Flymage Magazine #18 April 2013 English

FLY FISHING & PHOTOGRAPHY MAGAZINE

ISSUE #18 - APRIL 2013 www.flymage.net

aces up your sleeve

6

FLY TYING VIDEO: “streaky”

44

MEMOIRES OF...

46

montenegro

72

By Mikel Elexpuru

by Srdjan Bošković

trutta

Download our 30´video for just 6,95€ by clicking the trout!

Everyone has a favourite trout fly in which, sooner or later, we place all our faith in order to fool the fish and, although many fly fishermen rely more on the presentation, than on the fly itself, we are bringing you a collection of favourite flies from great fishing friends in Europe, that will surely amaze you.

It is an amazing and varied catalogue of flies and we are sure that you will incorporate more than one into your flybox.

We thank them all for sharing their experience and “secret weapons� with us.

Take advantage of this opportunity, the season just started!

Aces up your sleeve Photo: Javier Fdez. del Rivero

DAVID ARCAY - SPAIN

Started fishing at age 3. At 12, took a fly fishing course at Salmo Club.

That year, 2003, he started competing.

He has won two junior championships in Spain and has been second in two others. At senior level he has participated in four championships in Spain with a second place as his best classification.

He has been in two world championships, in 2011 and 2012, and at the latter he was proclaimed World Champion Individual and team bronze.

PITILLO parachute Pitillo, as it’s called in León, is a fly that imitates either small stone flies and caddis. It´s a very effective fly for wary trout because of it small size and because it floats just on the surface film.

pellet This is a nymph, which I have a lot of faith in, because these colours work well on all kind of rivers and situations. It is definitely one of my best flies.

PABLO CASTRO - SPAIN From the province of León and the banks of the famous Órbigo river, he started spin fishing at 5. After some years, he started fly fishing and began competing in ´97.

He has represented Spain in seven world championships, coming fourth individual place in Italy, and winning bronze twice in team events.

He has an impressive track record nationally, especially his title as Spanish champion.

His role as fly tier runs parallel to his being a competitor.

Hare´s pellet This fly is a combination of a “pellet” and a hare´s ear nymph.

The body is varnished like a pellet with a hairy thorax. This gives tremendous mobility for fishing in the current.

Hare´s Ear CDC This is definitely my favourite fly tied in all sizes (# 14 - # 20) I use it daily and is always my first choice.

Alexander Dávid - czech republic “First time I saw fly fishing was on the river Ohře 20 years ago. I met an old man who sold me all his fly fishing gear and I could start. In Chomutov town I met my friend Honza, who initiated me into the mysteries of fly fishing. I started fly tying 18 years ago. My first flies were plenty to smile at. Also I tried to compete, but at that moment in time I really prefered just the race Prague fly. It’s a race full of peace, meeting good people and great prices (Moravian giant cake).

Now I’m interested mainly tying flies of all kinds and I fish just for fun. Favorite password: “catch and release”, and so that’s what we do.”

BEAD HEAD CADDIS I use this fly for trout and whitefish during the season and it’s also good for barbel and roach. Tied in several colour combinations to match different caddis larva.

extended body parachute mayfly Inspired by Palomino flies, this model is really good for rainbow trout spring fishing. Tied in different colours.

jose luis dias - portugal

Born in Rendufe, Portugal.

He started fly fishing in 1983, when it was difficult to get the materials.

Years after began competing in some national championships until the World Championships in New Zealand in 2008.

Has fished most of the portuguese trout rivers and teaches newcomers to the sport.

CAENIS This fly is used frequently by fly fisherman. When the hatch occurs, usually after daybreak, you can see the trout feeding frenzy, especially in little current areas. I use it at certain times from dawn (when they hatch) to night. Hook #20.

MAYFLY I use this mayfly during the day and along the season changing colours and size, although I prefer to tie in smaller hooks when fishing slow currents.

MIKEL ELEXPURU - SPAIN

Started as a professional fly tier at 18. Initially he tied realistic flies but now his flies are less gimmicky and more fishable. His imitations with many shiny colours are popular and highly effective on the river.

In 2011 he won the Slovenian fly tying contest with a “spent” chironomid on a # 24 hook.

Many competitors are his own clients and his flies helped to win some championships including the Spanish national.

Flymage regular contributor. www.mikelfly.com

nymph Used from the beginning of the season until June. Highly effective in dark or murky waters, thanks to its attractive colour. Tied also as an emerger or “pellet nymph”.

CDC caddis I use it a lot from April onwards, very effective in this chickpea colour.

