagitanglers.com

Booking and enquiries for the 2016 Skeena River program can now be made to either Steffen from Salmon Junkies or Claus from Skagitanglers. So far we have weeks available and we have some vacant spots spread out through the season.
Call or mail us at info@skagitanglers.com  if you have any questions about the trips or on which gear you should bring.

To fly fishers around the globe Skeena is a dream destination offering nearly boundless opportunity to pursue what are among the largest sea-run fish on the planet.

The 2016 Skeena River Program

Spring Steelhead – the holy grail of flyfishing

We start the season in March/April in search for the holy grail of flyfishing which is swinging for big aggressive spring steelhead. We’ll concentrate our efforts on Skeena in its lower reaches between the town of Terrace and tidewater, where steelhead hold surprisingly close to the river’s edge in shallow tail outs and riffles. Please check out Salmon Junkies´s iconic Spring Steelhead movie here and judge yourself https://vimeo.com/66457561 

 

Chinook - Not for the fainthearted

In July we will target the Kitimat, Copper, Kalum and Skeena rivers, depending on conditions. Skeena region Chinook average 20 to 40 pounds and range up to 80 pounds — and perhaps beyond. The Skeena’s biggest have been known to reach 100 pounds! Please note: Fly fishing for Chinooks is a 100% adrenaline activity. It is not for the fainthearted. On the other hand, for fly fishers after the juiciest kicks in fresh water, not much else can top it. If you still not are convinced please check out Salmon Junkies latest BC film here - http://salmonjunkies.com/chinook/chinook-the-heavy-weight-battle/#more-12236

Skeena Summer camp - "Big Bang For The Buck"

Salmon and Steelhead fishing on the Lower Skeena is unparalleled. Renowned rivers such as the Babine, Kispiox, Sustut, Bulkley, Morice, Copper and Kalum enter the Skeena above our camp and all fish bound for these rivers must pass directly in front of us before reaching their spawning grounds. Only a day or two out of the ocean, at the peak of their size, you will now be able to fish lower main channel Skeena hosts vast numbers of migrating Chinook, Steelhead Coho, Sockeye, Chums and Pinks headed for numerous upriver tributaries. To take full advantage of this prolific fishery and offer a high-quality, high-value fishing adventure – for both novice and seasoned anglers alike. 

Guests will stay at the on-river Skeena camp for the duration of their stay.  On arrival, our staff will pick clients up at the airport, stop in the town of Terrace to pick up any supplies, then transport clients to the river, where camp staff will be waiting to receive them.  After an orientation in camp, guests are welcome to string their rods together and fish for the remainder of the day.

Fall Steelhead

In late summer and during fall we turn to the Skeena tributaries and hunt for surface active summer/fall steelhead. The fall fisheries have in many years been very popular in the Skeena region and for a good reason. Also here Salmon Junkies a Skagit Anglers will be able to offer some unique opportunities. Contact us for more info as the numbers of available rods are very limited

Join us to Skeena main stem and select tributaries in a full 6-day package – not the usual 5 days package – in company of some of the best and most hardcore Canadian steelhead guides available.

The area - Skeena River Valley

Many people believe that Skeena watershed is easy accessible and easy-going to fish. However that is not the case if you want to get most out of a week. Many of the best rivers and spots are more or less impossible to access without a local guide, and the only way to get there is by power full jetboat and local knowledge. Lastly some of the most attractive rivers are licensed with limited access for only a small numbers of people. Salmon Junkies have access to all classified water plus a well selected numbers of coastal river. But perhaps and more important we have probably the best team of Steelheads guides, that will share their darkest secrets and lead you to the fish.

Award-winning Nicholas Dean Outdoors

For guiding and outfitting services in our steelhead and chinook program we have partnered with award-winning Nicholas Dean Outdoors. Based in Terrace and named Fly Fusion Magazine’s Canadian Lodge of the Year for 2012, NDO features a roster of guides whose knowledge of local rivers and fish are unrivaled in the area. Accordingly, NDO enjoys a well-earned, loyal following of Hardcore spring steelhead anglers. We are confident you will find their work to be exemplary.

www.skagitanglers.com

 

 

 

End of season...almost

End of season...almost

The 2015 season in the Danish rivers and stream are getting close to the end. Most rivers are now closed and salmon and sea trout are left alone to do their all important business of securing the next generation.

Most rivers have seen an above average run of both salmon and sea trout well spread throughout the season. Personally the season has been fairly good with regards to catching salmon but the sea trout has tricked me this year. During the summertime we had a string of bad luck (or just a pure lack of skills) causing me to loose 14-16 sea trout strikes in a row. That’s no joke and not funny at all. But hey - that’s the way it goes and hopefully thing will go my way in 2016. There’s still a few days left of the season in some rivers and streams but most guys have stopped fishing or at least practice C&R on the colored fish which getting close to spawning.

