Bucktail pike streamer by Ad swiers

He is another tutorial from Ad Swier showing you how to tie a "Bucktail streamer".Although in dutch it is quite easy to follow after a few times of watching the video.This is another great fly with lots of volume for you to try tying up.It took me at least 4 attempts before I felt confident I was getting the desired effect I wanted, but this is a very good fly indeed. I have tied this in darker colours Purple,brown and dark blue combinations and has been quite successful used in the early evenings and at dawn.

Loops pike leaders

LOOP also produce and sell their own Pike leaders as well. Whether these leaders have been specifically developed by LOOP for pike fly fishing is anyone's guess as any length of line with a breaking strain over 28lbs will do the trick. Anyway they come in 2.2m lengths with 27 lbs breaking strain so are strong enough for what you will need. I personally use a slightly higher rated leader of 32 lbs breaking strain doubled over, but always keep a packet of this in my rod travel case, just for emergency purposes.

World record fly caught Musky

The boys at "FISHING FURY" have done it again and published an article about the biggest fly caught pike this time. Click on the link to read the full story. "Fishing fury" has to be if not one of the best all round fishing blogs on the web. So pop in and give it a visit you wont be dissapointed.

Largest Musky ever caught

The Boys at "FISHING FURY" ran an article yesterday about the biggest Musky thats ever been caught.To read the feature, click on the link above and visit probably if not, one of the best all round fishing Blog/websites on the web today.

Loops stainless steel pike wire

The downfall of living in a country where fly-fishing for pike is still in its infancy, is that I find it extremely hard to sometimes track down specific tackle for the sport. One of these products is a decent trace wire and wire tippet. Now I am certainly not endorsed by LOOP to write this review of their product but as its one of the best of its kind on the market here in Finland I feel I should let others out there know about it just incase you come across some in your local tackle shop someday.

Having used several products over the years (Blue-water designs; Surflon; Leeda) to name but a few, and some were better than others. I eventually settled on Drennan 7 strand 20lb pike wire but as I cant get it here I was forced into buying sub standard trace wire and for a while I became despondent with fly-fishing for my beloved Pike….Its funny how something so small like trace wire affected my attitude towards the sport…..but it did!

Then two years ago I came across Loops stainless steel pike wire, and I haven’t look back ever since. I have always preferred to use a steel trace with a snap link to attach my flies and when I first started I would generally have a steel trace of around 50 cm attached to my braided shooting head but since using Loops Stainless steel Pike wire I have been able to shorten the steel wire trace with the snap link attached to less than 20 cm and then attach a length of loops pike wire of around 30 cm behind it……... so is my confidence with the product! Sure its not the best product I have used but it has some fine qualities. The first of these Is that it is terribly light for the 26lb/11.8kg test strength. Secondly it is extremely flexible and I find tying in with a blood knot no problems at all. Lastly it is made from stainless steel which for me is a god sent now that I am fishing in the Baltic sea.

With it being so flexible though I have found myself at least once a session replacing it with a new piece as it does get kinked rather quickly and if you are a stickler for perfect fly presentation you will probably end up doing the same. My only gripe with this product is that it only comes in 3m and 5m lengths and would like to see it being sold in 10 to 15m reels. I had several fish last year where the wire was wrapped around and though the pikes jaws and not once did they manage to bite through it. So I can recommend this product whole heartedly.

Guinea fowl feathers

I’m always on the look out for a good bargain….just like any other bloke and yesterday I found one in the form of theses guinea fowl feathers. It was only 3 months ago I was at a fly-fishing fair in Helsinki and saw the same feathers being sold in bunches of 50 for Є 42,00 and thought that they were “avin a laugh”! So when I saw these bunches of 100 guinea fowl feathers for Є 7,00 I snapped up 3 bunches and walked out the shop rather pleased with myself.

A massive saving if you ask me. 300 feathers for half the price of what 25 would have cost me in Finland. Sure I understand these people need to put their mark up on products but they don’t need to take the piss. This trip to South Africa has had its plus’s that’s for shore.

Eyes on flies

If you want my opinion, I don’t think sticking a pair of eyes on a pike fly helps in anyway in improving your chances when trying to entice a pike into taking your fly. Yes they may look esthetically pleasing on the eye for a human and might give you peace of mind in giving it that authentic fish pattern look but on a whole I truly believe eyes on a fly are a waist of time. This I might add though is opposite when tying in or sticking on eyes for saltwater flies, purely because I feel saltwater species aren’t as easily fooled due to the clearer water conditions you are fishing in. At first I only bought flies with eyes on them, and then moved on to tying them with eyes, but it didn’t take me long before I realized that they just don’t last long enough before they get ripped of under the constant thrashing a pike undertakes once it realizes its hooked. .…….. that’s unless you place them under a resin coating off course!

