Mika Lappalainen | Friday, 22 November 2019
Sometimes you hear about fly which is best in the world. People talk about that like it is only fly and how good it is with everything. I haven’t found that kind of fly yet even there is some flies which gives you special feeling when fishing. Donald duck just to be one of those years back but now it is lemming fly which is similar with surf board. It might not be best fly in the world but fishing is often out of this world when using it.
You know surf board, dubbed body and then back from foam. Popper will do same effect when fishing. I tied my variation couple of years ago when going in swedish mountains for fishing. I made brown one to simulated lemming, tail from feather, dubbed body and then brown foam (visor also that it will splash water when fishing). Another one was same but totally black.
We were doing tv-shooting in mountains and spinning fisherman went upstream while we fished homepool just next to our camp. We had okay fishing in homepool with nymphs and dries when spinning man came to camp. He had had some action with popper. So we all decided to go same spot and try different styles. He showed his popper technique and got some strikes and two nice graylings around 50 cm.
I thought that I can’t be worst with fly so I tied my black lemming fly on the line. Cast upstream and taking line in faster than stream was bringing fly, so that every pull fly was splashing little bit water. I saw how grayling started to follow the fly just behind it, I could see back and fin, and then strike…. but. I couldn’t hook it. Same happened two or three time before I found right timing for hooking. After that I got two graylings from there, 51 and 52 cm. We had good shooting at same time.
I moved different spot and fishing was so exciting with that lemming fly. Cast on upstream, take line in, when fly was not coming straight down, I let it drift that it was downstream and then take line in again. Most of strikes where coming when taking fly from upstream but also some from downstream but never if I took line in when fly was coming across stream neither when it was drifting. It was really active fishing. Later in the evening I tried brown one but it didn’t work at all, so changed it back to black. You might now saying about colour of fly, it doesn’t matter which colour you use as long it is black.
During that trip I got lot of big graylings with that fly. Fishing was so great, takes were so furious like killing ones. And everytime it was suprising how suddenly everything happens. Later I have been using same fly now and then with big graylings and trout. It is same thing with surfboard, strikes are killing ones and you get high when getting those kind of strikes. You might not get so many fish hooked but there is something special while using these surfboard, lemming, popper type flies. It is like sex without ejaculation. It will be long winter, until I can use those flies again and I have to test it also in Varzina next August.
Have a nice weekend
Mika from Finland