In the shop www.skagitanglers.com 2015 have been our first full year in business and it has been very busy. We have had a lot of communication with anglers from all of Europe who would like to step inside the world of Skagit angling. We have had some great feedback from costumers who appreciate our advises on gear selection and we feel that this is what makes our shop and service stand out from what you get elsewhere. We know skagit and fly fishing and that is what we do! We like to bring our knowledge and expertise to other anglers so they won’t make the same mistakes we did when we started out. The way we have been accepted as the new guy in the class has been nothing but overwhelming and it gives us a lot of optimism for the future of skagitanglers.com and it makes us want to work even harder.

Now it is flytying season all around and we plan on expanding the selection of materials in all categories during the dark winter months. We continue to work together with some of the most outstanding fly tiers out there to bring you new patterns and ideas for the 2016 season. We work hard on some others sides of the world of skagitanglers. We love to travel and soon expect to launch some big news about steelhead and chinook trips to USA and Canada for the 2016 season. Hold on tight it going to be “epic”.

If you enjoy following us and what we do then there’s a lot of platforms where we can be found. We like to interact with costumers and other anglers on the social media world. You know by now that we’re blogging but do you also know that we try to be active on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and the new app called Angling IQ. Out newsletter in the shop (remember to subscribe) is also very popular among costumers and we bring gear and material news as well as stories and the odd bargain offer now and then.

Hope you will continue to follow us and join us in the world of skagitanglers. Always feel free contact us on any of the platforms or simply by mailing us at info@skagitanglers.com

Take Care // Claus

Friske sommerlaks på gang i Skjern å

Friske sommerlaks på gang i Skjern å...

Hermed et lille indlæg i kategorien "fiskeporno" :-) Håber I får lyst til selv at drage til åen. Det er lige nu det sker...

Efter en lang og god sommerferie er vi hjemme igen og har haft en enkelt, men ganske produktiv, tur til Skjern å. De sidste dages kraftig regn har gjort sin virkning. Vandet er steget kraftigt og har antaget den karakteristiske mørke farve, men sigtbarheden er dog stadig godkendt.

Indrapporteringerne fortalte om fin opgang friske fisk - flere med lus - og i en størrelse, hvor der stadig var fisk tilbage på den lille kvote. Om lørdagen var en gruppe af fiskekammerater afsted og de så mange fisk på gang, havde 4 kontakter og fik 2 laks på land. Den ene en lille blank grilse og dertil en stor (ca. 95 cm) farvet krog-han.


Lille grilse taget på Future Willie Zonker og ECHO E3 Switch set-up. Stang, hjul, line og flue finder du i shoppen. 

Med disse meldinger i baghovedet ankom jeg søndag morgen til Kodbøl-strækket og så til min glæde at jeg var eneste mand på pladsen. Efter 4 uger uden fluestang i hænderne, skulle kasterytmen lige genfindes og efter div. tilpasninger af line og forfang - og en del flueskift - fandt jeg endelig dagens set-up. En for årstiden lidt "voldsom" udrustning bestående af #8 tohåndsstang, ECHO Skagit Compact 540 gr. og 12' T-14 viste sig at køre perfekt i den høje vandføring. At der var liv i åen så jeg straks, da 3-4 (sikkert mindre) laks trak op langs modsatte bred mens jeg fiskede første sving godt igennem. Sådan forsatte det et par timer. Flere fisk rørte på sig, men ingen kontakter til fluen: Jeg kunne ikke rigtig finde en flue som jeg rigtig havde tillid til.

Dagens flue - syner ikke af meget - men den har nu givet mig 4 danske laks på 3 sæsoner.

Efter kaffepause og de obligatoriske chokoladekiks kom jeg til en af de absolutte toppladser i åen, der er kendetegnet ved dybt vand ind under egen bred og en række store alknuder midt i åen, der skaber turbulens og fungere som sikker rasteplads for friske fisk. Jeg havde en fornemmelse af liv ved fluen i et godt langt kast, hvor den brune kaninzoner - som lige var kommet på forfanget - fiskede dybt og langsomt ved den sidste alknude. Jeg gik 10 meter tilbage og ville fiske strækket hurtigt af igen, da en laks tog fluen midtvejs i drevet i første kast. Alt gik derefter meget hurtigt. Jeg nåede lige at sætte krogen i samme øjeblik som laksen tog et vildt opstrøms udløb, herunder foretog 2-3 spring fri af vandet. Efter en masse kaos med at få styr på 20-25 meter løsline, lykkedes det (ikke uden held) at få stram line til fisken, der fortsatte opstrøms - indtil den pludseligt ville nedad igen. Endnu et langt udløb på 70-80 m og så var fisken tilbage ved udgangspunktet. Herefter var fighten mest tovtrækkeri og dybe rusk ved bunden. Jeg holdt den meget hårdt og kontant, da den tydeligvis var noget større end de 75 cm og derfor skulle genudsættes igen.

