Fly Candy

Managed to strip down one of Rowlands old flies last night and turned it into a double bunny. I mean it would have been a sacrilege tossing away a perfectly good hook with an awesome front head already in place.

I first added a mono loop to the back of the hook near the bend.Then added two white rabbit zonker strips 120mm. Then several strands of red krinkle flash. Then added one dubbing brush loop of red arctic fox fur.

Then added four hot orange grizzly microbarb saddles and lastly added a collar of red UV polar chenille to finish off the fly. Considering I didn't have much hook shank to work with I'm happy with the end product. Out of all of my red/white flies this last season,this style double bunny was the most productive pattern.

The Bush pig

Here is a great little fly called the bushpig which can be modifid to suite pike on the fly by slightly lengthening the amount of materials you tie on. Click the image to visit the PDF tutorial done by Jon Makim.

Bug-bond for shrimp eyes

Here is another great use for bug-bond. A small blob applied to the end of some clear mono makes sweet eyes for shrimp patterns. This is something I battled to do using other similar products but with the handy fine holed applicator caps I'm able to apply the smallest amount of resin to the tip of the mono to produce shrimp eyes.

These are my King guinea fowl shrimps which have pincers and tail with tiny dumbbell eyes attached for fast sinking purposes.


These have no pincers,nore tail or dumbbell eyes generally used either for slowsink or drifting purposes in a slight current. Here's a tutorial I did for them last year sometime if your interested in tying up some for yourself. Tight lines with these Alessandro

Open publication - Free publishing - More shrimp

Esox Decal/Sticker

Here's a badass decal/sticker that would be fit to grace any snotrocket fly-fishermans fly box. Marked down from $9,95 to $6.88 from Ident-i-cards (fishing,hunting & outdoor products).

Tandem rigs

Rich Strolis calls these kind of flies articulated. I like to use the term tandem or double hooked rigs. Over the last 5 yrs I've experimented with numerous different types and have found this method work best with the designed flies I tie as it gives a more realistic swimming action through the retrieve.

First run a 5mm length of your cotton along the hook shank to the bend of the hook. Then cut yourself a length of flexible wire 65mm (2,5 inches) I used Visions 35lb wireline here. Place the wire directly ontop of the hook shank and tie on with your cotton up to your start off point.Add a dab of head cement.

Then cut a small piece of flexable plastic tube 25mm (1 inch) long and slide down over the wire so it butts up against the bend of the hook. This tube acts not only as an extra protectant for the wire but gives the trailing hook more regidity when casting these kind of flies yet allows for just enough sideways swimming action under the water.

Slide the wire through the hook eye of your trailing hook (Tail). you can either have the hook point facing down or up but I like to have the hook point facing upwards on all these kind of flies as it eradicates any unwanted snag ups through the toungue. Then slide the open end of the wire back through the tube making sure the tandem hook is just loose enough for movement and that the plastic tube is butted up sufficiently against the main hook and then tie directly onto the top of the hook shank again and add another blob of head cement.

This is the completed fly with the tail I used in the tutorial. Some fine white speckled Xmas tinsel was used between black bucktail to give this fly optimum movement with a lot of volume and weighs practically nothing. I added a small collar of black raccoon and bug-bonded a couple of eyes on. Total length 220mm. Click images for larger view!

Fly Candy

Four more baitfish for the summer months, all around 80mm - 100mm in length.

Pike on the fly in the States

The Articulated Ice pick by Rich Strolis

The Articulated Ice Pick from Richard Strolis on Vimeo.

Here's another fantastic fly called the Articulated Ice pick by Rich Strolis. I use a similar set up for attaching my tails to my double/tandem flies, except I use a small length of plastic tubing to cover the wire than a couple of beads which Rich uses with this fly.

Fly Candy

Another double tandem rig fly for springtime. I started first with the trailing hook Tiemco 811s 2/0 by adding 4 olive and four black chinese cock hackles. Then added a clumb of brown bucktails splayed around the whole hook shaft. Then added 15 or so olive ostrich hurl feathers. Then added 20 or so super fine brown/green/gold tinsel strands. Then another clump of bucktail. Lastly I added a small sprig of orange arctic fox on the underneath before whip finishing.


The same process was followed along the main hooks shaft Tiemco 600sp 3/0 until the hook eye. A surprisingly light fly for its size and length 200mm. James, I'm doing a tutorial for these flies which will show the tail construction sometime this coming week for you mate.
Click images for larger view!

Merry Christmas everyone

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone that visit these shores a truly fantastic festive season with family and friends. May it be safe, but filled with lots of good food and copious quantities of Alcohol. Thanks for all your visits and continued support. Merry Christmas everyone!



