Viking Lars | Saturday, 3 August 2024
Vegen Special is a simple, soft hackle wet fly and I suppose, nothing special as such. It is a fly I like to fish and as all soft hackles, it’s very versatile and fishes very well in both running- and still water and can imitate anything and in different sizes works under most circumstances. It’s often one of the flies I tie on, when I’m in doubt what’s going on under the surface. I often fish it on a dropper - sometimes even with a Vegen Special on the point as well, but one noticeably smaller than the other. It’s named after a small tributary to one of Denmark’s larger salmon rivers.
The Vegen Special was created many years ago by my friend, Laurits Flowbinner. Laurits was for many years a semi professional fly tyer, mainly for the sea trout fishermen along Karup Å (one of the best sea trout rivers in Denmark, perhaps even the world). But as versatile as Laurits is, I think at heart he’s a trout and grayling fisherman. He’s travelled Northern Sweden more than most, weeks at a time in many seasons, he’s led trips to Northern Sweden, he’s fished the Mörrum River in Southern Sweden for decades. As much as he’s fished in Sweden, maybe in his heart, Ireland is his second home. There he’s fished all the traditional places and methods. There’s much more to be said about him, but I really wanted to say a little more about this fly.
As a soft hackle it of course draws upon the soft hackled flies from the Yorkshire north country spider tradition, but not directly. It has many elements only rarely found in the traditional spiders. More directly is draws upon the Swedish “flymph tradition” and the traditional North American soft hackles. The pattern is simple and so is the tying:
Hook: Ahrex FW 580 size 8-14 (or a lighter hook, if preferred).
Thread: Black UNI 8/0.
Tail: Partridge hackle fibres.
Abdomen: Stripped stem from a grizzle hackle.
Thorax: Peacock herl.
Hackle: Partridge.
All very straight forward and fairly fast to tie, because with the fishing method you’ll inevitably lose a few. It does fish very well stripped on still water, cast upstream on it’s own or with a second fly on the leader, which can be sinking or not. However, Laurits found that another technique is very effective.
He rigs a leader with the Vegen Special on a dropper, preferably a long one, about a foot or so. On the point a weighted scud. Cast down stream and allowed to drift freely, the weighted fly will pull the unweighted Vegen Special deep into lies and holes. If you then stop the line, maybe even raise the rod tip slowly, the Vegen Special will dance up and down in the current. Hopefully irresistible to a trout or a grayling.
I hope you’ll give the fly a try.
Have a great weekend!
Lars