Pontooning in Denmark

Pike on the fly In Denmark is very popular, especially from Pontoon boats. The more I read up about these crafts the more I want to buy one. And from looking at footage like in yesterdays post and this one today, the more I wish I hadn’t bought my float tubes a few years back. Not that my float tubes don’t do the trick or aren’t up to job I just think pontoon boats are far more practical. I like the fact that you sit more elevated giving you a better line of view. My one gripe with float tubes is that you sit so low in the water that it becomes quite difficult to get decent back casts in and so one just cant get the distances one looks for especially when having to chuck large wads of fluff all day.

Anyway I found this website yesterday called Pontonland.dk run buy a Danish chap called Ivor Thordal which then led me to his other site Ivars.dk which in turn then led me to this top pike on the fly video on YouTube. Which I’m sure not many of you have seen before.

Pike on the fly in Denmark

Winter fishng for pike in Denmark from Ivar Thordal on Vimeo.

Eumer

I’m in the process of putting together a big event to be held here on Replot in May next year and so went down to Eumer Pro fishing Accessories (Fishing Center) on Friday to talk to them about coming on board as a sponsor and came away with so much more than I could have ever imagined.

Eumer was started by Jaakko & Ollie Ojamo and their head office is situated smack bang on Merikarvia river found on the west of Finland. To say this place is one of the most stunning fishing lodges in the world is an understatement. The main building which dates back to the early 1900’s, used to be an old Lumber mill and build over the river itself & one can literally lie on your bed at night and listen to the rushing water pass under the building. Its been completely renovated into a complete all inclusive fishing lodge with a full time guide as well.

It accommodates and can fully outfit approximately 20 people and features a conference room with all the mod cons, A fantastic dining hall, A new sauna room which includes showers, relaxation room and a stunning terrace. Guests are also given exclusive access to 600m of prime river fishing where they can target Rainbow trout, Salmon & Sea trout. Or alternatively one can float tube the lower reaches of the river near its mouth for large pike and Perch.

As well as the centre, Eumer have their factory here where they not only produce probably some of the best fly tying materials available on the market but also Develop, Manufacture and stock one of the largest ranges of tube fly accessories in the world today. There aren’t that many places in the world where one can test new equipments, as well as receive expert advise before parting with your well earned cash, especially in such picturesque environment. This attention to detail is the reason why its not uncommon for people to travel hundreds of kilometers to visit the Merikarvia site.

Anyway not to disclose to much just yet but Myself, Eumer & Baltic pike flies will be working much closer together from now on and am looking forward to also adding a new tours package to Balticpiketours.com’s site in the very near future which will incorporate Fishing here around Replot Island as well as some Piking, Trout, Salmon and Sea trout fishing on the Merikarvia river as well.

Thank you Jaakko for being so positive and seeing there is definitely a growing market for pike on the fly around the world. I look forward to working much more closely with Eumer in the future.

Click images for larger veiw!

Garland Streamers

If your a tight arse like me then this is the fly for you. Xmas garland makes fantastic pike fly material and here's a Fly specifically made from the material.

Tim Borski DVD

I had an hour the other day walking around a flea market and picked up this second hand DVD from one of the stalls for 2 euros. Although not specifically for the Pike fly-fisherman there are some wonderful easy patterns I could use especially for Perch or Zander on this 62 min DVD. What’s interesting about Tim Borski is that he quickly reduces fly patterns down to the just the necessary elements & is without question one of the most imaginative tiers of fish food around. Keep a look out for it on the net.

Friday Pin up after 12 beers!

Today you get 7 pin up's for the price of 1. Finland is renowned for its tough women and the Finish waterpolo team don't come any tougher. The team comprises of a Doctor, An accountant, 2 Policewomen, A plumber & lastly 2 school teachers and have been playing together, for what seems like donkey's years. Don't know about you but I'd give this motley crew a wide birth If I saw them lined up on the other side of the pool.

Google maps fishing reports

Went yesterday for a few hours to Sommarösund found on the south west of the island. A stunning bay that I had been itching to get out with waders on and chuck some fluff at Mike. Unfortunately it was a belter of a day weather wise, well over 25'c and probably got there to late & in doing so I hit my 1st blank of the season. I did have 2 Snotrockets on, but lost both withing seconds of them hitting the fly.

Click the images to go to PikeFFarticles fishing report map or go to the sidebar on the right and click on the yellow markers where the dots in the middle are.