If you haven't seen the movie yet I whole heartedly recommend you get it. We all know the real Santa originated in Finland and is not the trumped up fucker you lot in the States of England have come to glorify. No....This Santa makes every other Santa look like a pussy in comparison!

SID 5 Rich Schaaf issue

SID have just released their latest offing with a poignant issue dedicated to the late Rich Schaaf which I've just finished reading. Click the image to visit the Ezine. R.I.P Rich.

Tarpon stylie pike flies

Tied up some pure white herring ghost patterns tarpon stylie last week, and added some small fishskull heads for a little extra weight. Sliding the fishskulls on over the hook point was a bit of a bugger but with the help of a pair of pliers I managed to tap them down the hook shaft.





All the materials were tied directly over the bend of the hook. Then simply slid the fishskull head back down the hook shaft over the tie off point. All vary in length between 120mm - 160mm

SVK Write up

For all you Fins that visit these shores, PikeFFArticles features in Soumen Vapaa-ajan Kalastajien Keskusjärjestö this month. Keep an eye out for a free video fly tying tutorial I did for the interview regarding my Replot stingers.

Fly Candy

This is quite similar to the Olive and white one I tied last week. I 1st tied on a couple of yellow tiger barbed rabbit zonker strips to the back of the hook 120mm. I then added a clump or orange then yellow bucktail. Then palmered a dubbing brush loop of chartreuse raccoon zonker.


Repeated this process twice before addind three hot orange microbarb saddles and one last palmered dubbing brush loop of chartreuse raccoon fur. Total length 200mm
Click images for larger view!

Pike on the fly in Sweden

Fly Candy

Another double. The trailing hook is combination of Chartreuse and black chinese cock hackles. followed by a sprig of chartreuse bucktail.Then 3 green grizzly barbed micro saddles, followed by a sprig of orange bucktail.


The same process was followed on the main hook except I used Hot Orange grizzly microbarb saddles instead of green, Total length 200mm
Click images for larger view!

The Super charger

Fly Candy

I've noticed here during springtime over the last 3 yrs that many of the pike I catch are hooked right at the front of the mouth either in the top or bottom of the lip. I lost a lot of fish in my first season here purely because the pike were snapping the back of the fly and I was striking before the hook was set. Then two yrs ago I started using flies with trailing or tandem hooks attached to the main fly and my catch rate improved drastically.

The trick is with these tandem rigs is to use a much smaller hook for the trailing hook not only to cut down on the weight but to allow the fly to track better through the retrieve. I use Tiemco 811s 2/0 saltwater hooks for these kind of flies. I started by tying on three pink and 3 white hackle feathers towards the back of the hook. Then added 4 black microbarb saddles. I then made a dubbing brush with some new white speckled xmas tinsel about 70mm long and then wrapped that around the hook folding the tinsel back with each wrap. Then added a couple of clumps of white bucktail.

Attached the trailing hook with some thin flexible wire. then repeated the same process along the main hook shaft until the hook eye. Overall length around 220mm.
Click images for larger view.

Quote of the day!

Taken from "So you want to start blogging" over at "The Urban fly fisher"

2. "Do some research– try not to align yourself closely to someone else’s brand or niche – not only is this a bit cheeky and a major faux pas in the world of blogging it also shows a lack of imagination. Likewise try and develop your own style of writing – do not try and copy someone else’s that you like, the chances are you will not be able to sustain it for long anyway"

Fly Candy

Some of my Replot stingers waiting for the day when there is a decent opening in the ice for me to chuck them into. Only 4 months to go!

HO HO HO Part deux!

Fly Candy

Have been tying up some more large profile Bluedun flies this week in a variety of colours. This is in Chartreuse 'n white and is a mix of Bucktail, electric yellow super fine tinsel and icelandic sheep hair.

Ho Ho F******* Ho!

Here in Finland we deliver the impecable,well mannered, and extremely rare original Finish father Christimas's to nearly 150 countries, every christimas....exclusively!

Fly Candy

Some more blended hybrid baitfish patterns. This time I combined "White slinky" with "Off White" flash n slinky fiber for the underside of the fish. Then blended "Off White" with "Mottled chartreuse" for the flanks and "Misty black" mirror image with small amounts of "Olive" slinky fiber for the lateral lines. All range in length from 120mm - 150mm.

This one & the fourth are Steve Silverio inspired. I added 3 white microbarb saddles half way into the tie.


This one I added several white microbarb saddles half way into the tie. I'm hoping the microbarbs will give a little extra movement to the fly.

With this one I finished off the fly with a chin of olive raccoon fur and overlayed that with some red arctic fox.