This fly works in every situation because of its buoyancy, visibility and effectiveness. Suitable for both sight fishing or “blind casting”.

ROBERT ESCAFFRE - FRANCE

“I am a retired, 65. I have two passions in my life: fly fishing and woodcock hunting. I started fly fishing at 20 when very few anglers were involved in it. I´ve been a competitor, selected for the France championship, since 1989. Currently I am the oldest of those who remain in the First Division in the two disciplines: Rivers and Reservoirs. We are only 7 in France in this case and at the age it´s a great honour for me.

My friend Guy Roques showed me wonderful Spain and its fishing 25 years ago, I have friends all over Spain and therefore I´m fortunate to get invitations to numerous competition events. All this makes me very happy, even among all the rounds in France championships, the Spanish Masters, the Franco-Spanish Masters on my home town reservoir, Albi, which drives me crazy and other regional championships, I am, at age 65, retired and exhausted.”

FLYING ANT The flying ant is unbeatable if you tie on a thin leader between 0.8 and 0.10 mm. I always have it in my fly box for difficult situations ... ! Is the ultimate fishing fly when rising sea trout decide to “put their glasses on”!

HARE´S EAR This is other of my favorite flies, tied with hare´s ear palmer.

Edin Iftic - bosnia

Born in Bihac. Started fly fishing at 10. I’ve fished many rivers in the region and I am a great lover of nature. Ten years ago, I tie my first fly. Now I take part in many competitions both fly fishing and fly tying, and I have won many first places. I participated with the national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the Balkan countries cup and won the bronze medal.

This love of fly fishing has turned into a job, and now make my living by selling flies and keeping the Bosnian rivers.

My favorite technique is with nymphs mostly for grayling and brown trout.

Nymph Nymph is a kind of partridge, but when it comes to smaller sizes can be replaced by another baetidae.s

dry fly An all terrain dry that in smaller sizes imitates even a mosquito or stone fly. Really good for trout and grayling as well as other species.

With certain additions throughout the summer it’s a great fly.

Admir- Ado Jeginović - Bosnia and Herzegovina

Professional fishing guide and fly tier from Ključ on the banks of the beautiful River Sana.

He guides on many of the most famous rivers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, from Pliva or Ribnik to Unac and Krušnica. In recent years he has guided most of the foreign anglers that go for taimen.

“I have spent so many years studying the waters and the entomology, so nowadays I only tie “Match the Hatch” flies”. flyfishing-bosnia.com

realistic extended body olive dun and nymph These two realistic flies are among my favourites because I fish rivers where the fish are wild and extremely selective. Flies should look identical to the real insect.

Mladjen Jušković - montenegro

Born in Niksic, a town in Zeta valley. At 14 started fly fishing completely on his own as there was no- one to teach him except minimal articles in fishing magazines of that time. “Being curious and stubborn by nature, I managed to connect the missing dots” and now he is considered the best Montenegran fly tier and makes his living mostly by tying flies. Moderator on most popular Balkan fly fishing forums Musicarenje.

Favorite fish: brown trout. www.musicarenje.net/sr

stonefly NYMPHS Stonefly nymphs are my favourite for spring time and first nymphing in season. Rivers at that time are generally big and smaller nibbles pass by the trout unseen. That is not the case with fat juicy stonefly nymphs.

DRAKE Big claret mayflies are the biggest and most important hatch in the year on Adriatic rivers. Simply the hatch you cannot miss. Something similar to the E.Danica hatch on other rivers. The high point of dry fly fishing in the whole season. The imitation you see in photo usually saves my day.

VLADIMIR LIGDA - SLOVAKIA Professional fishing guide.

Slovakia has exceptional countryside, such as the Tatra Mountains, part of the Carpathians.

Thus the center-north of the country is quite mountainous, creating ideal conditions for excellent trout streams.

Slovak fly fishing youth team captain since 2011.

He has collaborated with the Italian team (2011) and the French team (2012) In 2012 he won 2nd place in the Slovak fly fishing championship.

BWO palmer This is a great dry fly that works best from June to September.

Especially during the olive mayflies hatch, the BWO is very effective for trout and grayling. I use it in fastest waters because of its excellent buoyancy. Hook sizes #12-#16.

caddis emerger In Slovakia this nymph is very effective at the beginning of the season in June and July, when massive caddis hatches occur.

Grayling and trout take it when drifted along the bottom or slightly moved toward the surface like an emerger.

Christophe de PASTORS - france

Fly fishing for 30 years and professional fly tier since the mid’90s.

He knows the rivers in France very well although he fishes usually on both sides of the Pyrenees.