Laksen er så småt ved at være træt efter en super fight med vilde udløb og flotte spring. Som det ses, så er der godt med vand i åen, og en dybt-fisket zonkerflue viste sig at være det rette trick.

Jeg nåede lige at tage et par foto af fisken uden fighten og et hurtigt foto ved genudsætningen, som gik i fin stil. Fisken havde stadig masser af kræfter i behold. Laksen blev stangmålt til ikke under 90 cm og den var blank og med friske havlus. Fedtfinne var klippet, så den stammer fra udsætningsprogrammet. Fluen sad solidt i saksen og var nem at vride fri igen.

Efter denne oplevelse sad jeg lidt på brinken. Prøvede at fiske lidt mere på et par pladser, men havde ikke fokus. Tankerne fløj hele tiden tilbage til fighten. Jeg besluttede mig for at tage hjem - godt mæt på oplevelser og med viden om, at laksefiskeriet lige nu er helt i top. Jeg er at finde ved åen så snart job, familie og andre forpligtelser tillader det. Det samme syntes jeg også I skulle gøre.

Som det fremgår, så fungerede skagit-grejet perfekt til denne type fiskeri, hvor fluen gerne må komme lidt ned. Vi rådgiver naturligvis gerne om det korrekte stang-, hjul- og linevalg til netop dit fiskeri, hvis du selv har mod på at fiske skagit-stil. I vores shop finder du alt hvad du har brug for til fiskeriet og fluebindingen. Kig ind :-)

K&B
Claus

www.skagitanglers.com

 

Sea Trout on waking flies - Part 3.

Gear selection for fly fishing seatrout on waking flies in small streams

This post will cover the essentials on gear selection when fishing for seatrout with waking flies but first it's appropiate with some backgrund information on sea trout and the fisheries.

Seatrout migrates from the sea and fiords of Denmark back to the same stream or creek they once were “born”. This migration last from late May to in the late fall. Seatrout grow big in Denmark. Several +10 kg fish are caught each year. Most fish are in the 2-4 kg range though.
 

Seatrout are very hard to catch. They are back in the stream/creek for only one reason and that’s not eating. They are here to spawn – that’s it. But if you know a few tricks it’s still possible to provoke them to take a fly. Fly fishing for seatrout has a long tradition in Denmark . In the last few year things have changed. We now mostly fish for freshrun seatrout in the dark hours with big flies. Later in the season seatrout can be caught all day but in summer you’ll have to loose some sleep to get close to the big ones.

In summer seatrout are passive all day but they tend to start to be active in the hour of the “last light” and you can catch them out in the open in the dark hours . The term “dark” is not entirely correct as we are blessed with fantastic light summer nights where you can tie on a fly without the help of a flashlight. On overcast days you will need the flashlight though... 

What we love most about fly fishing for seatrout in the dark is that it’s a very visual game. You’ll often  see the seatrout following your fly for quite a distance before they hit it, miss it or simply just turn around again.

We at skagitanglers.com have a few favorite techniques and set-up that’s in our opinion are perfect for these long summer nights hunting for seatrout. We prefer fishing with either a single hander #7 or even better a #6 or 7 switch rod which can be fished with one hand when needed.  As for our choice of  lines we use three different set-up.

1)       Commando Skagit head from OPST. 4,5-5,5 m fished with a mono leader or a intermediate polyleader.

2)      ECHO Skagit Intermediate with 12’ mono.  Very “dangerous” tool in the right hands.  

3)      ECHO Skagit Switch and 10’ Intermediate polyleader.  Easy to hande - also during the dark hours.

We need to fish those very short lines due to the fact that our streams are small (4-8 m wide) and we want to fish the flies very aggressively. Generally we cast with a 90 degree angel and start stripping the fly when it hits the water and we will keep stripping it all the way in. This can not be done effectively with traditional long (9m or more) lines. So short lines is they best choice by far.  

We want the fly to make as much noise as possible.  We attempt to make fly to move just beneath (sometimes on top of) the surface – creating a wake as it swings across. You need to cover as much likely holding water you can. But don’t be fooled. Seatrout like wide open stretched especially if you fish a stream with not too many anglers. Move fast. Fish hard. Keep casting to hot spots. A short heavy easy loading line is perfect for this kind of fishing technique.

Here's a few hint on our flies (see also Part 1-2). They are big, there are black and there are actually quite ugly. But they work and that’s the important factor to us. You don’t have to be afraid to try new ideas as long as you keep the flies moving fast and always try to get as much movement build into the flies as possible.