Cable appliances

Reel in the big one you have on board with this nifty fishing reel toilet roll dispenser. It comes with authentic sound of a clicking reel as you strip back the paper.....mmmm! gotta get me one of these!
$35 dollars from "Boys to Men"


As i've mentioned before here on PikeFFArticles, I havent half layed some cable in my time and would have found one of these stunning Trout box cutter come in handy for those times when the going gets tough and You leave teeth marks on the toilet seat.
Also from "Boys to Men" at $14,99

Readers fish porn

Today's readers fish porn is PikeFFArticles regular visitor Benoit de Vilmorin from France. Benoit & I have hit up quite a friendship over the last year with regards to all things pike on the fly and Am grateful for him featuring PikeFFArticles on numerous occasion on his own Blog
"Le Mouching" which is a mish mash collection of all things from fishing to insane video footage from around the world of Human nature and all things great about this mad world we live in. Anyway He has recently returned from a trip to Sweden where he managed to get stuck into some pike on the fly........Looking forward to him coming out to Finland someday.
Thanks for this Benoit.

Jay Morr Photography

If you've been following this blog from its inception you'll have seen me feature Jason Morrison's fly-fishing photography.This guy just keeps getting better and better and is starting to get quite a reputation for himself. His imagery is shit hot.....sublime is a better word to describe his work.
Click the image to visit his blog.....you wont be disappointed.

Post a Pike

Pike on the fly in Norway

Robert Sørvik and Roy have been chuckin fluff at some decent sized Snotrockets in Norway again.

Piketeaser Roy& Robban from Robert Sørvik on Vimeo.

Check this contender for slab of the month....What a fish and congrats!

Big pike from Robert Sørvik on Vimeo.

Mid summer

So we had Mid summer here over the weekend and it was spend down at the families summer cottage in Sundom. Copious quantities of alcohol was consumed and washed down with some truly amazing meals. I didn’t get out and fish as much as I would have liked but still caught 17 pike and a couple of Perch for a few hours on the water.

Friday morning was spent nursing the mother of all hangovers from the previous evenings festivities. Friends had arrived by boat to the island to celebrate Per Eric’s 50th birthday and brought with them a considerable amount of Pontikka “Moonshine” which we all got stuck in to…. I have to admit after a couple of Rum n cokes, Beers, Ouzo’s….. Moonshine was the last thing I should have been drinking but it had to be done.

Anyway Finland is steeped in traditions ….many of them from Pagan times. In Southern Finland they burn huge bonfires at midnight over mid summer, while on the West coast they erect Birch crosses or sometimes just have a birch tree shoved in the front of the boat. These are erected to wish and hope that crops, flowers, trees will do well over the summer. Anyway many of these traditions as everything else, slowly disappear so its nice to see that some people like Per Eric still keep these going….It was a struggle mind but well worth the effort though.


Salmon was smoked in the smoker and tuna stakes cooked on the Barbie over the weekend and a damn good time was had by all. Thanks for a fantastic weekend Tarja & Per Eric.

Durex kicks ass

I was adamant to get out and use the Durex condom Pike streamer this weekend, and it didn’t disappoint…….in fact it kicked ass! Went out yesterday morning with the mother of all hangovers and a none to cooperative wind to contend with, but 7 casts in and bang, the Durex proved itself. I have to admit its not the most streamlined fly to cast but once in the water it really does have fantastic movement and came into its own. I will definitely be making a few more of these….maybe in some of the multi coloured brands.

Unfortunately with everyone still in bed and no one to man a camera I Only managed to take a quick snap of its head with the fly in its gob just to prove to you its possible.

Anyway last night around 22h30 myself n Lena went out for an hour and 2^nd cast in with the Durex condom streamer I had this on the end of my line. Lena just sat there in amazement.

So to all you out there that though it was just a gimmick, then stick that in yer pipe ‘n smoke it!

Fly vs Jerk

So what would you think be more effective in catching Pike, Jerk or Fly? Go to kanalgratis.se (Look for the 50min spannande film) to watch Georg Wester & Niklaus Bauer go head to head to see who comes out on top. You’ll need the quick time player to watch the extended 50 min version of the 4 day event or alternatively you can watch high quality Youtube versions instead. Unfortunately its all in Swedish but still a great film. There is also Fly vs Jerk (II) in 4 high quality you tube clips as well.

I wont tell you which discipline is more successful & wins!

Big Baltic Pike Porn

More Pike porn from the Baltic this Spring and early summer

7,29 kg
13,2 kg - 124cm
7,00 kg
9.3 kg
8,00 kg

Lake Esnagi Pike porn

The boys from "Oregon fly-fishing blog" have just got back from Ontario in Canada on lake Esnagi. Its a great read and they've uploaded this insane pike porn video. Click the link to read about the trip and also watch the video there......Nice one guys!

Fishing Blogdom

Many of you might not know this but I have started a new blog a few weeks back called "Fishingblogdom". With so many Top draw blogs on the net I found it hard keeping track of them all and didn't have space really for all of them on PikeFFArticles. Its an on going project as an when I find new blogs. I also decided to fill up the space with some of the more interesting images I have taken over the last 5 yrs here in Finland. Each day i'lI post a new image with new blogs. Let me know what you think.

