A Man and a Fly: Lars Fabrin and the LF Hitch Fly by Terkel Broe Christensen

"A dear child has many names: Rubber Duck, LF Hitch Fly or simply Sunray Shadow with a life jacket. The name doesn't matter. The most important thing is that here you can read about a fly that the salmon just want!".

A simple and brilliant addition to another classic and effective salmon fly has created a whole new and exciting fly, which has fully demonstrated its effectiveness at different salmon waters. It is the danish flytier and salmon fisher Lars Fabrin that is the man behind the new fly called LF Hitch Fly or Rubber Duck. The starting point is a Sunray Shadow, probably the most iconic Scandinavian salmon fly. A Sunray Shadow consists of a tube on which is attached a long black and white wing. The wing is so sparsely dressed that the fly takes on a beautiful harmonious and slim shape. Due to the light body and the simple wing, the fly goes just below the surface when fishing on a floating line.

A hitch fly with foam

Lars Fabrin was a genius when he with a strip of foam tied firmly over the head changed the Sunray from a classic longwinged hair fly fishing below the surface to a surface fly that makes a lot of disturbance in the water. The foam strip, which should be 6-7 millimeters wide and 12-14 millimeters long must be cut out of a piece of EVA Foam to form a pane. By tying the foam tightly to the hook with two or three tightly-knit dry binder, the foam pane will flip open and form two flaps - one backward and one forward. Both flaps will rise about 45 degrees in relation to the body of the fly. The first result will be that the foam will cause the fly to float like a prop. Secondly, the forward foam flap will act as a soft wobbler giving the Rubber Duck its amazing run.

Variations and development

The LF Hitch Fly was not invented in one day. There have been several versions along the way. The first ones were tied in 2009 and were larger and had rubber legs, but it still got the foam part so it could float. Lars loves to fish with hitch flies, because there is nothing better than fishing with skating flies on the surface, where you can see quite clearly when the salmon takes the fly. But on the other hand, it is a hassle to have to change leaders when going from a regular fly to a hitch because the hitch fishing requires short leaders. At the same time, short leaders provide clumsy throws and poor presentations.

Lars's philosophy with the LF Hitch Fly is to develop a fly that can easily float, make at least the same ballad on the surface as a hitch fly, and which can also be fished on a long line. These are qualities he has achieved with his LF Hitch Fly. On a hitch fly, the leader is led out through a small hole in the tube near the head, and in this way you make the fly go so that it pulls a fine "V" after it on the surface. There is no need for that with Lars’s fly. The foam flap is sufficient to give full attention on the surface.

Rubber Duck or LF Hitch Fly as inventor Lars Fabrin calls it

Lars varies the fly in different ways

As a starting point, he uses the largest flies, and the flies that make the most disturbance on the water surface on the stretches with hard and colored water, while the tiny flies are used on calm and clear waters. The shortest tubes are down to 15 millimeters and the longest in Larses fly box is about 55 millimeters.

The size of the foam pane can also be made larger or smaller. It is also possible to vary the angle of the foam flap so that it resists differently thus also changing how much water the fly moves as it swings across the river. The angle can be varied depending on the amount of dry foam it is bonded with. The hook size and thus the weight of the hook, of course, also influence the position of the fly in the water and thus its passage. This must be kept in mind when fishing.

Lars calls his fly for LF Hitch Fly, a name that few will remember. It is therefore also called Rubber Duck. This is because it is reminiscent of the little yellow toy duck of rubber that most children know. The comparison is not due to the look, but the way the other goes when drawn through the water. Who has not seen the classic yellow bathing animals on the beach pulled away through the water, so it has everything from a perfect floating, to a crooked and splashy walk. Lars Fabrin's modified fly goes exactly the same way. If the fly is thrown obliquely downstream across the stream it splashes the water to all sides as it swings over the river. If there is draft in the line and good speed on the fly, it can cause the water to stand 10-15 centimeters in the air.

Completely different fishing

The result of the fly’s features is that the fly can be seen at a long distance when fishing downstream. I have myself fished with the fly in the northern Norwegian river Lakseelv. There, I also experience that fishing with the foam fly is incredibly exciting compared to traditional wet fly fishing. In the old-fashioned wet fly fishing, a cast is laid downstream, and by the forces of the river the fly swings into my own side. If you are lucky and a salmon takes the fly in the deep, you will often fell it as a heavy tightening, which feels the same way as if the fly is stuck in a rock.

With the foam fly you can follow it for every inch as it moves - especially the fact that you have a sense of its speed makes the fishing intense. I keep thinking, “No salmon can stand it. It must take in the next cast". Of course, no one doubts when a salmon takes the fly. It's the best. The salmon must necessarily break the surface of the water to take the fly and the bite is therefore quite different.

A bunch of LF Hitch Flys or Rubber Duck's tied on a tube of various variations.

Many salmons in West Ranga in Iceland have been taken on a Rubber Duck. Here Lars Fabrin sits with one of the North Atlantic beauties which he got on the foam fly. (Photo Lars Fabrin).

19 Icelandic salmon in three days

Lars tied his final version of the Rubber Duck in 2012 before a salmon trip to the Kitza River on the Kola Peninsula, since then the fly has lured salmon in Denmark, Norway, Russia and not least in Iceland. One summer he got no less than 31 salmon in the Icelandic river West Ranga. 19 of them on a Rubber Duck! That's pretty convincing, though he just spend three days at the river. Lars also experiences the peculiarity of West Ranga that the salmon go to the surface and take the fly, even though the water is pretty cold. They are total indifferent to the fact that traditionally thinking salmon fishermen do not usually find the dry flies at high summer temperatures. In the fact if you read further you get a Step-byStep tying guide for the fly, which is quite simple to tie.