If you want to tie your own night flies for seatrout we suggest you take a good look at our shop. We have all the materials you need. You can start with a basis of materials like rabbit strips, opossum skin, dark dubbing, Schlappen feathers, plenty of flash, deer hair (for muddler heads), Soft Cones and rubber legs.

You can tie the flies on plastic tubes or as we have been doing lately as intruders on shanks. The last option allows you to place the hook way back on the fly. That’s a very important detail which reduces the numbers tail biters. We find both tubes or intruders very efficient and it’s a matter of style which you prefer. We are skagitanglers to the bone and hence the intruders have a place close to our hearts.

Feel free to contact us at info@skagitanglers.com if you have questions or need some help finding the right gear for your next trip.

 

Sea Trout on waking flies - Part 2

Sea Trout on waking flies - Part 2

As a follow up to the last post here's our opinion on gear selection specific suited for night fishing for sea trout on smallish streams like we fish here in Denmark.

To understand the reason for our choises of rods and lines we have to start somewhere else. Several years of fishing for sea trout has told us an important lesson about the speed of the fly. You actually can't fish the fly too fast. It took us some time to figure that out. Speed is the key to succes. The fly has to move at a speed more than twice that over the current. If not you will still see a lot of fish comming to your fly but they more often than not just refuse the fly and go back to where they came from. As exciting as that might be it can also be very frustrating when this occurs over and over again - often with the same fish comming up more than once. To change that game in your favour you need to speed up the fly and speed it up fast.



Big and flahsy is the key to succes

Stripping the fly activly during the swing is the key to succes. A 90 degree cast to the opposite bank of the stream - a quick stripping of the line - og then hold on tight. It is "just" a matter of keeping at it and eventually that big trout will come charging at you fly. Keep you cool - and wait until you feel the weight of the fish before you set the hook. Easy said - but not very easy to do!

This post was ment to be about gear selection but guess we will do that in another post. But the main issue to picking the right gear for night fishing is to be abel to fish a big fly very active and keep stripping it during the swing. In small streams like in Denmark and elsewhere you need a short line/shooting head to do that with succes. We use ECHO Skagit Switch line or the brand new Command Skagit Head from OPST. But more on short lines, long leaders and rods later.

Tight Lines
Claus

B&R Single Stage Intruder - lethal sea trout fly

Summer run sea trout (3 kg) on ESL 

Sea Trout on waking flies - Part 1.

Sea Trout on waking flies!

We love to fish for Sea Trout in the dark during the summer months. When the streams and rivers come up after a period of rain you'll put all else aside and head to your favorite spots. That is if you want your share of the fish...

During the daytime Sea Trout stay hidden and almost impossible to catch on the fly. When the light changes so does the mode of the fish. Sea Trout tends to be agressive and subtle to the fly if you know a few tricks. The most important trick is to maximise time your fly is in the water. It's that simple. More time on the water = more fish! Having said that the fly and especially the way you fish it has some importance too.


During several years we have been fishing "big, black and bulky flies" - and it works. With big flies we mean flies up 15 cm long. Most often we fish 8-10 cm long flies often with a lot of flash and tied with materials like marabou, rabbit strips, fox hair, soft cones - and some more flash just to be sure! An important touch is the cone head or muddler head which gives the all important "wake" when the fly swings through the most likely holding spots.

Don't be scared to go heavy on the flash. 25 strands of flash is average on our flies. Most people use to little flash in our opinion. Especially in the night you'll need a lot of flash. You might want to try Glow-In-Dark flash for some added bling-bling effects.

Take a good look at the shop where you'll find all the materials you need to tie your own waking flies for sea trout or you can buy flies from our stock. All flies in the shop are tied by professional fly tiers. Enjoy summer - whereever you are!

www.skagitanglers.com

Welcome to the blog - skagitanglers.com

Hi and welcome to skagitanglers.com

First shoot on the blog from skagitanglers.com is here. In the future we will be sharing hot news from the shop www.skagitanglers.com - your one stop skagit shop! We will also use the blog to update our costumers and followers on what's happening on the scene of skagit fly fishing. A fair amout of fish porn is garanteed to show up now and then simply because we can't help it.

We run a fly-only web shop selling fly fishing gear and related products. Our main focus is flyfishing for salmon, sea trout and steelhead all around the world. We are based in Scandinavia (Denmark) but supply fly fishers around the world with their needs. We are skagitanglers to the bone - we fish with skagit gear - we fish flies mostly inspired by vibes comming from the PNW region in US/CAN.

If you like big flashy intruders, skagit lines, big sticks and big chrome fish, screaming reels and the beauty of Mother Nature's creations you have come the right place. We will get back shortly - this is just a test :-) In the meantime take a look at our shop - we hope you like it. Please fell free to drop us a line if you have questions, ideas to new products or improvements and more.

Tight Lines from www.skagitanglers.com