Click the link or the picture to visit the Blog!

Gifts of fluff

A big shout goes out to regular PikeFFArticles reader James Durbin from Cedar Rapids in the States for sending a wonderful selection of flies last week through the post. Thank you so much James for these. Will be sending you a selection of Baltic pike flies your way after mid summer.
Have a great week Mate.

Pearlcurl pike streamer

Monday morning and its chuckin it down outside....A day for tying!

Tail walking pike

Here is another great reason why Pike are fantastic sport on the fly. This clip is from the Netherlands.

Eagles vs Wolf

As the storm last week set me back a week and with pretty miserable weather forecast also for this weekend I have put my "In to the Wild" trip on hold for 2 weeks. Its mid summer here midweek which means a 5 day spell at our summer cottage from Thursday so will do the trip on the 26th/27th & 28th instead. So you still have time to submit your entries for a couple of free "Baltic pike flies".

Getting away from fishing for today, As I'm a passionate birder I was sent this the other day about Hunting wolves with Golden eagles which I thought You all might like to have a look at. Years back in South Africa I was involved with the Filming of Crowned Eagles at Kranskloof Gorge for David Attenborough BBC's "The life of Birds" series and was privileged to witness theses majestic birds bringing Dogs back to the nest so it came as no surprise to me that Golden Eagles were able to hunt wolves and bring these powerful creatures down.

Post a pike

Friday Pin up after 12 beers!

Today’s pin up is 27 yr old, Single mom & Belarus Shot-putter Oksana. Presently studying for a sports psychology degree through a correspondence course on the net, she says its hard juggling between being a high profile sportswomen and raising her 3 yr old son by her self. Asked where the father was, she shrugged her shoulders and said he just never came back home one day. If your out there Igor, and read this ……you should be ashamed of yourself fella!

Weed Guards

Looking for the perfect material for your weed guards, then look now further than your local gardening center for some weed strimmer cord. It comes in a variety of colours as well as a range of different sizes. I’ve been using Oregon 1,3 mm now for about a year on my poppers and gurgelbugs and have been very impressed with it. Its thick enough to allow your fly to pass under and over obstructions without getting snagged, and yet its subtle enough for it to allow easy hook ups once the pike has it in its jaws and there is now way in hell pike will cut through it with its teeth.

This is fly - New issue out !

I was supposed to up load this last Friday but with the storm 'n all I'm a bit behind schedule. anyway. If you don't subscribe to this magazine then you need to get your finger out yer arse!. Its a great read which unfortunately cant be taken to the kaazie......well that's unless you have wireless and you don't mind your laptop on yer lap while you nip a Brad Pitt off!
Check out pages 17 - 31 for a top article on Musky on the fly.

40lb 8oz UK fly caught pike

I'd like to congratulate Pike fly-fishing Association UK member Mike Green for breaking the Chew venue record for a fly caught pike a few weeks back. This is definitely a contender for slab of the year.

Pike on the fly in Austria

Sorry for not being around for the last 5 days but we had a major storm here last Friday and our internet access has been down. Anyway here's some pike on the fly in Austria.

Pike Photography

Engbretson Underwater Photography has been supplying quality stock photos of Native North American fresh water game fish to industry professionals since 1993 and provide photography for editorial, publishing, advertising, corporate, and other uses. They have built an image library of thousands of pictures of largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, walleye, northern pike, musky, panfish (perch, crappie, bluegill), catfish, trout and many other species that are popular with fisherman. Its worth it just to stop by their website and have a look at there catalog.

Alternatively how about this website from the Netherlands by underwater photographer Edgar Donkervliet

Durex condom Pike streamer

About a month ago I read an article from the WAtoday.com.au which said that despite Australia's best efforts to supply safe-sex aids to AIDS-ravaged Papua New Guinea, there's no stopping local creativity in finding unusual uses for condoms. Local fisherman cut them up for lures, and women find the lubricant good for their hair and beauty regime.

It’s a fact that pike can be fooled into taking all manner of materials found on lures and flies, if presented to them correctly. It was only a few years back when I was in Russia that I witnessed a bloke catch a pike with just tin foil molded onto his hook. Which got me thinking if local fisherman in Papua New Guinea could catch tuna with condoms then how hard could it be to fool a pike into taking one..

So I’ve come up with the Durex condom pike streamer.

Not that I think you’ll want to tie one but here’s a step by step tutorial

Tie a small clump of mullet brown SF Flash blend onto the back of the hook

Add the condom next over the SF Flash blend. I used an extra ribbed one here

I then added 6 Peacock plumes for lateral lines

Next, palmer black and red hackle feathers on, & add stick on eyes and cover with clear resin.

John Gierach once wrote "If you fish the wrong fly long & hard enough! it will sooner or later become the right fly!"