A day at the office

I went out yesterday for a few hours to test some new tube flies and ten or so casts in and I hooked into this nice looking girl. Several locals were fishing for perch and were not only amazed to see someone fly-fishing the area but frowned at the idea that I was specifically targeting Snotrockets. One chap was adamant that there were no pike to be found, yet to see the smile wipe off his face was priceless once he saw I had this one on. Anyway after a good 8 min or so I had the young girl in my hands, unhooked, a quick photo and then back in the water. This action though wasn't met with great cheer as I then spent the next 5 min receiving a barrage of complaints from the old boys ( All in their late 60's I might add) for slipping her back. They actually became so irate with me I had to leave the area due to the racist abuse that rained down on me. I've been here long enough to know that "Me" the fucking Englishmen know nothing about fishing and that I should fuck off back to South Africa. Ignorance is bliss I say!

Will post where I fished on my Google maps sometime tomorrow.

Weekend away

Went to the summer cottage this weekend for a bit of RnR. Caught roughly 30 odd pike for around 9 hours worth of fishing. This one was from my second cast after arriving there.Caught with one of James Durbins flies he sent me.

The 2 sunset images were taken around 23h30 on Friday night. click images for larger views.

Piking nirvana

Pike on the fly doesn’t get much better than the weekend I’ve just had. I must admit I didn’t hold much hope of catching anything at the summer cottage with all the spawning going on at Replot but between myself & Lena, we boated 37 Pike in total for around 10 hours worth of fishing. Sure there were no monsters although I did manage a 5,2 kg & a 6.1 kg within 5 min of each other late Saturday afternoon.. Fish were caught at all depths between 1 & 3 meters on a variety of my Baltic pike flies. The black and green wig hair angel streamer were particularly popular. Black & Purple bunnies worked very well early morning with Orange & Pink doing the trick during the day. All the fish were returned none the wiser for their photo's being taken. Here are just a few snaps from this weekends fishing.

Lastly Lena also managed a PB pike this weekend which needs to be aired.....nice one Lena!

Vision in Flyfishing gear

Today you get a short tackle review, some pike on the fly porn and a 20 min pike fishing film from the Baltic here to watch at the end. As I now live in Finland, I feel I need to mention what I think are quality products that are produced here in this country, especially with regards to fly-fishing equipment. Vision in flyfishing equipments headquarters are based in Kellokoski. I’ve been using a few of their products now for a few years since moving here, namely the Mycket Bra, Radipor waders and wading jacket and I have been very impressed with the overall quality. Having a zip on the front of your waders is a god sent….believe you me. Although I very rarely use the side and inside pockets they do have their uses, especially if you change your wire tippet as much as I do over a day, then they are great for keeping spares in without having to rummage though your chest pack all the time.

To be honest I haven’t used their rods yet but they do have a range of equipment for us pike on the fly angler. Their GT four SW Medium fast looks particularly good and
They write that “It turns your damp pike fly like a leaf in the wind. The T-35 carbon allows more action all the way from the butt, so heavier flies and lines in a blizzard are just a piece of cake for this rod. For calmer days we have expanded this collection with a new lighter 7 class nine footer”.

Vision Big mama fly lines
Made to deliver your super size fly through a hurricane. The short front taper loads your gun right away with a tight loop, the long rear taper allows you to force the package anywhere you want it.

Vision Pike wire leader: 30 lb
Vision Pike leader is made from their Wireline tippet material and tapered heavy duty monofilament leader. They are attached with tippet ring. This makes it easy to change the wire tippet when needed. The overall length of the leader is 7 feet. Includes one extra tippet ring.


If you’ve never heard of Vision products before and need proof that there equipment can stand up to the rigors of catching big pike on the fly, then here we are. Former lure fisherman Roni Selen is now a pike fishing enthusiast and part of the Vision World team. When he’s not working as a fisheries official or writing articles as a freelance fishing journalist he just loves to chuck big flies into heavy wind in nasty weather, 'cause he says that’s when the big ones are biting.