Follows basic criteria for tying his nymphs such as silhouette, brightness, resistance and weight. www.pyreneesnymphfishing.com

Blue l´isovol pellet This “pellet” is quite effective in currents with wild brown trout. From June to September, on hook sizes #14-#20, it imitates different mayfly nymphs. The UV shine is perfect in sunny weather. During the summer I use two of them rigged at the tip a #14 hook and another on a size #18. The most important factor in this nymph is the colour over the tying.

Vairon Streamer To me this fly is essential for wild trout fishing in the river Segre.

It is an imitation of a small fish and very effective during the month of May.

MichaIl Penkov - Bulgaria

“I am Dr. Michael Penkov, 56 years old, born and living in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Actively fly fishing from ten years ago. Nature and beautiful rivers are the main reasons I fish. Fishing for trout and grayling on the wonderful rivers in Bulgaria and the Balkan Peninsula, I am a big fan of catch and release!

Fly tying is my other hobby and I tie all my fishing flies myself.

I am a member of the fly fishing club “Hatch” in Sofia, founded by a group of friends in 2010. I wish all fly fishing fans good health and many happy moments, with fly rod in hand.”

Tight lines, friends!

May fly dun & stonefly nymph I like these flies because they are effective in fishing and interesting for fly tying.

Ivan Ranđelović - Serbia

Started fly fishing in 1986. He fishes for all freshwater fish on a fly. Trout, grayling, chub, pike, rudd, roach, perch, carp, huchen, asp…

“Fishing star” on local TV station. Founder of a flyfishing club. He won the first fly fishing competition in Serbia, in 1998. IFFF certified fly casting instructor.

As a fly tier, he is well known as the creator of “Bambula”, a famous Serbian balsa-wood fly and also known as a hot glue innovator, with semirealistic nymphs made from this material.

Bambula Bambula is my favourite dry fly because it’s the best floater. It can’t be sunk even if some small fish try to drown it. Also, bambula has the best sound for curious fish like chub or asp.

segde larva This imitation of a sedge larva is my favourite because it is realistic and also smooth. Smoothness is important because it doesn’t hold air bubbles. Also, this fly is very durable but still soft enough.

Dragan Tasić - serbia

“Started fly fishing in the mid 90´s- not long after that learnt how to tie flies, it became my hobby. In the absence of original materials for tying flies, I usually use alternative materials, so now I like to experiment, despite the original, I very often use an alternative material for fly tying.”

NYMPHS When making these flies, my intention was to create nymphs, which are primarily tied easily, using alternative materials. The bodies are made from plastic tubes. In an effort to get regular segments with appropriate colouring, I had coloured tubes and then I treated them with heat (ironed). In that way I get the required thickness and colour that cannot be removed from the tubes. With dubbing and adding coloured partridge feathers, I get the required mobility. These nymphs are very durable, with universal and contrasting colour with highlighted segments.

MASSIMO TIROCCHI - ITALY

www.t-rods.it massimotirocchi.wordpress.com

DUST

“I live and work in a beautiful Italian region called Abruzzo. I started fly fishing 28 years ago and since that time I have never stopped being amazed by the beauty and the grace of this fishing style.

Today, within my big love for Fly Fishing, I have two main obsessions: one of them is the dry fly and the other one is bamboo rods. I’m a full time bamboo rodmaker and a very passionate fly tier. My preferred fishing environment is the river (especially small and mid-size streams) where I love to chase trout and grayling.”

The name came from standing with my fishing buddy and getting crazy trying to understand what kind of flies trout were feeding on. With no apparent hatch on the river, trout kept rising all over, and despite changing several flies we were not able to catch one, until we tried the Dust. It can save the day when trout or grayling are feeding on very small flies like gnat, midge, small spinner or when they are feeding on exuvia. I usually make this fly on small grub hook (#18 or #20).

ALL AROUND This strange pattern covers very different situations, both on flat waters or fishing a strong current. Used as dry as possible it can be effective during big mayfly hatches, but used wet it will work under the water film like classic wet flies usually do. Partridge feather gives it great effectiveness in these situations. I also found it effective using it in a strong current and fishing downstream, totally wet, and it looks like a small fish, being like a light and small streamer. I usually make this fly on standard hook size #12 or #14.

Thomas Weiergang - Denmark Met Thomas in an airplane comimg back from Chile and spent hours talking about common passions: fly fishing, travel and photography.

Thomas has years of experience and has published in some of the main fly fishing magazines. We are proud to be a part of it again.

