Atlantic Salmon Choosing the Right Fly Line
The Editorial Staff
Rasmus Ovesen, Eirik Fjelldal, Tom Roger Bekkeli
Swinging flies for salmon is an artform in and of itself, and it’s characterized not only by stubborn tradition but also by semi-religious beliefs and notions. A simple fact, however, is that the right fly line makes a huge difference. No mumbo jumbo or magic – it’s just a plain matter of presenting the fly to the fish at the right distance, depth, angle, and speed.
Tom Roger Bekkeli and Eirik Fjelldal are both superexperienced salmon flyfishermen and having been heavily focused on fly lines and how they influence the way a fly is presented in different conditions and circumstances, they have ended up spending countless hours experimenting and testing. As it turns out, developing fly lines – and more specifically – shooting heads that not only cast well but also reach the right depth and angle to ensure the perfect presentation of your fly, isn’t a simple matter. Far from it! We have sat down to have a word with Eirik and Tom 174
FLYFISH EUROPE - SPRING 2021
about salmon fishing, about how to choose the right fly line, and about one of their recent line development projects - the Seamless Density fly lines, which have been developed in close cooperation with Scientific Anglers for Scandinavian and North European salmon fishing applications. How would you describe the perfect fly line/shooting head for salmon fishing? Eirik: “In my opinion there is not ONE perfect shooting head that can do it all in salmon fishing - and I doubt there will ever be one. Why? Because the effectiveness of a fly line or shooting head