“Big Pike Fly Challenge 2008”
Click the hyphenated “here” to watch some fantastic pike on the fly footage from last years vision pike on the fly competition held in Stockholm’s Archipelago.
Click the medium version for your P.C’s

I am in now way sponsored or have I been asked to endorse any of these products from Vision. I just find their products worthy of a feature on this blog.

Fishing Doldrums

Except for a few saltwater sorties at the beginning of the year in South Africa, this has to be the longest period I have spent without being able to chuck some fluff in ten yrs and to be truthful I’m starting to get a little ratty and jaded around the edges. Reading everyone else’s antics globally isn’t helping matters either. In fact its even got to a point where I’m hoping & wishing that there is some other bugger out there who is suffering withdraw symptoms similar to my own. Yes!, this blog has brought some respite to the fishing doldrums I am presently experiencing, but its just not the same.

In the past 4 yrs, I’ve been able to find at least one stretch of open water here I was able to chuck some fluff at come the end of February - but this is becoming ridicules. No man should have to endure a 6 month drought of fly-fishing……..should he!

I’ve tied over 120 flies this winter, Cleaned all my lines, sharpened old hooks, sorted out my collection of Spinners & Zalt lures for those none pike on the fly days, Yet I’m sure in 3 weeks time………..”ONCE THE FEKKIN ICE MELTS!” - With my currant mental state being as it is – I’m probably going to be like a rabid dog frothing at the mouth, champing at the bit and will probably fish like a man possessed once the spawning season ends…………..Well that’s what I’m visualizing anyway! I just hope with all this pent up angst being released, that it doesn’t have an adverse effect on my fishing!

I’ve also decided that I will start at the north end of Replot island in Svedjehamn Björköby and work my way down its west coast first, but as you can see by this image, I could be here around Svedjehamn Björköby for quite some time. Having to endure looking at images like this for the past 6 months you can understand what I must be feeling like at the mo.

Click this Banner to learn more about my fishing playground.

My new playground

So I’ve now moved to Vaasa….to the island of Replot which falls under Finland’s 1st Natural world Heritage site “Kvarken”. The reason for the award is that the area is one of the few places in the world where the land mass is actually rising by 7mm - 9mm per annum.

Over the last 150 yrs, hundreds of small islands have risen from the sea bed and this has produced some of the best pike habitats that can be found in the whole of the Baltic sea. In fact the islands of Replot, Bjorkoby & Maraskar are regarded by many Finns as the best pike fishing waters in the whole of Finland & many of Finland’s record pike have hailed from the area.
This is probably due to far less netting by locals and also a stricter catch and release policy practiced by many of the pike fishermen in the area.


There is also a larger quantity of drop of areas around islands which form channels for their prey to swim between. Coupled with that, far more reed beds are found scattered along all the islands shorelines than anywhere else in the Baltic giving them better spawning areas as well.

Looking at theses images, I’m sure you will agree with me that that I cant wait to for next spring to get stuck into these Baltic Pike.

Colour differentiation

Just thought I would show you the differences in colour between Pike caught from a lake here in Kuru and one from the Baltic Sea. Many of the lakes in Southern Finland are quite dark due to run off from the thousands of bogs and Myers that litter the countryside and so most if not all of the Pike you catch are also extremely dark and lack much of the typical spots and stripes they acquire in cleaner water found further north or in the Baltic. What is distinctly noticeable though in many of these lake caught pike, are their wonderful orange bellies which contrast fantastically against their dark, but slightly mottled flanks.

I’m left wondering though, with darker water comes less visibility and with less visibility there isn’t much need for camouflage. Would this make pike more active in these conditions than they generally would need to be? Or would they still spend most of their time waiting in ambush areas for their intended quarry to come along.

One can see here that this Pike has all the traditional trademark patterns you’d expect from a clear water dwelling species as the Baltic pike. Its need to blend into its surroundings seems far more apparent than its darker cousin, thus provoking the question again in reverse. With clearer water and much better visibility, would this make pike less active and more prone to ambush tactics? Or would they still be as active knowing they would be more easily spotted by their intended prey?