Painter, illustrator, writer and photographer. His drawings, paintings and images are found in magazines and books across Europe and North America. www.thomasweiergang.com www.fishtrophy.dk

SHRIMP This shrimp pattern is a regular on the Danish coastline. If forced, I would guess that at least 50% of all sea trout are caught on some kind of shrimp pattern. Fly fishing for sea trout is a Danish national sport, and thousands catch a dream trout every year because Denmark holds some of the world’s biggest sea run browns or sea trout. This particular pattern is dead easy to tie and the Pro Sportfisher readymade synthetic back shell makes it ultra realistic and easier than ever.

Tiny bruno A great pattern for sea trout and salmon fishing in the slow flowing Danish rivers. It carries a bit of weight, which makes it swim and fish instantly. And in the stained waters of our rivers it will sneak up on the salmonids and surprise them. Tie it as small as 2 centimeters and it works wonders in low, warm summer water.

Györfi Zsolt - romania

Born in Rumania and lives at the foot of the Harghita Mountains. He has been fishing since he was a small child.

He started fly fishing 7 years ago, and spent the last 4 years on intensive work, just fly fishing and fly tying. His favorite river, as with most anglers, is the Nagyküküllő.

He has also fished in other countries like Slovakia, Poland and Norway.

HARE´S EAR & McPhail Polish These are my favourite flies, which I use most of the year.

Smaller sizes for grayling and larger sizes for trout.

The Target

www.urruzuno.com - Tel.: (34) 943 305011

“STREAKY”

By Mikel Elexpuru

MATERIALS HOOK HENDS 404BL #12 THREAD UNI THREAD 8/0 DARK BROWN TAILS BROWN FEATHER BODY HENDS TINSEL (33) WINGS/ WINGCASE/ THORAX MEDALLION SHEET HENDS CDC (11) ICE DUBBING SPECTRA ELASTIC GUM HEAD TUNGSTEN BEAD 2,5

VIDEO

Memoirs of...

Autumn in QuĂŠbec, Canada

Ă‘irehuao river, Chile

Leane Lake, Ireland

Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Shrew. Spain

Barbel. Spain

Kingfisher. Rio Negro, Brazil

Pliva River, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Goodbye to winter

Arga River, Spain

Tormes River, Spain

River SoÄ?a. Slovenia

Somewhere in France

francemouches.com

Back Issues

Montenegro A fly fishing paradise in the Balkans

by Srdjan Boťković

When one thinks of Montenegro, the first image that comes to mind is of the beautiful sandy beaches and turquoise waters of the Adriatic, some of the most beautiful in the Mediterranean. However, the true wonders of God are hidden among the mountains, canyons and cliffs, where the rivers hide large salmonid species, some of which are only found here.

But how can I convince you that Montenegro is a paradise for tourism and fly fishing?

Firstly, its climate is a mixture of Mediterranean and Continental, which has generated an interesting river system, where salmonid population are almost 100%, including brown trout, grayling, hucho (taimen), marbled trout and lake trout.

The quality and clarity of the waters of Montenegran rivers has been compared with those of New Zealand and much of the fishing is done by sight which is an added major attraction.

Compared with other European countries Montenegro offers cheaper prices and higher quality fishing, and most of the salmonid populations are wild. In addition, the environment is very well maintained and local fishing pressure is low.

Fly fishing prevails every day, as well as an awareness of offering the highest quality tourism.

So what have become increasingly professional guides are working on the rivers, to provide the best of Montenegro to fishermen worldwide.

Some of our best rivers are the Lim (fly fishing only), Plav, Berane and Andrijevica and other locations such as the White River and Pridvorica at Savnik.

The hotel infrastructure, with motels, apartments, etc., is well developed, as well as fishing services and guides.

To know more you can write to us at: montenegroflyfishing@gmail.com cickoboskovic@gmail.com Welcome to Plav - Montenegro! www.musicarenje.net

Contributors in this issue David Arcay Denis Beaudouin Srdjan Bošković Pablo Castro Alexander Dávid Mikel Elexpuru Robert Escaffre José L. Garrido Earl Hamilton Edin Iftic Admir- Ado Jeginović

Mladjen Jušković John Langridge Vladimir Ligda Christophe de Pastors Michail Penkov Ivan Randelović Dragan Tasić Massimo Tirocchi Juan Urán Thomas Weiergang Györfi Zsolt

E D I T O R S

José H. Weigand

Antonio Goñi

Fly fisherman, photographer and TV fishing editor at Caza y Pesca channel on Digital+ for 14 years. Avid traveller, have fished over 30 countries. Fly fishing guide.

Fishing video producer, photographer and fly fisherman. Currently producing fly tying series “The Silk corner” at Caza y Pesca channel on Digital+.

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