I’ll go out on a limb here and say that I have actually caught more pike on the flies that no longer have eyes on the sides of them or have never had eyes, than when they did. Not only that, but I just feel I could spend my money more wisely than on a packet of eyes. 80% of all the creations you tie anyway, look nothing like a fish, especially if you have mixed an assortment of bright and gaudy colours along the shaft of the hook. Yes some eyes on the market seem to slightly rattle once shaken, but It’s the volume of the materials you have tied on to the hook that pulsates during the retrieval of that fly that attracts the pike to it. These pulsations and waves have a far greater effect on a pikes sensors than any faint rattle given of by some small plastic imitation eyes. These are only observations I have come across over the last ten years, and I’m not suggesting you stop placing eyes on your flies, but why not try tying up some that would normally have eyes without, and find out for yourself that the money you spend on them could probably be put to better use…..like another bobbin of cotton!

Tackle heaven

With such a diverse array of species found in Finland, there is an aweful amount of fishing that goes on by the general public and one would think that the country would be over run with tackle shops….but you would very mistaken indeed. Sure there are the odd decent shop scattered around the country which cater for all fishing disciplines but in general, most fishing tackle sections share the same space as Hiking & Hunting equipment as well as all manner of other sporting paraphernalia .Whether this is because fishing is a seasonal pastime here and doesn’t warrant having specialized outlets run all years round, I don’t know. What I do know though is that I miss having a good wander around a decent well organized fishing tackle shop even if I’m not in the market for anything.


Well yesterday I was lucky enough to visit “Kingfishers” tackle shop in Durban and what a awesome place it is. Its always a good mark if a tackle shop has a decent website and Kingfishers is extremely well presented and set out. Although they mainly cater for the deep-sea & off-shore market they also have a fantastic Bass fishing section as well as a fly-fishing section catering for inland & also the saltwater fly-fisherman. What made the experience even more enjoyable was the friendly and informative manner in which all the floor assistants and especially the owner Guy Ronaldson were willing to share their personal knowledge & experiences in regards to each specific fishing discipline. This I found very refreshing as most shop assistants in Finland stop nothing short from being classed as an amoeba. With the exchange rate being R15 to the euro at the moment I walked out of the shop very satisfied with 5 new lures, 10 new flies, 20 new steel traces & an assortment of hooks for what would have cost me a small fortune in Europe.
So if you are ever in Durban, go and see the guys at Kingfishers fishing shop on Hunter street and they will sought you out with all your tackle needs. Thanks guys for a memorable hour In your shop.

Pike streamer by Menno van Dam

Although this pike streamer tutorial is in Dutch there are english subtitals, and in truth is quite easy to follow.

Fly-fishing with Hippos

Firstly I’d like to wish everyone a happy new year and I hope you all had a festive Xmas as well. Its been difficult for me to write regularly due to a lack of internet access here….well that’s Africa for you I suppose!
After the most amazing new years eve party in years up in Sodwana bay, I was lucky to spend new years day….all be it with the mother of all hangovers, at Lake Sabiya, South Africa’s largest natural fresh water lake. Its renowned for its crystal clear waters as well as holding a large population of crocodiles and Hippos.
Resident fish species found in it, consist of Tilapia, Catfish and Bream so off course I took my fly rod along even though I knew my chances of catching anything was slim.
After an hours drive along a dusty sandy road we arrived at Lake Sabiya. I was truly blown away, as it was like arriving at an oasis in the middle of the desert. Temperatures were around +36’c and it didn’t take me long before I was rigged up and chucking fluff into the crystal clear waters just off the shelf that lay sum 12m-16m from the shore.
The niggling thought that a croc could come out of the deep constantly played on my mind while a pod of 6-8 Hippos lazily wallowing 30m to my right. After an hour of working my way up and down the shelf, constantly dunking myself under the warm water, I realized that I was starting to look like a cooked Xmas day gammon and escaped to the shelter of the umbrella.
Although nothing to show for my efforts, it will go down as one of the most memorable days fly-fishing I have ever experienced in my life.